15-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Murder

A 15-year-old boy has become the fifth person to be charged with the murder of 17-year-old Yeray Sanchez-Morales, who died after he was fatally stabbed outside MacDonald’s on the Old Kent Road in Southeast London.  

 

Go here for more.  

I can remember being 15, but I don't remember anybody killing anybody.  What is going on in this world?  

 

There is a lot of bad news these days, but the good news is, we can change things.  One way we can change things is through The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  See also:  Terrible Things.  

 

Parents can make a huge difference.  This terrible youth violence is PREVENTABLE.  Go here for my free Worksheet for Parents.    

 

I'll be posting more about how parents can make a difference.  

 

What do you think about this terrible youth violence?  And what are your biggest parenting issues?  Please post below.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2025. 

 

 Please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

 

 

 

 

Freedom of Speech? Really?

According to sources including the Guardian, 100,000 or more Israelis are protesting against Netanyahu’s plans to extend the war in Gaza.

 

Meanwhile, here in the UK, more than 500 people have been arrested for silently holding up placards supporting Palestine Action, a “proscribed group”, during a peaceful protest in central London.

 

Again according to the Guardian, as well as the BBC, Channel 4 and other sources, more than 450 people were arrested in central London on Saturday at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation. On Saturday night, police said that as of 9pm, over 450 people had been arrested for showing support for Palestine Action. There were a further eight arrests for other offences including five assaults on officers.

 

People in this country love to talk about freedom of speech, but it is clearly a myth.  

 

Go here for what Marshall Rosenberg, the author of Nonviolent Communication, did while working with people in Israel and Palestine.  

 

Go here for The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2025.  You can make a difference.  Please add your voice.  Go here to submit your blog post.  The deadline is the 15th of September.  

 

How do you feel about Palestine Action becoming a proscribed group?  How do you feel about the arrests?  Please leave your comments below.  

 

 

 

 

UK Young People Crippled by Student Debt

According to this article, students in the UK are being saddled with upwards of £50,000 worth of student debt.  1.8 million students owe £50,000 or more in student debt.  60,000 owe more than £100,000, and some even owe more than £200,000.   

 

If you are a student or the parent of a student, and would like to avoid student debt, you need to download my ebook Shaking the Money Tree today. 

 

I published Shaking the Money Tree some years ago, when student loans were first introduced in the UK and then trebled under the Conservative-led coalition, headed by David Cameron and the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.  I felt strongly that young people in Britain had been betrayed, as Clegg had promised during his election campaign to scrap student loans.  He  obviously reneged on his promise.  

 

Of course, in the U.S., tuition fees are far higher than those in the UK.  In the U.S., student debt has been a fact of life, causing stress and pain, for many years. According to this article, student debt has been linked to financial instability, as well as problem drinking and mental health issues. 

The experts I interviewed in Shaking the Money Tree give detailed instructions on how to raise finance for your education. 

 

Download Shaking the Money Tree today, as I'll be increasing the price soon. At present, it still only costs US$5.  

See also:  What Martin Lewis Doesn't Want You to Know.  

 

15-Year-Old Girl Stabbed to Death in Croydon

Once again, I kicked off the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence with a terrible, tragic, violent and preventable death of a young person, this time in Croydon, South London.  

 

TRIGGER WARNING:  VIOLENCE  

15-year-old Elianne Andam was stabbed on a crowded bus on her way to school, apparently by a 17-year-old boy when her friend rejected flowers he was offering her.  Elianne tried to intervene in their argument. 

We talked about this recently on my Success Strategies radio show.  Go here for more info and to listen.  

 

As I write this, I have just learned of a 16-year-old boy being murdered in Luton. 

 

We don't have to keep reading these stories.  We don't have to keep seeing them on TV.  We can change this situation. Empathy can prevent us from having to hear about this and read about it.  Empathy can prevent the senseless, needless death of another young person.  

 

As I have said previously, I think of NVC primarily as a preventative process.  A lot of violence can be prevented by use of empathy.  And violent situations can be transformed through the use of empathy. 

 

Many parents, probably most, are very caring, hardworking people.  They may be tired, they may be stressed, but they still do their best to find time to connect with their children.  But sometimes, something is missed.  

 

I have no idea what caused this situation.  Sometimes, it's a family pattern.  Sometimes, it's a lack of self-esteem.  Almost certainly, it's a lack of communication somewhere.  And now a young man is in custody.  And another young woman lies dead.  Another grieving family.  Another horrible, preventable killing.  

 

For more about how parents can use NVC and empathy to improve their connections with their children, download Affirmations for Parents today.  

Go here to download it from Amazon.com 

Go here to download it from Amazon.co.uk

Go here for more about Nonviolent Communiction.  

And go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2023.  

A Letter on the Anniversary of the Shooting of Cherry Groce

Cherry Groce

Cherry Groce was shot in the back by police in Brixton in 1985, and died some years later as a result of the shooting. 

I note that Ken Fero has said that the children of those shot by the police – like Cherry Groce – or who died in encounters with the police were left without any support, and the experience Lee Lawrence, the son of Cherry Groce, echoes this (see below). However, Ceri has written this letter to Mr. Lawrence to let him know that she does care, that people do care about him and his mother. 

Ceri also reflects on the parallels between the shooting of Ceri Groce and the killing of Breonna Taylor.   

Ceri Buckmaster 

Lee Lawrence

This project of letters is inspired by ‘My Dungeon Shook’, a letter written by James Baldwin in
1963 to his 15-year-old nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation.

In the letter, James Baldwin writes to his nephew - also called James - about the times he is growing up in and the societal challenges younger James is facing. It’s a moving letter of love and encouragement to foster resilience and clearsightedness.

Taking this letter as a starting point, this project is an invitation to write a letter to someone, (a loved one, a colleague, a politician, a section of the community, an organisation, a business leader, a celebrity, an adversary, an opponent) on the anniversary of a historical event.

So, here is my letter to Lee Lawrence, on the 35 year anniversary of the shooting of his mother Cherry Groce in Brixton, South London (28th September 1985) and the six-month anniversary of the murder of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

***

Dear Mr Lawrence,

I hope you are well, as well as you can be with all that is happening and all that you have had to deal with in your life.

I recently read the article about your life and your mother’s life in the Guardian. The same day I read that, I found out about the historical settlement of $12m dollars to the family of Breonna Taylor for her murder back in 13th March 2020. When I heard about the settlement, I wondered what it must have been like for you to hear all about the tragedy of Breonna murder on that terrible night in March through a ‘No-knock warrant’ raid. You must be reliving so much through each and every similar event that happens around the world.

I am grateful to hear more about your experience and there are so many things that stand out from the account I read. I was very sad to hear how no one at school asked you how you were coping with the stress of your mum being shot and how you didn’t have any support to integrate the trauma.

I really got how bewildering and hurtful it was that your mum’s story got so little airtime and exposure leading you to wonder why no one seemed to be interested. It’s like you were saying Say Her Name back in the late 80s and early 90s, way before hashtags and social media. I can only imagine the loneliness that no-one caring must have lead you into.

I’m struck by how many years you have plugged away to try to get justice and that when your mum sadly died in 2011 of kidney failure, the pathologist’s report that the kidney failure was linked to the shooting triggered an Inquest. Then in 2014, 29 years after the shooting, Southwark Coroner’s court found that the badly administered raid and the shooting contributed to your mum’s death. In 2016, the High Court ruled that the Met had a duty of care to you and your brothers and sisters.

I’m recounting this back to you to show I am listening and tracking all the twists and turns of the case. There are of course many more details and years and years of your life dedicated to honouring your mum’s life and trying to carve out a path for yourself.

I am inspired and very grateful that you have invested so much effort to create positive outcomes from this experience, such as the programme to support people who have been traumatised as a result of wrongful police actions, setting up the Cherry Groce foundation, working as a voluntary consultant for the police and engaging in a restorative process in order to be heard by the Met. But I hear the despair that the system is broken as there isn’t the will to fix it and you are still waiting for recommendations to be implemented.

What I’m hoping to achieve from this letter is to raise awareness of what you have been through, so that white people (like myself) in the UK don’t think that police violence is something that just happens in the US, that it is an unresolved blight in our country and there is much work to be done to change police attitudes and the white general public’s lack of care and attention, so that no family ever has to go through again what you have gone through.

With my very best wishes to you and your family.

Yours sincerely,

Ceri Buckmaster 

Go here for more about the shooting of Cherry Groce and the reaction from Lee Lawrence from the BBC. 

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2020.  

Please leave your comments below and please share this blog.  Thanks.  

Latest Coronavirus Advice

Latest Coronavirus Advice

The advice about coronavirus changes daily, and even more frequently than that.

First, we were told we could go out, go for a walk, and go to the shops.

Then, the next day, we were advised we could go out for exercise, i.e. go for a walk.

The day after that, we were ordered to stay indoors.  (I suspect this was the plan all along.)  But I think we can still go for a walk, or a run, or to the shops.  Not that there's much left on the shelves.  

We need to stay indoors to try to avoid overloading the NHS, as the number of coronavirus cases is still on the rise.

Yet NHS staff are not being offered coronavirus tests - even though Prince Charles was able to obtain one.  How is this not placing a further burden on the NHS - when there are NHS staff members who are self-isolating, who would be able to go back to work if they tested negative for the virus?

The situation is very anxiety-producing.  Many people don't know what to do.  The advice is contradictory.  We don't know how long this crisis will last.  And it could go on for years. 

You can download the latest coronavirus advice from Imperal College.  The breakdown is in the first two pages. 

Meanwhile, WHO (The World Health Organisation) says that we need to test, test, test.  So try to get tested!  Not easy on the NHS, but worth a try.

For more details, see:  Keep Our NHS Public @keepnhspublic.  

Saw this on Jeremy Vine recently: Nutritionist Lowry Turner has said eating fresh fruit and veg, things high in fibre, boosts the immune system. Exercise and relaxation also help. 

For holistic healing of body, mnd and emotions,go here for my Violet Flame Healing Process.  This can relax you and boost your immunity.

According to the FT, Imperial College have also stated that the UK government's current policies regarding covid-19 have reduced the predicted deaths of 250,000 to 20,000.  Still an horrific number of deaths. 

How can we help people who have others during this coronovirus crisis?  Go here to check it out.

Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.

Good luck, everybody!  Stay well.

How to Look after Our Mental Health during the Coronavirus Crisis

How to Look after Our Mental Health during Coronavirus Crisis

The government's advice to self-isolate during the coronavirus crisis, for those of us who either have a confirmed diagnosis or have even mild coronavirus symptoms, is not good news for those with mental health issues. Especially as self-isolation could go on for three to four months during this coronavirus outbreak. 

Just dealing with, and processing, the constant influx of coronavirus news is enough to trigger high levels of anxiety.  It's important to rely on reputable sources.  

One thing that can help will be performing random acts of kindness – contributing something to others, which can help us to feel less isolated, more connected. 

I am so fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of people around offering to help me, offering to do my shopping, etc., as well as friends and family members checking up on me to make sure I am okay.  I feel well looked after.  

You probably have people in your family or group of friends, or in your local area, who need your help and support, and you may be one of the amazing, beautiful souls who are helping others. 

Go here for more suggestions of random acts of kindness.   

  

Go here for more advice about how to look after our mental health during this coronavirus outbreak.  

See also:  How to Help Others during the Coronavirus Crisis.

Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.  Thanks.

What Exactly Is the "Delay" Phase?

Coronovirus in the UK

Here in the UK, we have now entered what is called the "Delay" phase of dealing with the coronavirus (covid 19).  We now have 798 confirmed cases. 

What exactly does this mean?

From today, people in the UK who have even mild cold or flu-like symptoms are advised to self-isolate.  This contradicts advice we were givenup until yesterday, that we do not need to be tested unless we have recently returned from the coronavirus hotspots, which include China, South Korea, Iran and Italy (sorry if I have missed out any).

Advice can be obtained from NHS 111, although they reportedly have been giving out the wrong advice.

Containment is extremely unlikely to work on its own, which is why we have moved to the "delay" phase.  If we can delay the spread of the virus, this pandemic may become more manageable in the summer months.  (But is this what has happened in Australia?  If you have information about this, please comment below.) 

Your body has its own natural healing process.  To help protect against the coronovirus, and to enhance any other healing you need, go here to download my Violet Flame Healing Meditation.  Please note, I am NOT qualified to give any medical advice.

Go here for advice on how the "delay" phase may affect us.

Go here for how washing up liquid may help prevent the spread of coronovirus.  

Basically, we are being told to wash our hands - you already knew that, right?  Some employees should work from home, and some public gatherings, such as sporting events which draw large crowds, have been cancelled, and others may be cancelled.  This is being referred to as "social restriction" and "social distancing".  Schools are not being closed at this point.  The advice is still somewhat vague.  

Please share this with anyone who can benefit from it and please leave your comments below.  

I wish you all the best.

How to Deal with the Stress of Debt

How to Deal with the Stress of Debt

  

         I  have been watching "Can't Pay?  We'll Take It Away".  

It's so sad to see these people and companies that have got into debt for a variety of reasons. 

We know that being in debt can be very stressful. 

Sleepless nights, bailiffs knocking on your door - it's not nice. I have been through this myself.  And it was horrible. 

Go here to download my ebook, Secrets of Manifestation.  

For a FREE consultation with me, click here to contact me.  

Some facts about debt in the UK:  

According to Peppergoup, the number of County Court Judgements (CCJs) registered against consumers has risen to the highest level in over a decade during the first six months of 2017, as is confirmed by figures released by Registry Trust. 

One reason why so many more CCJs are being issued is that these judgements are being brought for smaller amounts of money than previously.  

In the first two quarters of 2017, 592,552 CCJs were registered against consumers in England and Wales. This figure is up 41% on the same period in 2016 and is the highest half-year figure since before the financial crisis.

Cocredo reports that the latest figures released by the Registry Trust show that the number of county court judgments (CCJs) registered against businesses in England and Wales rose during the third quarter of 2017, compared with the same period a year earlier.

During Q3 2017, there were 24,698 CCJs registered against businesses in England and Wales, which is a 27 percent increase than the same quarter in 2016. Prior to this figures had decreased year on year for the past 8 years. The total value of all business CCJs rose by 13 percent to £80,506,210; this was the first time since Q3 2011 that a relative increase occurred. 

The number of CCJs issued rose for the first time in eight years – and has rocketed by more than a quarter since 2016.

If you are worried or stressed about your finances, if you need help or support, please contact me for a FREE consutation.  There is no reason to be embarrassed.  

See also:  Financial Healing.  

I look forward to hearing from you.  

Please share this with your networks, and please leave your comments below.   

A Creative Response to the Riots

We have seen rioting and looting erupt on the streets of many UK cities over the course of the past several days.

In these times of chaos and turmoil, it can be hard to find a creative response. But it is possible.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a method which allows us to "get inside another person's head" in order to communicate from the heart.

Locana, an NVC practitioner, recently said:

This morning on the BBC interview on TV, Ed Milliband said he couldn't 'get inside' the mind-set of those people who were rioting – and yet, of course, that's what is needed for the situation to change.

We need to 'get inside' in some way, so that we can stop approaching the rioters as 'them', and seeing everyone else as 'us'. Because this is the very polarisation that's causing the damage. (As a hooded youth from Manchester put it last night, 'we're going to show the police!')

The situations and actions of those causing the riots are part of our situation and our actions. Unless we realise this, we are living in a world of 'either-or' – where it's either your needs that are met, or mine. Alienated, exiled voices will always rebel and protest in some way. It creates a paradigm of conflict – so no wonder it produces and gives rise to conflict.

To begin the process of change, we need to transform the deep paradigm of 'either-or' within ourselves. If we can truly experience and believe that it's always 'both-and', then we can speak and act in a way which includes others, rather than alienating them. This is a place where we can hold the various different needs of different people, contradictory and diverse though those may be; so that differences are held within our common framework, and supported and honoured. Only then, I believe, do we move away from polarising thought-patterns and behaviours. Unless we do this, it's salutary to reflect that we are living in exactly the same paradigm as the rioters – our outlook is the same, even if the way we express it in action is different.

Click here to read Locana's blog: What Can the Riots Teach Me about Communication?

Click here to read more about NVC.

We can find a positive way forward from this situation. We need to remember that each and every one of us can make a difference.

Click here for info about my workshops in London.