Idris Elba is taking a stand as knife violence in London is on the rise.
The “Concrete Cowboy” star attended Arsenal’s match against Nottingham Forrest and wore an all-white Arsenal jersey from their Adidas campaign No More Red.
“It’s absolutely in response to the knife crime crisis that we’ve got going on,” Elba said to ITV. “Last year, 30 kids—and I’m going to say ‘kids’ –died senselessly over knife crime. And the year before that, the year before that, it’s an ongoing problem. Ian [Wright] and I teamed up with Arsenal and Adidas to make a point and say something about it.”
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Elba continued, “No More Red literally means ‘no more bloodshed.’ That’s what we’re going for, just to put it out there, no more bloodshed. We can do something, football is watched by teenagers, we all joined football as a teen, as kids, and it spoke to us.”
“So, we’re using the innovation of the partnership to say, ‘Hey guys, how can we make a stand against knife crime?'”
"30 kids died last year – one of those kids could be on that pitch"
@Arsenal are wearing a special white kit this evening to shine a light on the epidemic of knife violence in London@idriselba explains all#NoMoreRed | @EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/3BQHx0fOh7 — ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 9, 2022
Elba is a mentor for the campaign, which aims to help solve the “root causes of youth violence,” as well as offer more opportunities and safe spaces for young people.
He also started a campaign titled Don’t Stab Your Future two years ago and was wearing a hat that people can purchase.
“It’s not subtle, it’s not meant to be,” Elba said of the name. “I want kids to think about their future.”
In 2021, teenage homicides reached the highest level since 2008 in London. Of the 30 teens that died, 27 were stabbed, according to BBC.
“A quarter of this year’s 122 homicide victims were teenagers, despite making up only eight per cent of London’s population,” the outlet states.
