LITERATURE
Imafidon's Fight: Breaking Free from a System Designed to Hold Him Back
“"No matter how humble our beginnings, we have the power to shape our endings. Each decision we make leads us down the path to our future. We are not mere products of our environments, but architects of our destinies." - Kenny Imafidon”
Paloma LacyContributor
Imafidon’s Fight: Breaking Free from a System Designed to Hold Him Back
It is said it takes a village to raise a child and that’s true of Kenny Imafidon.
On Wednesday evening, many of the people who helped raise Kenny, came together in one room to celebrate the launch of his NEW book, That Peckham Boy.
Where else to hold the event than the Prince of Peckham – something of a homecoming for this Peckham Prince.
The evening began with a drinks reception sponsored by local wine bar and restaurant, Peckham Cellars.
It was refreshing to see so many people from as many walks of life, who have been part of Kenny’s journey from the streets to prison and on to the boardroom.
Imafidon’s Fight: Breaking Free from a System Designed to Hold Him Back
The great good including, Lord Hastings and Baroness Amos gathered to share memories of the Kenny they knew and the man they continue to know.
His story is a page-turner and a tale of what it means to be young, black and poor in the Capital. Charged with a murder he didn’t commit, Kenny, then aged 18, knew it was time to grow up, get out and give back.
Imafidon’s Fight: Breaking Free from a System Designed to Hold Him Back
Now aged 30 and newly married, he is co-founder and managing director of ClearView Research, which specialises in research and engagement projects focused on diverse and underrepresented communities.
How did he get here from such humble beginnings? This is his story, told in his own inimitable style.
Imafidon once lived a double life, as a good student, with a side hustle dealing on the Peckham streets – until he was incarcerated.
He grew up the middle child of an ambitious single mother, in South London, where deprivation and gang culture were rife. Life was tough.
After the case against Imafidon collapsed, he decided to move his life in a new direction, beginning with The Kenny Report, which he delivered to the House of Commons, detailing the experiences of marginalised young people who drift into gangs.
This led to extensive work with charities, communities and policy-makers that is helping to change the narratives of other young people.
That Peckham Boy charts one man’s difficult childhood, his transformative time in prison, and the people and conversations that took him from being on trial for murder into the company of some of the most successful people in the world.
Kenny Imafidon is a social entrepreneur, political commentator and activist.
Kenny has written for influential and award-winning publications and has led innovative partnerships with global brands such as Uber, Tinder and Deliveroo on campaigns to get young people registered to vote and to turn out in elections.
Kenny is a trustee of several charities and in 2022 he was featured in Forbes’ annual ‘30 under 30’ list for Social Impact.
Growing up takes seems to take a long time these days so it’s difficult to understand how Imafidon’s life is sorted long before that of many others.
He believes people underestimate the importance of learning from their elders and is big on inter-generational friendships to set you on the right path in life.
These days, he lives a life that’s “strict and disciplined”, rising at 5am to pray and get things done while it’s quiet.
He lives a life of dedication to his work, the Bible, exercise and his family – but not necessarily in that order.
Imafidon appreciates the part environment has to play in shaping an individual but holds no truck with the phrase, “product of your environment.”
“Future chapters are there for us to write, so he says, and what matters most is accountability and understanding that decisions are based on choice.”
Paloma LacyContributor
