The last 2 weeks have been really positive yet I've been so busy that I've not found the time or the motivation to update this blog. Thought I would just jump on quickly to summarise some of the exciting bits and bobs that have been popping over thanks to some of the amazing people floating around Derbados. There has been stuff going on each week and I feel as though I've learnt loads from being involved in different projects with different people. I helped to facilitate a visioning day for Global Education Derby which was positive. An outcome being that G.E.D is going to try and reach out more to different community groups and collaborate more with existing alternative organisations. The following Thursday we ran the first CITY-ZEN film night @ The Brewery Tap, which was a real success. About 12 people came and we discussed the relevance of the film afterwards. It was a really nice atmosphere and there were some really interesting opinions being expressed. The question of the evening for me being: How do we create change? Some of the ideas inspiring. The following evening, Friday 18th, The Sound Track Derby project that was being ran by PS culminated in a performance on the market square in collaboration with Surtal Asian arts as well as a finale event upstairs in QUAD, which was a great success. Word on the street was that people involved had been discouraged from mentioning the £23 million pound cuts to the arts. As a result I added the following lyric to my Sound Track Derby piece: "It's the scribble of the pen when you sign the petition, to save Derby arts from illegitimate decisions/ It's the silence of my censors when I speak without permission, because these are the sounds of our lives" I think the sentiment was appreciated by people involved in the organisations that were discouraged from speaking out and it was met with a light ripple of applause from certain members of the crowd. The other Sound Track Derby lads smashed it too and if they keep working hard and being creative should have a successful future ahead of them. The following Tuesday was the G.E.D management committee meeting where numerous issues were discussed regarding the future of Global Education Derby and how best to move forward. In my opinion critical pedagogy or popular education or global education or education for global justice or whatever you want to call it is one of the most powerful tools there is to create change. Traditional formal schooling is responsible for the wide spread ignorance, apathy, competitiveness, submissiveness and obedience to authority that exists in society, alongside the hierarchical family and the consumer culture ideology that permeates the ether. To help people critically explore the issues that matter to them whilst empowering each other to create social change is a crucial process in our personal and social development and it is because of this that I am the chair of Global Education Derby and eager to see it succeed. Wednesday night myself and AR attended a Trade Union meeting to work out what is happening on STRIKE day, November 30th and how CITY-ZEN can do our thing at the Market Square in harmony with what the Unions have planned. I then attended what was possibly the least productive City-Zen meeting in time immemorial. Last night CITY-ZEN ran it's first workshop in the Brewery Tap called Cuts, Anti-Capitalism and Movements for Change, which was a reasonable success with about 13 people attending and everyone participating their ideas regarding the problems with capitalism, what an alternative world would look like and our ideas of what we could do, how we could do it, who should do what and any other questions we think should be asked. There was definite room for improvement but ultimately it was a more than worth while critical and creative learning experience. A highlight was that a gentlemen attended who found out about the workshop from picking up a copy of the RamPAGES in a launderette. Nice one. Tomorrow is a big day as we have the Shop Less, Share More, CITY-ZEN special on the Market Square, there's gonna be a FREE SHOP, INFO STALL, Sound Bites providing FOOD & DRINK, Social Change Library, OPEN MIC plus entertainment from GEO FEST, BARNABY THOMPSON and JODIE PINCHES. Please come along, bring some stuff for the free shop and spread the word. Dont forget to STRIKE November 30th. See you on the streets. x
Resistance & Creativity
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