s ’ r e k a e Sp Corner Speakers Corner is a creative, political social space in Bradford City Centre led by a collective of women and girls with events open to everyone. Their events are aimed at bringing people together to create positive action. Taiba Qayyum, 22 spoke to fellow members Mariyah Kayat, 18, Madeyah Khan, 18, Sabahat Rani, 18 and Sajidah Shabir, 17 about the collective and their experiences within it.
What is Speakers Corner? Madeyah: Speakers Corner is a political, creative and safe space where we can come and share our ideas and know that we’re not going to be judged about it. We know that we’re allowed to say whatever we want and that everyone has an individual opinion and we try to respect that...we respect each others individuality. What makes Speakers Corner Political? Sajidah: It’s political because we actively campaign for things that we want to change. We have our See Inside Me Campaign that raises awareness of the fact that in Bradford we’re trying to encourage parents and children
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to share viewpoints and hopefully make these relationships better. Through our campaigns we’re telling the people in the big seats that we as young people are trying to make change. Tell us a bit more about the See Inside Me Campaign? Mariyah: The See Inside Me campaign was created because we wanted to bridge the gap between parents and their children. We focussed on Mental Health, Relationships, Dreams and Aspirations. We wanted to make it easier for parents to speak to their children and vice a versa, and for parents to gain more of an understanding of what we go through on a daily basis.
