What an exciting time to be alive. 2012 is in full swing and I've been trying to consider the best ways I can use my skills, knowledge and experience to enjoy this precious existence in a way that is fulfilling, enjoyable and empowering for myself as well those I work and play with. Solidarity seems to be the key for me and finding strength and joy through the synergy we find through cooperating with others the essence of achieving these aims.
In order to stay focussed and motivated I regularly reflect on the point of being alive asking myself what are the best and worst things that I'm aware of. I consider the things which fill me with rage and sorrow as well as joy and happiness. I consider the worst situations I've been in, the worst situations I'm aware of that other people have been in and I explore how those situations can be overcome. I reflect on everything I'm grateful for, the various ways in which I'm privileged and how I can use these privileges in a way that is positive and empowering for everyone involved. To be alive, to have blood pumping through my veins and air flowing through my lungs, to have the capacity to act, to choose what I do next is an incredible gift that not everyone is able to enjoy to the extent to which I can. I am determined not to waste this opportunity and I feel constantly inspired and encouraged by those around me who are doing what they can to make the most of their existence.
My choices and the choices of those around me are however inherently limited due to the nature of living in a capitalist society that seeks to divide and conquer us, deprive us of the access to resources that are rightfully ours and exclude us from taking part in the decisions that dictate the shape of our communities and the lives we are able to lead. We live a world of abundance under a system that allows a minority to eat the vast bulk of the cake which is baked by the masses. If we're lucky we get the crumbs and it's a fucking piss take. I don't think that 'Being the change you wish to see in the world' is enough. The change I want to see involves people relating to each other differently without their activities, desires and lives being controlled by money. It would involve collectively resisting the ever encroaching logic of capitalism and the different ways in which it steals everything from us before putting a price tag on it and selling it back to us at profit. It would involve reclaiming what has been stolen from us over hundreds of years as well as collectively creating alternative ways of living that meet all of our needs and wants. It would involve a mass refusal and creation that would simultaneously withdraw support from a system that is killing humanity and stifling our development whilst also implementing everything we know about the art of living, learning, loving and flourishing as life on this planet.
How do we do this? There is no single answer. There are many different aspects of our existence which we can choose to engage with differently, whether it's education, decision making, food, housing, transport, art, media, it's all up for grabs. But what should I do? What should you do? What do you enjoy doing and what do you want to do? How could you do what you love in way that contributes towards the solution more than the problem? How can you do what you love doing with others in way that creates synergy and sends ripples of empowerment and inspiration throughout your communities?
Everyone's circumstances are different and we can all fight from where we stand, seeking improvements in our daily lives by organising alternatives with others whilst simultaneously resisting the restrictions that are imposed upon us by the state and capitalism. What I can achieve is nothing compared to what we can achieve together and by asking each other questions, listening to each others stories, thoughts, perspectives and opinions, whilst sharing our own in a spirit of mutual respect and solidarity we can begin to shine light on ways of moving forward and beyond our present reality. In order for me to fulfil my potential, as someone who is a product of the social conditions and people by whom I have been shaped, conditioned and affected by, it's in my own interests that you all fulfil your potential. We can only do this by acting together. By helping each other we help ourselves. So, what now?
What do you think are the most important questions we should be asking? What are the answers?
Monday 5 March 2012
Friday 13 January 2012
Reflecting on 2011 (Part 2): Goals for 2012
Lengths 13 – 14: What do I hope to achieve in the year ahead? This year I am involved in various creative and critical youth work projects which form the core of my passion and focus for the year ahead. I am also a support worker for a friend with learning difficulties and in my own time I am involved in the City-Zen events collective, City-Zine community magazine and the RamPAGES critical newsletter. I am also an MC and spoken word artist who over the last few years has only really channelled my creativity into the youth work projects I've been involved in rather than writing for myself and others outside of work. This year I plan for that to change. I would also like to support Sound Bites wholefood cooperative more as well as the Social Change Library upstairs in Yaffle Cafe that I helped to set up a few years ago.
This year I want the impact we have on the youn gpeople at Baby People PRU to be more potent than ever before. I have been asked to take a lead on helping implement a more critical global youth work based approach to our work which ultimately entails engaging young people with the issues that impact upon their lives and encouraging them to ask questions which we then collectively critically explore before helping to support them take action towards the creation of a more just, equitable and sustainable society. We always start with the personal then move to the local, national and global helping each other understand the interconnectedness and global nature of our daily lives. The theme for the first term was Past, Present, Future, the second term is Derbz on the Map and the third term will be No More Lives Lost, which moves logically from the personal to the local to the national/global. The young people shall produce mix tapes, perform and organise community events that aim to bring people together, raise awareness and inspire people to take action for social change.
Other projects that I'm working on this year include Shake The Dust which is working with young people in Nottingham to help them train to become slam poets that shall compete in a slam poetry tournament as a part of the cultural olympiad. I am also helping with a Global Education Derby project called 'Money, Power, Respect' which is going to be banging. It's working with local MCs and musicians in Derby to critically explore the themes of money, power and respect before creatively expressing themselves through music and lyric writing. Those involved in the project shall develop vital organisational and community development skills as well as be given the opportunity to put out mix tapes, music videos, deliver workshops to young people all over the city and finally perform at a huge finale event. The final project I look forward to is going back to work for the Challenge Network over the summer who work with young people aged 16 from all over the country. The Challenge Network take young people on residentials and empower them to become more confident, capable, cooperative, critical minded citizens.
I am also excited to be the chair of the management committee of Global Education Derby which is a critical, progressive, global education charity. I'm really enjoying helping it move towards being a more decentralised, autonomous and democratic organisation which operates in a way that is aligned with the values that exist at it's core. I also really look forward to helping the City-Zen collective continue their good work in entertaining, educating, involving and inspiring the community through their street events, film showings, workshops and fund raising events and I also aim to keep pushing the cause of free-expression whilst providing a platform for the people via the open, uncensored community magazine City-Zine as well as also researching and writing critically about global capitalism and the Con-Dem governments absurdly unjust policies for the RamPAGES newsletter. I hope to see more activity occur with Derby Uncut and the Occupation movement and last but far from least I'm going to write, record and perform more. Watch this space and get in touch if you'd like to help out or get involved in anyway. The more the merrier and your help would be deeply appreciated.
Resistance, Creativity, Praxis and Progress. x
This year I want the impact we have on the youn gpeople at Baby People PRU to be more potent than ever before. I have been asked to take a lead on helping implement a more critical global youth work based approach to our work which ultimately entails engaging young people with the issues that impact upon their lives and encouraging them to ask questions which we then collectively critically explore before helping to support them take action towards the creation of a more just, equitable and sustainable society. We always start with the personal then move to the local, national and global helping each other understand the interconnectedness and global nature of our daily lives. The theme for the first term was Past, Present, Future, the second term is Derbz on the Map and the third term will be No More Lives Lost, which moves logically from the personal to the local to the national/global. The young people shall produce mix tapes, perform and organise community events that aim to bring people together, raise awareness and inspire people to take action for social change.
Other projects that I'm working on this year include Shake The Dust which is working with young people in Nottingham to help them train to become slam poets that shall compete in a slam poetry tournament as a part of the cultural olympiad. I am also helping with a Global Education Derby project called 'Money, Power, Respect' which is going to be banging. It's working with local MCs and musicians in Derby to critically explore the themes of money, power and respect before creatively expressing themselves through music and lyric writing. Those involved in the project shall develop vital organisational and community development skills as well as be given the opportunity to put out mix tapes, music videos, deliver workshops to young people all over the city and finally perform at a huge finale event. The final project I look forward to is going back to work for the Challenge Network over the summer who work with young people aged 16 from all over the country. The Challenge Network take young people on residentials and empower them to become more confident, capable, cooperative, critical minded citizens.
I am also excited to be the chair of the management committee of Global Education Derby which is a critical, progressive, global education charity. I'm really enjoying helping it move towards being a more decentralised, autonomous and democratic organisation which operates in a way that is aligned with the values that exist at it's core. I also really look forward to helping the City-Zen collective continue their good work in entertaining, educating, involving and inspiring the community through their street events, film showings, workshops and fund raising events and I also aim to keep pushing the cause of free-expression whilst providing a platform for the people via the open, uncensored community magazine City-Zine as well as also researching and writing critically about global capitalism and the Con-Dem governments absurdly unjust policies for the RamPAGES newsletter. I hope to see more activity occur with Derby Uncut and the Occupation movement and last but far from least I'm going to write, record and perform more. Watch this space and get in touch if you'd like to help out or get involved in anyway. The more the merrier and your help would be deeply appreciated.
Resistance, Creativity, Praxis and Progress. x
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Reflecting on 2011 (Part 1)
As we close the door on one of the most fascinating years I've personally experienced as a living, breathing sentient being we find ourselves as a species standing on the precipice. 2012 is here in full affect and fuck knows what to expect. End of the world? Global Revolution? Well, I guess there are somethings we can control more than others and after what has been a pretty depressing couple of weeks for yours truly I attempt to sobre up, make a plan, get some sleep and continue to attempt to make something of this one life we have on this earth.
Today has been the day when I get my shit together, take my head out my arse (to an extent) and start trying to take a bit more responsibility for my existence. For the last two weeks I've been wallowing in self-pity, dissapointment and a deep sense of isolation and loneliness that hit me like an apocolyptic comet that wasn't on the radar. There are many factors involved but that's getting boring now. What's exciting however is that I'm alive, I'm full of potential and I have the capacity to develop, to learn, to love, to overcome and to proactively choose what I do with my life. If all of us proactively chose to work together and take action collectively then no doubt we could create a world based on our deepest desires and dreams.
For my first blog entry of 2012 I want to share with you something I do whenever I'm feeling demotivated, depressed or generally out of touch with what matters. Every week I go swimming, usually 2 or 3 times and I do a series of thought exercises over about 25 lengths. Every 2 lengths I focus on a particular question as a way of gaining a more balanced and concentrated perspective on the things that matter. Today I began by diving into the pool and swam the first 8 lengths trying to meditate, to think of nothing, to feel the water against my skin, feel the air in my lungs but think of nothing. I find it almost impossible but that's the nature of the game. Thoughts come and go yet we aim to be completely in the moment, no thoughts, just awake, aware, concentrated and at one.
Lengths 8 – 10: What are my motivations? I am for pleasure, against pain, for peace, against war, for equality, against authority, for love against hate, for happiness, against depression, for solidarity, against division, for sustainability, against environmental destruction, for joy, against sorrow, for life, against death, for participation, against exclusion, for creativity, against consumerism, for freedom, against oppression, for critical thinking, against indoctrination, for D.I.Y culture and collectives, against the corporations and hierarchy, for anarchism, against capitalism....
Lengths 11 -12: What did I achieve last year? In Feb SE asked me to facilitate an intergenerational community day in Brum, myself RR and JC facilitated an Open Space Technology workshop in Derby, In March I organised with the help of loads of ace people a For The People 30th birthday special that raised funds for City-Zine at Redemption which was followed shortly by the March 23rd,protests in London. In April myself, RR and JC organised an Open Space Technology meeting on the day of the Royal Wedding, in June I helped organise and host Love Music Hate Racism, myself and JS dipped our toes in the water of street performance by the waterfall on the same day as the City-Zen Collective organised a fundraiser for Movimento Passe Livre, I helped to build for the J30 strike, in July I organised a series of popular education workshops about understanding the spending cuts followed in August by a series about resisting the spending cuts, I applied for a job at the national summer residential youth project the Challenge Network as a team mentor but got asked to apply for senior mentor then eventually got employed as Assistant Team Leader, in September I helped to host and promote Derby Music Month as well as perform on the splash stage by the waterfall as a part of Derby Feste, throughout October and November I helped to facilitate a part of the Sound Track Derby project through QUAD which culminated in an excellent performance by some very talented MCs, in October myself RS, RR and JH attended the Radical Media Conference and shortly after published and distributed the first edition of the RamPAGES newsletter, whilst in London that weekend we participated in the Block The Bill action called by UK Uncut and also took action the following week against the Royal Bank of Scotland with Derby Uncut, on November 5th City-Zen Against the Cuts took to the Derby market square for the first of many street events, which was also accompanied that day by an action by Derby Uncut against Primark and Burtons, throughout November I helped to build towards the N30 strikes which City-Zen also took to the streets for, in November & DecemberI also helped to facilitate an anti-capitalism workshop, film showings of the Take and the Shock Doctrine as well as a workshop about Civil Unrest for a Global Youth Work regional conference in Nottingham, on December 17th City-Zen took to the streets again with a free shop, info stall, entertainment, food and more for Shop Less, Share More City-Zen and finally the young people I work with at Baby People Pupil Referral Unit launched their first mixtape which we'd been working on that term and 1000 copies of City-Zine 15 was also published just in time for Christmas. Much love, thanks and solidarity to everyone who was involved in all of these different projects throughout the year. Keep up the good work.
Lengths 13 – 14...to be continued
Today has been the day when I get my shit together, take my head out my arse (to an extent) and start trying to take a bit more responsibility for my existence. For the last two weeks I've been wallowing in self-pity, dissapointment and a deep sense of isolation and loneliness that hit me like an apocolyptic comet that wasn't on the radar. There are many factors involved but that's getting boring now. What's exciting however is that I'm alive, I'm full of potential and I have the capacity to develop, to learn, to love, to overcome and to proactively choose what I do with my life. If all of us proactively chose to work together and take action collectively then no doubt we could create a world based on our deepest desires and dreams.
For my first blog entry of 2012 I want to share with you something I do whenever I'm feeling demotivated, depressed or generally out of touch with what matters. Every week I go swimming, usually 2 or 3 times and I do a series of thought exercises over about 25 lengths. Every 2 lengths I focus on a particular question as a way of gaining a more balanced and concentrated perspective on the things that matter. Today I began by diving into the pool and swam the first 8 lengths trying to meditate, to think of nothing, to feel the water against my skin, feel the air in my lungs but think of nothing. I find it almost impossible but that's the nature of the game. Thoughts come and go yet we aim to be completely in the moment, no thoughts, just awake, aware, concentrated and at one.
Lengths 8 – 10: What are my motivations? I am for pleasure, against pain, for peace, against war, for equality, against authority, for love against hate, for happiness, against depression, for solidarity, against division, for sustainability, against environmental destruction, for joy, against sorrow, for life, against death, for participation, against exclusion, for creativity, against consumerism, for freedom, against oppression, for critical thinking, against indoctrination, for D.I.Y culture and collectives, against the corporations and hierarchy, for anarchism, against capitalism....
Lengths 11 -12: What did I achieve last year? In Feb SE asked me to facilitate an intergenerational community day in Brum, myself RR and JC facilitated an Open Space Technology workshop in Derby, In March I organised with the help of loads of ace people a For The People 30th birthday special that raised funds for City-Zine at Redemption which was followed shortly by the March 23rd,protests in London. In April myself, RR and JC organised an Open Space Technology meeting on the day of the Royal Wedding, in June I helped organise and host Love Music Hate Racism, myself and JS dipped our toes in the water of street performance by the waterfall on the same day as the City-Zen Collective organised a fundraiser for Movimento Passe Livre, I helped to build for the J30 strike, in July I organised a series of popular education workshops about understanding the spending cuts followed in August by a series about resisting the spending cuts, I applied for a job at the national summer residential youth project the Challenge Network as a team mentor but got asked to apply for senior mentor then eventually got employed as Assistant Team Leader, in September I helped to host and promote Derby Music Month as well as perform on the splash stage by the waterfall as a part of Derby Feste, throughout October and November I helped to facilitate a part of the Sound Track Derby project through QUAD which culminated in an excellent performance by some very talented MCs, in October myself RS, RR and JH attended the Radical Media Conference and shortly after published and distributed the first edition of the RamPAGES newsletter, whilst in London that weekend we participated in the Block The Bill action called by UK Uncut and also took action the following week against the Royal Bank of Scotland with Derby Uncut, on November 5th City-Zen Against the Cuts took to the Derby market square for the first of many street events, which was also accompanied that day by an action by Derby Uncut against Primark and Burtons, throughout November I helped to build towards the N30 strikes which City-Zen also took to the streets for, in November & DecemberI also helped to facilitate an anti-capitalism workshop, film showings of the Take and the Shock Doctrine as well as a workshop about Civil Unrest for a Global Youth Work regional conference in Nottingham, on December 17th City-Zen took to the streets again with a free shop, info stall, entertainment, food and more for Shop Less, Share More City-Zen and finally the young people I work with at Baby People Pupil Referral Unit launched their first mixtape which we'd been working on that term and 1000 copies of City-Zine 15 was also published just in time for Christmas. Much love, thanks and solidarity to everyone who was involved in all of these different projects throughout the year. Keep up the good work.
Lengths 13 – 14...to be continued
Monday 28 November 2011
CITY-ZEN workshop Cuts, Anti-Capitalism and Movements for Change
On Thursday 24th November CITY-ZEN ran a workshop upstairs in the Brewery Taps pub titled Cuts, Anti-Capitalism and movements for change. About 12 people turned up and took part in a handful of participatory activities to pool their knowledge and ideas regarding the problems with capitalism, what an alternative society would look like, examples of alternatives as well as what we would like to do to move towards an alternative, how it should be done, who should do it and any other questions we have.
For the first activity there was a large piece of paper on the table that said “The problem with capitalism is...” and as people arrived their wrote down their ideas on the piece of paper. What follows is some of the suggestions. The problem with capitalism is it sucks your soul away, is totally unsustainable, it concentrates wealth into the hands of a few by stealing a portion of the workers wage as profit, it demands infinite growth and therefore always needs more resources and new markets and therefore creates wars, imperialism and colonialism, the rich will always get richer and the poor poorer, things will get steadily worse and destroy the earth at the same time, it profits the few at the expense of the majority especially those in the global south, it encourages competition, individualism, nationalism and racism, it focusses all the attention onto the bottom line not a community of production, it measures things by money ignoring so many other more important values like health/fulfilment, etc, it isn't regulated, it creates wage slavery, depression, poverty, debt and is also at the root of issues such as sexism and racism.
We then introduced ourselves whilst stating why it was that we were motivated to attend todays workshop before having a group discussion about some of the things we'd written down. People were then asked to split up into pairs and discuss what their ideal world would look like before feeding back and then forming larger groups of 4 and creating an image of their ideal world. We fed back the key characteristics, values and aspects of our image. We then discussed examples of alternatives including the Paris Commune, Spain 1936, the Zapatista autonomous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, the Argentinian response to the economy collapsing in 2001, Critical Mass bike rides, the Clockworks social centre and various other examples.
Finally I introduced the final activity which entailed giving everyone 4 post-it notes and helping to take part in a collective writing project that aimed to give answers to the following four questions: 1)What would we like to see happen? 2) How would we like to see it happen 3) Who would you like to see make it happen 4) What other questions do we have? The responses were written on to post it notes and stuck on a piece of flip chart paper that was divided into 4 grids. The answers are as follows:
1) What...?
- Love
- Creating the community now
- more actual projects, if you want to start something, tell people, find allies, try it out
- Socialism
- Get involved with local decision making structures to improve and develop democratic accountability
- A group called 'Grow Our Own' or something? A shared community allotment
- Guerilla gardening as well as seed planting to help bees.
- mapping growing in Derby area i.e. who has land/skills/knowledge
- I like the idea of the critical mass bike ride in Derby
- Corporations take their responsibility to their local community seriously. Enforcing tax laws and closing loopholes
For the first activity there was a large piece of paper on the table that said “The problem with capitalism is...” and as people arrived their wrote down their ideas on the piece of paper. What follows is some of the suggestions. The problem with capitalism is it sucks your soul away, is totally unsustainable, it concentrates wealth into the hands of a few by stealing a portion of the workers wage as profit, it demands infinite growth and therefore always needs more resources and new markets and therefore creates wars, imperialism and colonialism, the rich will always get richer and the poor poorer, things will get steadily worse and destroy the earth at the same time, it profits the few at the expense of the majority especially those in the global south, it encourages competition, individualism, nationalism and racism, it focusses all the attention onto the bottom line not a community of production, it measures things by money ignoring so many other more important values like health/fulfilment, etc, it isn't regulated, it creates wage slavery, depression, poverty, debt and is also at the root of issues such as sexism and racism.
We then introduced ourselves whilst stating why it was that we were motivated to attend todays workshop before having a group discussion about some of the things we'd written down. People were then asked to split up into pairs and discuss what their ideal world would look like before feeding back and then forming larger groups of 4 and creating an image of their ideal world. We fed back the key characteristics, values and aspects of our image. We then discussed examples of alternatives including the Paris Commune, Spain 1936, the Zapatista autonomous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, the Argentinian response to the economy collapsing in 2001, Critical Mass bike rides, the Clockworks social centre and various other examples.
Finally I introduced the final activity which entailed giving everyone 4 post-it notes and helping to take part in a collective writing project that aimed to give answers to the following four questions: 1)What would we like to see happen? 2) How would we like to see it happen 3) Who would you like to see make it happen 4) What other questions do we have? The responses were written on to post it notes and stuck on a piece of flip chart paper that was divided into 4 grids. The answers are as follows:
1) What...?
- Love
- Creating the community now
- more actual projects, if you want to start something, tell people, find allies, try it out
- Socialism
- Get involved with local decision making structures to improve and develop democratic accountability
- A group called 'Grow Our Own' or something? A shared community allotment
- Guerilla gardening as well as seed planting to help bees.
- mapping growing in Derby area i.e. who has land/skills/knowledge
- I like the idea of the critical mass bike ride in Derby
- Corporations take their responsibility to their local community seriously. Enforcing tax laws and closing loopholes
- Occupation of Westfield by Unions on 30/11/11
2) How...?
- Revolutionary Vanguard
- Everyone taking part in a Derby bike ride
- Educational and community workshops
- Community allotments/gardens, engage lots of people and grow our own food
- Attend/join your local neighbourhood forum/board, impact upon on local decisions on housing, transport, policing, youth facilities, etc.
- People working on an individual basis to help everyone else, maybe by producing their own food or offering a service.
- Permaculture
3) Who...?
- International Solidarity
- You, your neighbours, people who live locally. Go to www.derby.gov.uk to find the dates of your forum
- People with the right attitude and an educated gardener to guide
- Everyone
- The government, they get their power from us and now they should hold up their side of the bargain.
4) Other questions?
- I want to paint positive slogans on buildings. How do I get permission? Who else will help?
- If we want corporations to act properly does criminal behaviour lead to contradictions?
- Are we all just reformers? If so should we all embrace? How would a revolutionary behave?
- What's a realistic alternative to the car?
If you would like to help out with any of these ideas or you would like to add any suggestions of your own then please email cityzinederby@gmail.com and we will be in touch and keep you in the loop. If you would like to facilitate or run a workshop of your choosing then City-Zen would love to help you make that happen as well as promoting it.
Resistance & Creativity.
2) How...?
- Revolutionary Vanguard
- Everyone taking part in a Derby bike ride
- Educational and community workshops
- Community allotments/gardens, engage lots of people and grow our own food
- Attend/join your local neighbourhood forum/board, impact upon on local decisions on housing, transport, policing, youth facilities, etc.
- People working on an individual basis to help everyone else, maybe by producing their own food or offering a service.
- Permaculture
3) Who...?
- International Solidarity
- You, your neighbours, people who live locally. Go to www.derby.gov.uk to find the dates of your forum
- People with the right attitude and an educated gardener to guide
- Everyone
- The government, they get their power from us and now they should hold up their side of the bargain.
4) Other questions?
- I want to paint positive slogans on buildings. How do I get permission? Who else will help?
- If we want corporations to act properly does criminal behaviour lead to contradictions?
- Are we all just reformers? If so should we all embrace? How would a revolutionary behave?
- What's a realistic alternative to the car?
If you would like to help out with any of these ideas or you would like to add any suggestions of your own then please email cityzinederby@gmail.com and we will be in touch and keep you in the loop. If you would like to facilitate or run a workshop of your choosing then City-Zen would love to help you make that happen as well as promoting it.
Resistance & Creativity.
Friday 25 November 2011
Asking the questions, spreading the word, taking the actions for change.
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
Resistance & Creativity
Friday 11 November 2011
Roll up, Roll up, for ya regular radical read the RAmPAGES...
Saturday was such an inspiring day and every one had worked so hard to make it a success that Sunday was all about chilling in bed, eating yummy food and taking it easy. I had a meeting on Monday morning with Oaklands Community Care about a new job doing 10 hours a week working with my man BP and then I spent the rest of the day helping to tidy up the house whilst preparing for my job interview with the Lyric Lounge which was the next day. My dearest friend RR was feeling down about a few things that had not gone so well that day so I tried to cheer her up before hitting the sack and visualising a successful job interview. I got up bright and breezy and arrived in Notts half an hour early for the interview. I was rehearsing a piece that I was going to perform. I was going to ask them to think about what they thought was the point of the word, the spoken word and then ask them to imagine that they were a super hero who had a magic power which enabled them to plant a single idea into everyone's heads. What would that idea be? If you had to boil it down to the single most important word, what would that word be? Anyway, it was part of a wider presentation but they didn't ask me to perform in the end, which I thought was a shame. The interview went quite well but the standard was so high that I'm not going to hold my breathe about getting the post. If I do it'd be great but if I don't I'll just crack on and try to learn something from it.
In the afternoon I had an awesome meeting with the RamPAGES collective regarding the distribution of the newsletter before meeting with RR to help plan her workshop on Human Rights before heading home to spend the evening eating an amazing meal prepared by SR and CD. The next day myself, RR and PS went to Derby Uni to do a a Global Education Derby, City-ZEn, Swap Derby, RamPAGES and City-Zine stall as a part of the volunteers fare. It was really positive and loads of interest was shown by different students. I also managed to hand out about 100 copies of the RamPAGES whilst experimenting with different ways to engage people by saying different things about what it actually is. “Derby people taking action against the spending cuts” seemed to gain the most engagement which is a great sign. That evening we had a City-Zen meeting at Forman Street studios with RR, AR, PS, TK, SJ, DL and BJ. We reflected on the amazing event that had taken place and discussed how it could be improved before agreeing to do another one on Saturday November 26th which is Buy Nothing Day although we're calling it Shop Less, Share More, City-Zen. This shall be followed by another on Saturday December 3rd. We'll look forward to seeing you there. X
In the afternoon I had an awesome meeting with the RamPAGES collective regarding the distribution of the newsletter before meeting with RR to help plan her workshop on Human Rights before heading home to spend the evening eating an amazing meal prepared by SR and CD. The next day myself, RR and PS went to Derby Uni to do a a Global Education Derby, City-ZEn, Swap Derby, RamPAGES and City-Zine stall as a part of the volunteers fare. It was really positive and loads of interest was shown by different students. I also managed to hand out about 100 copies of the RamPAGES whilst experimenting with different ways to engage people by saying different things about what it actually is. “Derby people taking action against the spending cuts” seemed to gain the most engagement which is a great sign. That evening we had a City-Zen meeting at Forman Street studios with RR, AR, PS, TK, SJ, DL and BJ. We reflected on the amazing event that had taken place and discussed how it could be improved before agreeing to do another one on Saturday November 26th which is Buy Nothing Day although we're calling it Shop Less, Share More, City-Zen. This shall be followed by another on Saturday December 3rd. We'll look forward to seeing you there. X
CITY-ZEN, GEO FEST and DERBY UNCUT AGAINST THE CUTS...
It's been over a week since I last wrote for the blog. Things have been so busy and really positive yet it feels as though I've not really had a minute to chill and reflect. The most important and inspiring thing is undoubtedly the City-Zen Against the Cuts event that we organised on Saturday at the Market Square. Myself and RR started the morning packing stuff for the free shop into a suit case and loading her car up with placards, banners, drapes, zines, pamphlets and other bits and bobs needed for the day. We decided to set up underneath an overhang outside where Santanders used to be in case it rained and PS who had worked her socks off all week for this event procured some tables from QUAD. SJ, MG, RR, PS, myself and the GEO FEST crew set up the stalls, displayed the banners, placards, and buntin and set up TB's small battery powered pa system. SR arrived with the food and drink contribution from Sound Bites which was later added to by Bls amazing soup which was consumed in moments.The set up was visually stimulating and engaging and their was more than enough to do to keep everyone happy. There were so many people that were just walking through that stopped to check out the free shop, often baffled by the concept of people giving things away for free. Kids were getting their faces painted, everyone was drawing on the floor with chalk and every now and then an announcement was made regarding the Spending Cuts as well as what we were doing there and what has happening.
An exciting part of the day was when Derby Uncut met by the Waterfall to take action against Primark. No one had a megaphone so we borrowed the small pa from City-Zen and before heading towards Primark with about 7 of us we informed the City-Zen crowds that we were about to take action against Primark and a small group of teenagers decided to join us which was excellent. The action was unplanned so not particularly effective yet it definintely highlighted the potential there is for us to do more creative and engaging actions in the future. SV did an excellent job singing about the injustices we're facing which captivated the attention of the punters, all of whom seemed to react very positively. Back at the Market Square the creativity, information, food and entertainment unravelled in a really positive way and again highlighted to all of us how much potential there is to significantly engage with the public in a way that is fun, friendly, inspiring and effective. Watch this space. There is much more to come.
An exciting part of the day was when Derby Uncut met by the Waterfall to take action against Primark. No one had a megaphone so we borrowed the small pa from City-Zen and before heading towards Primark with about 7 of us we informed the City-Zen crowds that we were about to take action against Primark and a small group of teenagers decided to join us which was excellent. The action was unplanned so not particularly effective yet it definintely highlighted the potential there is for us to do more creative and engaging actions in the future. SV did an excellent job singing about the injustices we're facing which captivated the attention of the punters, all of whom seemed to react very positively. Back at the Market Square the creativity, information, food and entertainment unravelled in a really positive way and again highlighted to all of us how much potential there is to significantly engage with the public in a way that is fun, friendly, inspiring and effective. Watch this space. There is much more to come.
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