A while ago, I came across an advert for new apartments in Tottenham starting at around £600,000 and complete with a built-in yoga studio. I was surprised, but not entirely. The Tottenham I grew up in was known for many things, but luxury high-rises certainly weren’t one of them.

The ad reminded me of the moment I first heard people referring to South and North Tottenham as “So-To” and “No-To”. If that kind of hipster rebranding isn’t a sign of gentrification, I don’t know what is. It felt like yet another “one bites the dust” moment, another area with deep Black community roots becoming increasingly unrecognisable.

This shift mirrors what happened in my own hometown of Hackney, which has long felt like a place I no longer recognise. Across London, the spaces once known as strongholds of Black culture and community are becoming harder to find, and the sense of belonging that came with them is becoming increasingly dispersed.