Voice of a
DREAMING IN A NIGHTMARE: Finding A Way Forward In A World That’s Holding You Back
Jeremiah Emmanuel Merky Books, £12.99
JEREMIAH Emmanuel is nothing if not precocious: an activist, entrepreneur and public speaker, he is also a former deputy young mayor of Lambeth, member of the UK Youth Parliament and now author – all by the age of just 21.
He is fast becoming a key spokesperson of his generation – and full of sound ideas about building a fairer, more cohesive society.
Raised in south London and of Nigerian descent, Emmanuel is clear that “being a young black person in Britain means that you have additional obstacles to face” and moreover that “it’s an undisputed fact that young people today have fewer opportunities and more pressure than ever before”.
Dreaming In A Nightmare is Emmanuel’s account of his life to date, interspersed with short accounts by his contemporaries of the struggles they faced in life and how they coped with them.
Issues surrounding gang culture, knife crime, precarious housing and poverty loom large and Emmanuel – who has lost friends to knife violence – is at pains to point out why: “Since 2010, youth services across England have been cut by 69 per cent. Is there any wonder we recently saw such a sharp spike in youth violence?”
Reading Emmanuel’s account, you are struck by the fact that all his formative years have been lived against the backdrop of austerity, where the closing of youth services made “Brikky McD’s” (the Brixton branch of McDonald’s) a prime, if not the only, place for Emmanuel and his friends to meet outside school.
He eloquently describes the difficulties of being raised by a single mother – his father left when he was a child – who, despite qualifying as a lawyer in her native Nigeria, struggled to find equivalent work in Britain: “Poverty is not one big problem, but lots of little ones. Lots of little difficulties, stresses and fears, all combined.”
He details the insecurity of his early childhood – he moved seven times before he was eight years old – but also recognises the benefit of what stability he had, most notably from his mother, secondary school, and extracurricular activities such as music school.
Emmanuel is a firm believer in the benefits of education but also feels schools need more nuanced ways to manage wayward children than exclusion which can drive teens further down the path of rebellion.
He also considers the breakdown in trust between communities like his and the police, the role race and racism play in society and the importance of youth engagement in politics. He closes with a chapter on charity, having volunteered for educational charities and an organisation preventing re-offending: “Growing up as I did in communities with clear divides along lines of race, wealth and gender, the most inspiring and exciting experiences for me were when
I was working for organisations that inspired change.”
Emmanuel offers persuasive ideas for helping people achieve their dreams, which require determination and tenacity, not blank cheques.
While his language can veer towards cliché, his is a memorable voice, explaining the problems his generation faces and how empathy, empowerment and societal support might solve them.