Inspiring lesson of Naomi and her knife victim uncle
ABEAUTIFUL, tall and elegantly dressed woman went to an inner- city secondary school on Wednesday to deliver a message of hope to teenagers living in an area blighted by gang culture and knife crime.
She spoke to the multi- ethnic group about the power of education to transform their lives.
Recalling her own experience of growing up in the Eighties in nearby Lambeth, South London, she said: ‘Knife crime leaves my heart so heavy because one of my uncles died that way when I was child.
‘Why would you want to pick up a knife and risk going to prison? Why would you want to end up there?’
That woman was Naomi Campbell — the one-time dastardly diva who was best known for her struggles with drugs and excessive anger, her lateness and stroppy outbursts.
Yet here she was, most admirably going back to her roots to tell teenagers there is a path away from crime, drugs and despair, and that ‘destiny is in your own hands’.
There are second chances in life.
There is always the possibility of redemption.
Naomi, who blazed the trail for diversity in fashion and who is now an inspiration to the young, is the living proof.
While it’s easy to dismiss her school visit as a publicity stunt to burnish her image, there is something very noble and commendable about her wanting to give back to her community and help inspire the young.
Her message was particularly pertinent at a time of an epidemic of knife crime in the capital. Lives are being wantonly destroyed.
Her appearance at the school reminded me of a friend of mine called Noel, from South London, who spent half his teenage years in prison.
Thankfully, he turned the corner and has just completed a university degree. He’s spent years doing what Naomi is doing, offering himself as a mentor to the young.
As Noel has often told me, white do- gooders, however wellintentioned, struggle to get the message across.
Above all, these communities need black role models such as himself — and Naomi Campbell who’s walking tall without any need for 6in designer heels.