Award-winning British actor Idris Elba is fighting against violent knife crimes, specifically among the youth, in a new eye-opening campaign.
Created by the organization Don’t Stop Your Future (DSYF), the campaign is designed to amplify the “voices of marginalized communities and those most affected by knife crime.” DSYF’s website features a touching video of victims before a music video for Elba’s song, “Knives Down,” is played.
To launch the campaign, Elba formed a protest in London’s Parliament Square on Dec. 7. As as government leaders made their way into work, protesters stood in front of rows of neatly folded clothes representing the children who lost their lives to knife violence in 2023.
Posting images on Twitter, Elba, a father of two, called on the British government to take action so that no more families suffer from the results of zombie knife and machete violence.
“Today, I’m calling on the government for change. Serious youth violence is rising across the country, meaning that hundreds of promising lives are being cut short,” Elba wrote. “Every day, the feeling of helplessness in us parents grows bigger and bigger. The government promised to ban zombie knives and machetes. We need this promise delivered.”
Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has strict gun control laws in place. However, UK stats show that four in 10 homicides involve a knife or sharp object, according to ABC News. According to statistics, 21 teenagers were killed in 2023, 18 stabbed to death. A ban on machetes and knives that look threatening was proposed in August 2023 but has yet to be approved by Parliament.
Several lives have been claimed since then.
In September 2023, 15-year-old Elianne Andam was stabbed to death by her friend’s ex-boyfriend on their way to school in South London. The victim reportedly stepped in between the former couple to break up a scuffle when the scorned lover allegedly pulled out a black, thin knife and put it through Andam’s neck. Alfie Lewis, 16, was killed in November 2023, and 16-year-old Harry Pitman died from fatal stab wounds while celebrating New Year’s Eve at Primrose Hill in London.
As concern over knife crime increases, and especially with school back in session, Elba thinks this is the right time to speak up.
“I can’t stay silent as more young lives are lost to these brutal and heartless crimes,” Elba said. “As school returns, too many young people will not be joining their classmates, and too many grieving families have lost a young person they love in recent years.”