POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT AN ART + ACTIVIST ZINE
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is a new zine focusing on art and activism around the world. In a climate that is increasingly violent and seemingly falling apart, we want to celebrate the voices that are calling for unity, change and peace. In this spirit of intersectionality, we want to give these pages over to all types of people who are making a difference - those who are disrupting within and beyond our social media echo chambers. We can all make a difference. We can all amplify one another’s voices. This issues focuses on inspirational projects, post-Brexit attitudes, artistic reactions to Black Lives Matter protests, empathy, self care photography and tech empowerment for refugees. For the moment, this zine will live online. Please share it, and feed back on how we can improve & include more of the voices in your community. If you would like to submit work or nominate an activist project to be featured to the next issue in 2017, please email: wearensp@gmail.com KEEP FAITH | ART & ACTIVISM
Contents Editors Note Activist Spotlight: Conflict Kitchen 40 Years of Shape Arts
With thanks to:
Social Media Movement: #WearWhatYouWant Essay: Empathy, Art & Activism
Conflict Kitchen, Activist project Jo Harrison, Artist The Art of Black Lives Matter Olivia Domingos, Artist Jade French, Writer #ArtAgainstBrexit Aaron the Chief, Artist Jordan Casteel, Artist Kyle Platts, Illustrator Royal Integrity: Ample-some Dan Wilson, Illustrator Jo Duffy. Poet Empowerhack: Jay Daniel Wright, Illustrator Inclusive humanitarian tech Charlotte Trounce, Illustrator Qila Gill, Artist / Poet No You (Theresa) May Not Have A Frances Ives, Illustrator Rhianne Sinclair-Phillips, Essay Cuddle Matthew the Horse, Illustrator Ngaio Anyia, Musician / Journalist Real Life Resources I Am Still European, Design Project Royal Integrity, Social Movement Zurette Smith, Photographer Kayssie K, Writer Empowerhack, Technology Incubator Charlotte Seeley-Musgrave, Public Health Research Analyst Han Pham, Empowerhack Founder / UX Strategist Riz Moritz, Poet / Actress
Project Spotlight: Conflict Kitchen Pittsburgh, USA
“Conflict Kitchen is a restaurant that serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict. Each Conflict Kitchen iteration is augmented by events, performances, publications, and discussions that seek to expand the engagement the public has with the culture, politics, and issues at stake within the focus region. The restaurant rotates identities in relation to current geopolitical events. Our current Iranian version introduces our customers to the food, culture, and politics of Iran. Developed in collaboration with Iranians in Iran and the diaspora, our food comes packaged in wrappers that include interviews with Iranians on subjects ranging from culture to politics. As is to be expected, the thoughts and opinions that come through the interviews and our programming are informed by personal perspective and history. These diverse perspectives reflect a nuanced range of thought within each country and serves to instigate questioning, conversation, and debate with our customers. Operating seven days a week in the middle of the city, Conflict Kitchen uses the social relations of food and economic exchange to engage the general public in discussions about countries, cultures, and people that they might know little about outside of the polarizing rhetoric of governmental politics and the narrow lens of media headlines. In addition, the restaurant creates a constantly changing site for ethnic diversity in the post-industrial city of Pittsburgh, as it has presented the only Iranian, Afghan, Venezuelan, North Korean and Palestinian restaurants the city has ever seen.�
Could you tell us a little about Shape Arts and your role there?
GET TO KNOW: Shape Arts Shape Arts is a disability led arts organisation working to provide opportunities and support for disabled artists, aswell as disabled individuals wanting to work in the arts and cultural sector. Not So Popular's Jade French caught up with Arts Engagement, PR and Marketing Officer Lulu Nunn to find out more...
Shape works to end the marginalisation of disabled people in the arts. Disabled people are excluded from the arts as audiences, workers and artists or creatives and a lot of this comes from ignorance, prejudice and lack of opportunities so we address this on all fronts. I’m Shape’s resident loudmouth - my role is Arts Engagement, PR and Marketing Officer which means that I connect Shape with our audiences and make sure people know that we’re here and what we’re doing. I put on a couple of events every year, spread the word about Shape and make sure we’re getting out there as much as possible. Shape Arts has been going for 40 years, what have been the key milestone achievements to date? Could you pick out a couple of artists who exemplify the work Shape Arts has accomplished over the years? Having Yinka Shonibare MBE become our patron was incredible for us – he totally gets and endorses what we do which means so much to us. He actually started out working for us back in the early nineties and now is one of the most well-known artists in the world, and possibly the most well-known disabled artist, so, for us, he exemplifies our work (and hopefully he agrees). Setting up our Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary was also a huge moment because it meant we could offer disabled artists a genuinely important, respected and strong opportunity to develop their practice that is equal to many of the opportunities offered to non-disabled artists – a large bursary and a long residency at a respected gallery. We previously held the ARMB residency at galleries including the Camden Arts Centre and the Bluecoat and next February to April it’ll be taking place at Turner Contemporary. We’re always looking to the future here as, even though disabled people have come a long way in terms of gaining rights over the last 40 years, there’s still a lot of work to do. Could you explain the ‘Social Model of Disability’ and why it’s important to have such a framework in place at Shape Arts? Lots of people ask why we say ‘disabled’ and ‘disability’ instead of ‘differently-abled’, ‘different’, ‘special’ or ‘diffability’ – this is because we use the Social Model, which holds that a person isn’t disabled because of their impairment, health condition or differences but by physical and attitudinal barriers in society – prejudice, lack of access adjustments and systemic exclusion - that disable people.
The Social Model was developed by disabled people to identify and take action against discrimination, and to centre equality and human rights, in contrast to the Medical Model, which centres care, cure and welfare and places responsibility and blame on the individual for their ‘shortcomings’. Under the Social Model, it is on society to make changes, not on the disabled person, which is why it’s so important for individuals and organisations to understand and then make the changes required to stop marginalising and excluding people whose bodies and minds don’t comply with society’s idea of what is normative and acceptable. The next Shape Open Exhibition is themed ‘Power: The Politics of Disability’, what would you give as an example of the most powerful/political disability art you have come across? There’s so much! Disability arts has a really rich history and many people don’t even realise that some of their favourite artists are or were disabled and that a lot of their work is or was informed by disability in some way; Frida Kahlo made so much work discussing her identity as a queer, disabled woman of colour, but this is often overlooked and written off as her discussing herself very personally rather than reflecting experiences shared by many people. In a way, most if not all art that discusses disability is political and deals with issues of ‘power’. Last year Christine Sun Kim had an incredible show at Carroll Fletcher which involved an installation demonstrating deafness, and the way that it was communicated to audiences, for me, gave the artist a lot of power over the viewer in that she controlled their sensory and physical experience of the space. I also recently heard a story about deaf performance artist Aaron Williamson, who’s one of our trustees, attending an art talk that was not BSL interpreted, despite it being marketed as such. He spontaneously left the room to stand behind the glass wall partitioning it from a neighbouring room, watching silently with his arms folded, to demonstrate why this was such an unacceptable issue. Really powerful action. Do you think the institution of the ‘gallery’ still hasn’t caught up to the more inclusive arts that we can find online/Instagram?
Image above: ‘Strangers’ (2013) by Carly Jayne, 2014. Shape Open winner.
Definitely – some galleries are fantastic and place access and inclusion right at the forefront of what they do, but these are mostly the big institutions that have diversity policies to stick to. For most cutting-edge, independent or commercial galleries access either isn’t on their radar or they think that being more accessible will be a huge (and unjustifiable) stretch on resources. It’s like there’s this feeling that access isn’t sexy or trendy, but imagine if your gallery physically excluded a different group of marginalised people so blatantly – unthinkable.
Image above: Yinka Shonibare, MBE: How To Blow Up Two Heads At Once (Gentlemen) – image Axel Schneider © MMK Frankfurt
Do you feel the arts is more inclusive of disability arts, or is the idea of politically charged art (such as what you’re looking for in Shape Open) finding less of a home in the ‘white cube’? I feel that, still, much of what people consider ‘political art’ is actually art about conflict, anti-capitalism and political corruption; many people don’t realise that art discussing marginalisation is inherently political, despite the fact that it is linked to, or demonstrational of, social activism. It’s the former that has an established home in the ‘white cube’ gallery. A lot of disabled artists don’t like to be identified as a ‘disabled artist’, even when they work with sociopolitical themes, which I feel is largely due to prejudices around disability and the fact that, in the art world, being disabled can totally override other identities that an artist has, or it can feel like a qualifier. I understand not wanting your work to be viewed through a lens, but I feel like we’re getting more to a place now, especially in art, where we can demonstrate that assimilation isn’t the goal, identifying and expressing differences and knowing that they don’t define your artistic output is, and this art is what gets the conversations going that lead to better social justice. Maybe identity does always inform the work you make in some way - I don’t want to be called a ‘woman artist’ because it implies that just an ‘artist’ would be a male artist, and that this would be the default; equally, my gender is an important part of my identity that I don’t want to be erased, especially not when I’m still experiencing daily misogyny because of it. Ignoring the identities of marginalised people means that you’re ignoring the oppression that has happened is happening to them – for example, when did anyone who ever claimed that they ‘don’t see skin colour’ actually represent and work towards real racial diversity and a desire for equality?
Can quotas alleviate inequality in sectors such as the arts? There is a lot to be said for quotas and I do think that they work in some ways, but I personally also feel that they are an easy, ‘quick-fix’ way to get around a complex problem of exclusion. If you’re implementing quotas for different identities in, say, your workforce, the artists you represent or the exhibitions you cover in a magazine, you should really be looking at how you might be excluding people - it’s often to do with marketing, training, branding or, in the case of disability, not making physical adjustments. Even if you fill your quotas, if you haven’t made any real changes within your organisation’s structure and way of thinking and operating I don’t think it’s truly going to be much more inclusive. How can people support Shape Arts? It can be as simple as retweeting us, telling people about us or coming to our shows – like when our Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary recipient will be in residence at Turner Contemporary, Margate next year, and we’ll also be holding the Shape Open in London around the same time. The best thing would be to listen to what we’re saying and use whatever influence and resources you have to make changes in line with our mission, for example, if you run an art space and there are steps up to the front door, buy a ramp; if you’re a curator, make sure your shows have hand-outs available in large print; if you’re an artist talking part in a talk, tell the organiser to book British Sign Language interpreters. At Shape we’re really proud of the Disability Equality Training we offer for cultural organisations looking to be more inclusive – if you work at an arts organisation, suggest it to your boss. We’re a charity, so you could always give us some money too… I’m joking (kind of), but basically – get involved with us!”
Image above: Isa Genzken: Wolkenkratzer fĂźr New York (detail), 2014. Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Social Media Movement:
#WearWhatYouWant August 2016: French authorities made a woman remove her clothing on a Nice beach, after 15 towns in France banned the burkini. A ticket from another woman targeted for wearing covered clothing on the beach reported that she was not wearing “...an outfit respecting good morals and secularism”. The response online was swift and decisive, pointing out all women are subject to some sort of body policing, whatever they wear. In the same month, France’s highest administrative court suspended the ban, noting that it “seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms”.
EMPATHY, ART & ACTIVISM An Essay by Jade French
How to Engage with Empathy Empathetic engagement is integral to building social justice in a transnational world, but we need to be aware at how the relationship of empathy to feminist and anti-racist movements works through a neoliberal lens. Having frequent face-to-face experiences with percieved social injustice, for example online / scrolling through a Facebook feed, one runs the risk of moving the act of empathy away from imagination and buying into a compassion economy, where the idea of the ‘other’ becomes a commodity to utilise in our own pursuit of creating a persona of a ‘caring’ and ‘liberal’ individual. It is helpful to view activism through a user-oriented lens,coming from the tradition of the ‘baby-boomers’ of the 1960s and 70s who viewed conversation as a way of consciousness raising This means that a group is witness to activist messages and given room to take into account their own opinions, rather than giving their opinion online without any repercutions or chances for an exchange of constructive, face-to-face dialogue.Without these chances to build personal empathy,we run the risk of turning into trolls or creating a feedback loop of opinion in an online echo chamber. It is useful to be wary when discussing emotive tools such as empathy in relation to art. In Documentary Uncertainty, Hito Steyerl suggests the documentary form is inherently untrustworthy. Placing documentaries in a media context, she suggests that trust is inherently missing in the work of new media and documentary production. This mistrust could be seen as a contemporary reaction to post 9/11 conditioning, where “national security” has overtaken empathetic understanding. Dangers of Empathy When considering empathy as a social tool, it is important to remember that it is not a stable force, and comes with its own set of risks. Ownership of feeling perhaps should be kept separate, especially in activism. Forexample, one may be driven by empathetic feeling to become an LGBTQA* or #BlackLivesMatter activist, as an ally, but they cannot claim that identity struggle as one’s own. Imaginatively empathising with pain requires one to be unjudgemental and is an effortful undertaking. However, we need to make sure we don’t loose sight of whose feelings belong to whom, in order to objectively engage and not co-opt or to imagine oneself is also the victim. Conversely, not all empathetic feeling leads to activist action. As E. Ann Kaplan (2011) notes often pictures of suffering or social injustice merely lead to ‘empty’ empathy, due to the saturation of difficult images and the rapidity of which they are shown. She argues it is often challenging for an individual to feel more than a fleeting glimpse of empathy, they cannot experience it deeply or for long (ibid). This is something also dealt with by Susan Sontag in her essay On Photography (1977) in which she discusses how we may experience a failure of empathy, a tendency to overlook our emotional identification beyond the restrictions of the self.
For Sontag, “Images transfix. Images anesthetize” (1977, p19). The static nature of the image may nudge at the corners of consciousness, but may not necessarily develop in the viewer a ‘high-level empathy’. It has been suggested that since the desire for domestic security has taken hold of governments, civic culture has come to lack the qualities of tolerance, inclusivity and, overall, become unable to trust in community culture. This lack of trust is potentially connected to this perceived culture of control that pervades society. Although empathetic understanding can help navigate the activist out of this culture, it is worth considering how the structures of society can be coloured by power imbalances, which much be addressed before empathetic narrative and trust can be encouraged. Thus it could be argued that art can help cultivate empathetic imagination for activist work. Art allows us to feel empathy because it hinges on the line between fact and fiction. If the fictional elements help to exercise our imagination, to help us step into another’s shoes, then the factual elements jolts the viewer into carrying that empathy through to life. Empathy, Art & Activism Deploying empathetic feeling in academic social theory is something that has been explored with much specificity, yet the significance of so-called quieter skills are often overlooked in mainstream notions of activism, including the ability to trust, empathise, respect and listen. This might be because these ‘soft skills’ or ‘emotional labour’ cannot be quantifiably measured in traditional terms of success (money making, social media followers etc), yet an empathetic disposition is often credited anecdotally in activist / NGO work (Gardner, 2013). Art is there to stimulate, and empathy relies on imagination. If one were to feel perfect empathy, all the time, it would potentially result in emotion exhaustion by the amount of suffering around the world. This is where imagination and artistic output is the key to unlocking and utilising empathy constructively. It isn’t that we really share the experiences of another person but that we can imagine them so thoroughly that we overlay our own feelings onto theirs. Although we may not achieve (or want to achieve) perfect empathy, we can apply our empathetic, imaginative muscles when they are needed. My stance is empathetic feeling is a choice, and once the choice has been made to empathise we are more likely to act – indeed, we should act. How can we bear to sit around, when we feel so deeply the injustices happening all around us? In the case of dissidence, it helps that we can use our imaginations. This is precisely what makes empathy in activism such a powerful tool, and the documenting of these acts a crucial way of communicating. Just as the whistleblower and protester hope their information will turn to actions, so the artists’ imagination can allow us room to conceptualise what the dissident sees, and become dissidents ourselves. References:
Steyerl, H. and Berardi, F. (2012). The Wretched of the Screen. Berlin: Sternberg Press. Kaplan, E. (2005). Trauma culture. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers, pp.87-89. Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Gardner, M. (2005). Linking activism. New York: Routledge.
Image above: © Hito Steyerl HOW NOT TO BE SEEN: A Fucking Didactic Educational .Mov File. 2013. Still image.
Activist Art: #BlackLivesMatter featuring: Aaron the Chief & Jordan Casteel
Image, opposite page: Licence To Kill // The Art Of Death Aaron the Chief “Dedicated to every person who has been murdered by Police and to every person who will be murdered by Police in the future. Rest In Peace�
Image above: Jordan Casteel Galen 1, oil on canvas ‘#VisibleMan’
Images, left: Jordan Casteel, Ato, oil on canvas Image, below: Jordan Casteel Jerome, oil on canvas,
Image, above: Jordan Casteel Barbershop, oil on canvas Image, left: Jordan Casteel Jabari, oil on canvas
#Art Against Brexit
#ArtAgainstBrexit is an campaign running on Not So Popular’s website, featuring illustration, poetry and opinion from across the UK and Europe. We wanted to create a platform for artists and writers to work share their feelings about Brexit. In uncertain times, we believe that art can provide us with a way of working out our opinions and forming our political responses. We also want to be aware that funding for the arts is often undervalued and under more pressure with Brexit in sight. We believe in our relationship with other European artists. We believe that Brexit was the wrong choice... ...but we’re trying to make peace with it. We believe art can cathartically politicise us and bring hope.
We want to thank the artists and writers who have let us feature their work. Those who appear in the zine are, in order: Kyle Platts Dan Wilson Jo Duffy Jay Daniel Wright Charlotte Trounce Qila Gill Frances Ives Rhianne Sinclair-Phillips Matthew the Horse Ngaio Anyia Olivia Domingos More work can be found at: www.notsopopular.com/artagainstbrexit Submissions open at: wearensp@gmail.com
Land of the Lines We wore stickers and took to twitter. We knew our lines should be longer but we snapped them into blunted words anyway; we needed them sharp but with no weight, depth or curves. Lines are lighter with no nuance, easier to hurl across the divide, the Great British chasm across which we cried that we were ‘Stronger In’ while you howled your need to take back control of the borders, the fetishized lines around our island you wanted to fold up like tent poles, rearrange on the floor while the roof collapsed and turn us into a nation of corners. But we, in our arrogance, thought we were fine, we thought let them draw lines in the sand while we sand down lines of coke on the backs of our iphones in London, line up for lattes in the land of disposable income, supposed land of the enlightened where we left our lights on so bright that blinding blots jumped in front of our eyes when we squinted out to the rest of the country; rundown towns whose electricity we were draining where it became easier for demagogues to prowl at constant dusk using distraction tactics and setting traps in the dark, explaining to forgotten people that the blame lay with those of darker complexions; where the barren ground was fertile for sowing the seeds of what would grow into a national obsession with nationalism. Who are we now? Where are we going? Were you born here? Is this the breadline or the queue for the border? Who are you? Where are you going? Can I see some ID? We voted Leave. Now our lines are so stunted they’re not lines at all, our lines are bigot, our lines are immigrant, our lines are vowel sounds and horror The lines we drew while in the EU are ruptured joints, the lines we thought we knew are paths off a cliff, the lines are dissolved and breached and broken And now in this land where ancient ley lines stretch from Glastonbury to Stone Henge, where polite queues stretch from the loos to their ends, where we’ve crossed lines and lost friends, we must find a way to line up again.
Dear Sir/Madam, Exit to Remain I voted. I voted in. I voted yes. I voted for me. I voted for you. I voted Remain. In a foreign land, in years of growth, this is home. I voted in. I voted stay. I voted Home. Sincerely, Qila Gill
Who’is Really To Blame For Brexit? by Rhianne Sinclair-Philips
“The working-class have spoken” declared UKIP leader Nigel Farage in light of the news that Britain had decided to leave the European Union. With all his glee and David Cameron’s shame, I couldn’t help but notice what I consider to be the reality: Rupert Murdoch, owner of the bestselling tabloid newspaper The Sun, had spoken. Ahead of the national referendum Murdoch, a committed Eurosceptic proclaimed his opposition towards the EU claiming. ''When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice’, he told the Evening Standard’s Anthony Hilton. Consequently, he enabled The Sun editors to publish a plethora of Eurosceptic stories with attention grabbing headlines. “The Queen Backs Brexit” and “BeLEAVE in Britain” dominated its constant flow of front page endorsements essentially calling for Britain to be great again. This resonated deeply with The Sun’s audience who are more than accustomed to the paper’s distain for the EU. Since 1990, The Sun has relentlessly opposed integration in Europe. Most famously publishing the front page headline “Up Yours Delors” deriding Jacques Delor, the former president of the European Commission, it has since gone on to produce a number of stories emphasising how the EU open boarders policies facilitates an influx of what it calls economic refugees. Blaming the immigrants was a easy way to galvanise the support of those who struggle with unemployment and benefit cuts religiously reading the paper. Such spin provided ammunition for a slew of stories in the run up to the referendum, giving credence to the out campaign without having to the state the facts. Throughout the “in/out” campaign activity, critics noted how quiet Murdoch remained. But why would he make a statement when his newspaper could on a larger scale? “Staying in will be worse for immigration, worse for jobs, worse for wages and worse for our way of life...To remain means being powerless to cut mass immigration which keeps wages low and puts catastrophic pressure on our schools, hospitals, roads and housing stock” an article read. Meanwhile Murdoch was busy lunching with MEP Nigel Farage, the mouth-piece of the out campaign, following his previous endorsement of the far-right party leader whose “electoral support reflected public opinion”. It’s worth noting that Murdoch also owns The Times who fervently argued for Britain to remain. But this effort seemed rather contrite on Murdoch’s end. Readers of The Times, tradionally, are more able to develop their own opinion on political matters
In the case of Brexit, Murdoch encouraged his readers of The Sun that the remain campaign was “made up of the corporate establishment, arrogant europhiles and foreign banks”. But isn’t Murdoch’s media empire a corporate establishment? David Cameron and Tony Blair can credit their days at 10 Downing Street to Murdoch’s support as much as Nick Clegg and now Jeremy Cobyn can accredit their downfall to the media moguel’s agenda. Such factors are easily missed in the height of campaign activity especially when the newspaper you’re reading acts as the voice of the people. In a bid to maintain his power within the UK political system, Murdoch aligned The Sun with the common man to wage a war of us against them. And then came Thursday 23rd June. “Britain leaves the EU” read the 5am Guardian alert. As the London commuters made their way into work with a bitter taste in their mouths, The Sun headquarters were busy again. Not celebrating the success of their leader’s decision but back peddling on all the propaganda it spread over the course of a month. A somber article published in the depths of its website answered one of the most important questions of the result: how will leaving the EU affect your wallet? A list of consequences included benefits slashes, a rise in unemployment and a fall in wages by 4% were explained at The Sun’s level of depth. “Why didn’t you tell us before?” exclaimed angry readers claiming they were conned by their newspaper. But all this information was available during the campaign it just required a simple search. Each argument outlined in the article was part of the remain campaign The Sun so avidly dismisses as scaremongering. Nothing new was presented and thus shouldn’t have come as a surprise. And although the article was filled with ifs and buts, its uncertainty reflected that of the gambled votes to leave. Brexit therefore was another working example of Murdoch’s power within British government. The unelected Australian may be a public figure married to a model but remains one, if not the most powerful man in Britain. When asked how he felt about the tumultuous result while golfing with Donald Trump on the American presidential candidate’s Scottish golf course, he called it “wonderful”. Leaving the EU was like a “prison break…we’re out”. Murdoch remains in, British politics at least.
CHECK YOUR HISTORY by Ngaio Anyia
I’ve been quiet for a while, mostly because life has steam rolled ahead and I haven’t had time to sit down and write anything but now... Brexit. A campaign based entirely on prejudice and greed. A lot of people seem surprised that the vote went the way that it did. I keep hearing people say: ‘I can’t believe this has happened’.... I believe it. I believe it because from the ages of 5-9 I was the only person of colour living in a small minded town where prejudices were passed down from generation to generation. Kids at school didn’t know why they didn’t like me, they just knew that their parents and grandparents looked at me like I was worthless, like I was a dirty spot on their perfect white town, and so hate bred hate. Last week I saw a little Jamaican boy with his mum in a butchers in Easton asking the guy working there when England was playing football. He said, “I’m supporting England because I’m British and I love England” and as I smiled at him, my heart broke a little because I was afraid one day someone might make him question that, with a look, or a comment, or violence. I prayed that, unlike me, he wouldn’t be told day after day that he didn’t belong, that he wasn’t welcome...that he wasn’t wanted... And then Brexit happened and racists everywhere were told that their voices had been heard. Their prayers had been answered. They were getting Britain back. But what Britain are they trying to get back? This is the question I’ve been asking myself over and over, what do you want Britain to look like? If it’s a country full of white people, you’ll have to take us back to the 1800s, to Henry VIII, to the Tudors because there were black people here then too you know. In an article named The Missing Tudors: black people in 16th Century England, an extract reads: “These Africans were baptised, buried and recorded in parish records in London, Plymouth, Southampton, Barnstaple, Bristol, Leicester, Northampton and other places across the country.” The Nation’s favourite dish was Chicken Tikka Masala for a decade, only in 2014 did that change. We held the Olympics where we were proud that British citizens triumphed, whether they were white or not. And then what, Nigel Farage comes along with his backwards party and starts to split the country in half - is that really how easy it is to divide us? One stupid man who’s married to a German woman, has half German children but because their white, it’s alright?
Those who voted to leave made a mistake, but I only know this because in the past 2 years I have had to wake up and educate myself on politics. I know that Britain has an unattractive trait of not learning from its mistakes. For a tiny island we have an over inflated ego and very little ability to take responsibility for our actions. Lest we forget, the reason there is such a high level of immigration in this country is because, as a tiny little island, the UK needed people to come over here and fight for them - to die for them. These people were brought in from India, Africa and Asia (mainly during the First World War) to die for Britain, but were quickly erased from the history books. After the Second World War, immigration boomed when Jamaicans and Africans were recruited to do manual labour jobs and told their ‘second home’ was Britain... From what my family has told me, I don’t think they felt that way when they turned up. Our history is drenched in using other countries to make ours more successful going all the way back to slavery and yet 52% of the Nation has decided they don’t want anymore ‘outsider’s’ in their country. People can try to tell me as much as they want that this wasn’t about race or racism or prejudice or xenophobia, but you are lying to yourselves if you think those of us that are British, have always been British and will always be British don’t see it that way. Those who have come here to be safe because they aren’t safe in their countries, don’t see it that way. Those who have come here to work at jobs people here can’t or won’t do, don’t see it that way. A choice has been made that sends a very clear and a very sad message to those in the UK and beyond, and it makes me desperately ashamed to be painted with the same brush. But here’s the thing - there are those in this world who feed off hate because it makes them feel bigger than they are. Those who have to go with a pack mentality because they don’t how to think for themselves and those who simply make bad decisions, but they don’t have to hold all the power. We are the only ones who can give others’ permission to make us feel any smaller than we are. We are bigger together. We are stronger together and we shine brighter together. And that ‘togetherness’ is not based on race, it’s based on mentality. As a mixed race woman I am part of many different worlds and they are a part of me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t angry but when I came home and cried on my mum’s shoulder today, I decided that I wouldn’t be scared. I wouldn’t give them that power over me. Social media is a very powerful thing, it can open our eyes to the truth but it can also feed hysteria so I won’t be re-posting anything negative I see for a while. I will forward things that will give me hope that life won’t look so bleak tomorrow. Silence will not help us move forward. We have regulations in this country which make any form of abuse ILLEGAL. Stay informed but don’t be afraid, because you are not alone.
Royal Integrity: Ample-Some “The idea of being more than enough� Photographer: Zurette Smith Writer: Kayssie K W
Royal Integrity is an organisation that has an ultimate vision of promoting self-love, self-acceptance and self-respect in a world that encourages self-hate and disrespect. Royal Integrity is willing to challenge and silence the voice of society telling us we are unworthy to be heard because we weren’t born a certain way. Their personal challenge is to shift your perspective, even if it’s just for a second. They want you to see yourself as who you truly are, Royalty, Queens and Kings of this generation, ready to conquer and be heard.
More work can be found at: www.royalintegrity.com Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/royal.integrity
You are already enough. No amount of practice can make you anymore worthy than you already are. You cannot fill a jug that’s already full, it will only spill over and not everyone is willing to lick your love from the floor. So don’t waste yourself trying to be everything you already are.
You are beautiful enough. Everyone has a flavour, so do not be fooled when he says you’re not his. It doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful enough, it simply means his tongue cannot handle you. His absence does not take away from your beauty. You’re just as beautiful as the day he said, “you are the one,” and even more beautiful than when he fell in love with you.Now that he has gone, he has left all that beauty for someone else to love, for you to love, just like it should be. So take no shame in smiling at yourmorning face in the mirror. You don’t need an excuse to love yourself, just because he couldn’t. You are strong enough! Even if they say otherwise, the power lies in your will and not their tongues, so do not let them burn you alive. You can walk wherever you want and carry which ever burdens you choose. So do not let them tell you what’s important to you because you already know.
You are complete! They are not your breath, so quit holding onto them so tight, you do not NEED them. Your flaws do not make you any less, but all the more. In fact, you’re so enough that you spill over when try to cup you in their palms, so do not let them convince you to hold on to the leftovers of their flesh, in hopes of being enough. They should only be embellishments bringing light to the parts of you that are easily forgotten. You are already enough.
YOU are enough!! There is no better version of you than all of you. So walk with confidence and continue to slay your existence. You can only get better. If you allow yourself.
“you enoug you over they to cu in t pal
’re so gh that spill when y try up you their lms”
EMPOWERHACK Inclusive humanitarian tech with a focus on women by Charlotte Seeley-Musgrave and Han Pham
41 % of the world’s refugees are children
50% are women
The Beginning of Empowerhack In 2015, the news of the mass displacement of over 4.6 million refugees into Syria’s neighbouring countries and further into Europe was met by a spectacular response from the world’s volunteer technology communities to create digital solutions for refugees, including virtual schools, social integration initiatives, and more. Yet, something was missing in the general response. Think about this: half of the world’s refugees are women and 41% are children. The gender-based challenges facing women and girls in crisis -- from increased violence to health and educational/ employment access -- often require a challenging level of understanding, insight and empathy. At the end of 2015, Empowerhack was created to respond to this gap, aiming to build sustainable humanitarian technologies for women and girls in crisis. We started with one weekend-long hackathon at the close of November. Within months, we grew to an amazing global community of hundreds of skilled volunteers - from health advisors, community specialists, interaction designers, developers and entrepreneurs and NGOs working together. Today, our core projects include digital solutions in peer support for refugee safety and improved access to reproductive healthcare for pregnant refugee women. We’ve just launched our follow up design event, a global humanitarian health hackathon across three cities: Accra, London and Amsterdam to fuel a continuing conversation around issues such as mental health, reproductive health, patient-led health data. Inclusivity is an opportunity that can not be taken for granted. To learn to listen better to the needs of the people we are designing for, we had to create a safe space for our community to tackle hard challenges in women and girls’ health, safety/violence prevention, and education/employment.
Empowerhack is Culture This is our secret: Part of our magic in addressing gender-based challenges around the world is that we believe that if we are to “solve problems” in what we create, we also have the change the culture that supports those ideas. Let’s be honest: we’re not just creating solutions for gender-based challenges for women and girls halfway around the world, we’re also creating a more inclusive, diverse culture for us to thrive as well. Empowerhack works hard to stay honest and open, which might not be something you might consider when you think about the fast moving world of technology. But if you, like us, are interested in delving into highly sensitive, dynamic, tense but illuminating design contexts like these -- trust is paramount. So is the manner in which you frame the working environment you invite people into. Empowerhack is Experimentation Hackathons are innately a venue for experimentation and demonstration - prototype quickly and pitch it well. It’s not always easy to “stop the clock” on fast to introduce “slow code” -- to connect values to what we are designing -- meeting by meeting, event by event, project by project. It’s important to shift the way we communicate to value listening and learning. A culture of empathy meant we could bring powerful life experiences to the fore to warm the manner in which we approach technology. Working on EmpowerHack meant we could address women’s issues with the inside knowledge that comes with being or identifying as a woman: How would they feel about breastfeeding in a camp? What was culturally appropriate in seeking support? How is access to health related to previous traumatic experiences in earlier countries? EmpowerHack taught us that tech can not only empower refugee women and girls, it also empowers us - women in tech - to help them and ourselves. Empowerhack’s culture celebrating collaboration over competition, shared ownership and open technologies means we have been able to progress farther, faster. Today we expanded from one event to our own collaborative accelerator where we bring NGOs and other tech for good organisations like Chayn (one of cofounders of the first hackathon), Women Hack for Non Profits and UX for Change UK to think about how we can shift the dialogue from competitive design to sustainable design and partnership.
"We're not looking for a hot topic, we're looking for the next topic,"
‘No you (Theresa) May not be Cuddled’ by Riz Moritz
sticky and humid northbound carriages air breathes a clammy, heavy thickness sweaty cramped carriage beads drip down banker’s face he regrets buying a hot starbucks damp patches grow on his cotton shirt white face reddening, eyes dehydrating jubilee line pulls in, squeals to a halt warm breath of relief fills the train doors open gust of virgin, cooler, thinner air unbreathed air theresa may steps off for #PMQs (first stand-up comedy must be nerve-wracking) announcement: station is closed until storm cloud is cleared platform begins to evaporate, metal melting she links arms with new cabinet they pounce up westminster station escalators classily, mind you walls closing in, heat rising women of colour offer a hand witch rejects falls into blinding whiteness no you (theresa) may not be cuddled.
REAL LIFE RESOURCES
IRL RESOURCES: GAYS THE WORD
Gay’s The Word: 66 Marchmont Street, London, WC1N 1AB In their own words: “Our fiction ranges from prize-winning literary works through to crime, romance and erotic fiction. Our non-fiction covers a wide range of issues from cutting-edge queer theory through to how to tell your mother you are gay. Our range of queer philosophical, political, historical and other scholarly works is unequalled in the UK. When we recommend a title, it’s because we’ve read it and particularly enjoyed it. We are proudly independent and very much see ourselves as the friendly and non-judgemental safe-space of the gay scene.”
IRL RESOURCES: BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVE
Black Cultural Archives 1 Windrush Square, Brixton, London, SW2 1EF In their own words: “Founded in 1981, the Black Cultural Archives’ mission is to collect, preserve and celebrate the heritage and history of Black people in Britain. Our unparalleled and growing archive collection offers insight into the history of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. The bulk of the collection is drawn from the twentieth century to the present day, while some materials date as far back as the second century. Our work at Black Cultural Archives recognises the importance of untold stories and providing a platform to encourage enquiry and dialogue. We place people and their historical accounts at the heart of everything we do. We welcome everybody to join us and unfold these fascinating narratives together.
IRL RESOURCES: PEOPLE’S HISTORY MUSEUM
People’s History Museum Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3ER In their own words: “The origins of the museum lie in the 1960s when a group of pioneer activists began to collect labour history material at a time when the museum world was largely uninterested. They believed strongly in the importance of collecting and preserving items belonging to working people. They opened the National Museum of Labour History in London in 1975.” The museum tells the story of the history of democracy in Great Britain and about unknown people’s lives at home, work and leisure over the last 200 years. Some of the topics covered include popular radicalism, the Peterloo Massacre, 19th century trade unionism, the women’s suffrage movement, dockers, the cooperative movement, the 1945 general election, and football. It also includes material relating to friendly societies, the welfare movement and advances in the lives of working people. [source: wikipedia]
IRL RESOURCES: FEMINIST LIBRARY
The Feminist Library 5 Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7XW In their own words: “Since 1975, there has been the Feminist Library, which was set up by a group of women concerned about preserving the writings and the knowledge of the Women’s Liberation Movement. The library was set up during the height of the Second Wave, as there was a political imperative to provide a space for women to organise, agitate, network and share ideas in a clearly feminist space. That political imperative remains to this day. Despite the dominant media message that there is no need for autonomous radical feminist spaces, we know differently. Although feminism has achieved much, there is still much to fight for. The Feminist Library can and will provide this space.�
Edited & Designed by Jade French Content Sourced by Jade French + NataĹĄa Cordeaux Thanks to the Not So Popular team