We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For…Shake! 2014

Shake! intensive course as per usual - INTENSE and immense. 

Thank you to all the wonderful participants and facilitators who created such an imaginative, trusting and powerful space to be in last week. As Sai would say "Hold tight and hug tight" for some upcoming blogs on the week, our Shake! film and of course our Shake! Showcase.

Before then, enjoy this poem Maaike shared as part of her concluding thoughts on the Shake! week.

We Are the Ones
We've Been Waiting For

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

—The Elders Oraibi

Shake! vs School?

Ed Lewis is part of the Shake! team, focusing in particular on political education. Here discusses the significance of the project for him and reflects on the most recent Shake! course, held at the Stephen Lawrence Centre this February.

I spend most of the working week as a teacher in a secondary school. I experience the pressures, challenges and limitations of working in compulsory education, as well as the rewards and pleasures that can come from doing so. Experiencing Shake! alongside my working life has been hugely interesting. Schooling can encourage teachers to have a restricted view of the capacities of young people – when their engagement is limited and their answers are one word long, cynicism can easily develop. Some teachers, myself included, are also disappointed when they encounter many of their students approaching their education in a fairly narrow way, seeing it ultimately as an economic investment, and the value of time in class to be judged in terms of how it will contribute to their exam results (there is a tendency for teachers to see things in these narrow terms too). There are a range of reasons why this is the case, but part of the answer is to be found in education itself. An obvious but too easily forgotten fact is that the content of formal education is overwhelmingly externally imposed – students are not encouraged to pursue their own interests, to develop intrinsic motivation around learning. And the mechanics of schooling – such as the relentless focus on target grades – and the rhetoric employed – such as the use of sports-style aspirational language – encourage the investment-oriented outlook of students.

So my first experience of Shake!, back in 2010, was a liberation. In a context devoted to thinking, learning and exploring in its own right, defined in many ways by the participants themselves, fusing political inquiry with creative activity, I saw an energy and engagement from several of my own students that I hadn’t encountered before. As an educator, it was a release to have the freedom to discuss and explore ideas without the confines of a highly prescribed curriculum. What’s more, I felt that I was able to utilise my skills – for all its problems, formal schooling does equip one with some valuable knowledge and capacities – in the service of critical political education in a way that is very difficult to achieve in school.  I’ve worked on Shake! ever since, buoyed by the energy of that week, and looked forward to re-launching the project, which we finally did this February (not that things were quiet in the interim – we did loads!).

Shake! '13 @SLCT, The Low down...

Having completed our first Shake! intensive for 2013 we are bursting with ideas, continuity projects and creative ways to use our voices to shake things up. The week at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was truly inspiring, uplifting and emotional.

Through invigorating and eye-opening discussions, skill-shares, workshops and via the mediums of spoken word poetry, film, documentary, visiting guest artist/activists, and international web link-ups we addressed a variety of topics of injustice (power, tar sands, creative campaigning, gender, race, media and mental health).

The caliber and rigor of ideas, opinions and artwork definitely shook us up and over the next few weeks we look forward to sharing some of this with you. So watch this space!

Here’s what some of the Shake!rs had to say:

“Thank you for a wonderful week, for your enthusiasm and for providing a space for openness & creativity. I look forward to continuing my relationship with Shake! I have been inspired to feel as though I can really make a difference, even on a small scale. I have realized the importance of engaging with my creativity and thinking about the way I think ☺”

"This week has been life changing!”

“I have learnt so much that I didn’t even know I didn’t know. I have met people who are amazing, incredible, inspiring who I never would have come into contact with.”

“It’s been fascinating sharing this journey with you, it’s been a reminder of values and ideas I believe in. Carry on the journey and keep refreshing your spirit.”

“One of the most inspiring and energising weeks I can remember... it will definitely get me through my next batch of essays! Looking forward to the next steps...”

A big thank you to the Shake!rs (Adam, Amariah, Annie, Ceris, Catherine, Christina, Dershe, Holly, Ifty, Kate, Khafilat, Nathaniel, Saif, Umaru) for helping create such an honest, warm, humorous, trusting and stimulating environment. Welcome to the Shake! fam, and we looking forward to continued growth and learning with you.

If you are interested in getting involved in our next Shake! intensive this summer at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre or would like to know more, get in touch at: farzana@platformlondon.org.

Stephen Lawrence film: 'Time for Justice' screening, 10th March, 6.30 - 8.30pm, London

This looks like a very special night.

A screening of the Panorama documentary and a chance to hear from Doreen Lawrence and others.
Buy tickets here.

"In aid of The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. Bafta and non-Bafta members are invited to a special screening on Saturday 10th March 2012 at 18:30 of the recent Panorama special, Stephen Lawrence: A Time For Justice.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Doreen Lawrence, Stuart Lawrence (brother). Imran Khan (family solicitor) and BBC reporter Mark Daly. The discussion following the screening will cover the struggle of the Lawrence family, institutionalised racism and the power of investigative broadcast journalism to effect change, chaired by TV correspondent, Rageh Omaar."

Location:  Bafta, Princess Anne Theatre, Piccadilly, W1J 9LN

Ticket Price: £10

Conviction of two of Stephen Lawrence's murderers: a new chapter

4  days ago, after 18 years, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of killing student Stephen Lawrence in a racially motivated attack, while he waited with a friend at a bus stop in Eltham, London.

Young women perform a piece for Stephen at
Shake's event 'Britain on Trial', Leeds, Oct 2011
Artist: Pati Bongani

Everyone involved with Shake! stands in support of the momentousness of these judgements. This case has changed the way in which Britain sees itself at a fundamental level. It laid bare a deep, shameful sickness within certain parts of our culture. While this has not gone away, the family's battle for justice for Stephen has revealed the way in which institutions at the heart of this culture have operated, and how they must change.

Stephen's father Neville Lawrence said that for him, these two convictions were only one step in a long journey to achieve full justice - the bringing to account the rest of the group of young white men who fatally stabbed Stephen that day.

Stephen's mother Doreen spoke of being able at last to get on with her life. She has reiterated her criticism of the police for their early appallingly neglectful handling of the case, which among many other impacts, meant that instead of grieving for her lost son, she had to go into battle against the institutional racism which prevailed and disrupted the course of justice.

Anyone involved in the struggle for justice can only be struck with awe and amazement by the fortitude and grit that the family have had to find for each wave of this terrible story. I try to follow this timeline and consider what it must have taken, what it must have cost, for each person who loved and was close to Stephen to reach this moment.

Separately from her legal campaign, Doreen founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust specifically to create a constructive force against social injustice and to combat racism through fostering creativity, especially in design and architecture.  Shake! is proud to have been involved with the work of the Trust and to be able to spread its word.

Performance for Stephen at
Britain on Trial
Artist: Pati Bongani

All of us who believe that art, social justice and activism are intertwined can take courage and learn lessons from Doreen and SLCT: the legal battle, the battle for a change in culture, and the use of culture and the arts to change minds, change behaviour, and rebalance privileges, readdress entitlements to opportunity.

What an incredible act, incredible activism to have put all this into the world.

Thank you Doreen, for changing the course of history for all who are to follow in your footsteps, and thank you to all at SLCT for your dedicated and crucial work.

Solidarity and justice for Stephen

Doreen speaks at the Shake! Preview, Feb 2011

'I can't tell you what art does or how it does it, but I know that often art has judged the judges, pleaded revenge to the innocent and shown to the future what the past has suffered, so that it has never been forgotten. I know too that the powerful fear art when it does this, and that amongst the people such art sometimes runs like a rumour and a legend because it makes sense of what life's brutalities cannot, a sense that unites us, for it is inseparable from a justice at last."*    (writer and activist John Berger)


On 16th November 2011, the re-trial finally opened against two men accused of taking part in a racially motivated fatal stabbing of Stephen Lawrence 18 years ago at a bus stop in Eltham, London. 

Doreen Lawrence, family, and supporters have campaigned long and hard for this moment, not only fighting on multiple fronts to take on the system, but also bringing creativity and hope through the work of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. The demand for justice for Stephen has been a central issue for Shake! and everyone at Shake! offers our solidarity with them in this intense and urgent process of re-trial.

Shake! sees what happened to Stephen that day as symptomatic of a deep psychosis at the heart of Britain that must still be confronted and countered daily. Equally symptomatic is that the police investigation was negligent to the point of racism. This was

BRITAIN ON TRIAL- The Charge - Young Voices Speak Out!

BRITAIN ON TRIAL- The Charge - Young Voices Speak Out!, a set on Flickr.

The first photos are up on flickr featuring snapshots of the first order of the day - THE CHARGE:

Welcome by: Esther Stanford-Xosei
-co-Vice-Chair of PARCOE (the Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe)

Outline of the day by: Jane Trowell
- Shake! coordinator/ Platform Education coordinator

+ on the gavel/ strict 5 minute time keeping Tibetan chimes!!! - Khadijah Ibrahiim
- Artistic Director Leeds young Authors

Mini-lectures by young people and activists/academics on:

> Racism, young people and the police
featuring:
Selina Nwulu - poems: Britain on Trial/ Thou Shalt Not Kill 
Rotimi Skyers - poems: Ignite/ Hug 
Zodwa Nyoni - A Letter for Mama Oluwale - poem dedicated to David Oluwalwe

> Consumer Capitalism, advertising, and young people; Media portrayal of youth
featuring:
Sai Murai - overview of consumer capitalism + powerpoint presentation on evils of advertising 
Samia Aziz - talk on women & consumerism (ref: UNICEF report + Consumer Kids book)
Paris Kaur - poem: Barbie Girl

> History of displacement; contemporary refugee/asylum seeker realities
featuring:
Dr Carl Hylton - overview of history of displacement: trans-atlantic Afrikan enslavement 
Dr Stuart Hodkinson - Britain's immigration system on Trial inc. powerpoint presentation
Germain Naruhana - harrowing personal testimony of asylum seeker experience

STOP PRESS! Britain on Trial event in The Guardian

The piece was in The Northerner blog of the Guardian yesterday
"Young people air views on racism, 18 years after Stephen Lawrence murder"

Book your places now! Email platformshake@gmail.com

Britain on Trial: Young People Speak Out: Full Programme details

The Carriageworks, Leeds, this Saturday 29th October, 11.30 - 7pm

Anyone wanting to listen to young people and discuss with us how to take a stand and foster creative resistance to institutional racism – you should come to this. The re-trial for justice for Stephen Lawrence is beginning in November. The country is trying to pretend the ‘riots’ never happened. In Britain on Trial, we ask “where are we now” through a day of workshops and an evening performance to expose Britain’s injustices. 


Hosted by an incredible coalition of Leeds Young Authors, London’s “Shake! Young Voices in Arts, Media, Race & Power” and Leeds University academics from the MA Activism and Social Change, with collaborators from Leeds Bi-Centenary Transformation Project, and Leeds Black Film Club. Chaired by outstanding activist and speaker Esther Stanford-Xosei of Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition of Europe.

FULL PROGRAMME HERE

This day is a unique rich mix of politics, art & creativity, and history, driven by young people's own experiences and analyses in collaboration with leading artists and campaigners. Don't miss out.   


Book now, email platformshake@gmail.com

Nigeria Festival, and SLC in the news

The Nigeria Festival looks amazing, happening next week. Get over to The Albany, Deptford if you can...Check out the varied arts and culture programme


And it was great to see Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust featured in a whole page 'top story'  in yesterday's Daily Mirror, promoting the bursaries scheme. 


The Mirror is partner for this year's SLCT 18:18 Gala at London Zoo on 20th October, which marks 18 years since Stephen's murder...

Our first meeting for the 'Britain on Trial - Arts and Activism' event

Jane, Rotimi, Samia and Selina from the SHAKE! collective took a day trip to Leeds yesterday to meet up with Khadijah and Simon, facilitators from Leeds Young Authors and Stuart, a researcher from the University of Leeds MA in Activism & Social Change. The meeting was planned to lay down the groundwork for the "Britain on Trial" arts and activism event that will take place on October 29th as part of the ESRC's Festival of Social Science.

This event, which will take place in Leeds, will use the Stephen Lawrence re-trial as a starting point to ask,  "where are we now" through a day of workshops and an evening of performances to expose Britain's countless injustices. Exploring themes such as identity, justice and race through creative workshops, 10 minute speed-lectures and evening speakers, the day will aim to inspire the young people involved in the day to think honestly about themselves and the country they live in today. Britain on Trial, an initiative created by SHAKER Selina, aims to question unjust aspects of British society through creative mediums such as poetry, illustration, photography, short film and essays. The idea to use this as the umbrella theme for the event came organically with a view to unite the various disciplines of the group and the discussions that will take place in the day.

It was a great first meeting that allowed us to get to know each other better and we are looking forward to the planning that will follow. Big thank you to Simon for lending us his house, beautiful garden and making homemade bread - beats a stuffy boardroom any day! No thanks to the pompous man on the train who told us to be quiet in the middle of a full-on discussion about race, empire, language, identity and culture. He could have joined in, eh?

Watch this space for more updates on the Britain on Trial event! Also, check out the Britain on Trial website to find out more and get involved in Selina’s project: http://britainontrial.wordpress.com/

Rotimi's poem "Hey Stevie" presented to Doreen Lawrence

It was such a special moment last Thursday, when Rotimi Skyers and Nuha Baruti from SHAKE! presented a beautifully designed poster of Rotimi's poem to Doreen Lawrence at the Stephen Lawrence Centre.

Doreen was guest of honour at the SHAKE! Preview at The Albany in February, and was very struck by "Hey Stevie" and the way Ro performed it. She told us she'd love a copy for her wall, so we commissioned the wonderful Liquorice Fish to work with Ro on the design. You can listen to "Hey Stevie" here.

The framed poster in the exhibition space at SLC

Buy one and support SHAKE's development 
We have a limited edition of these beautiful A2 posters on high-quality paper, at £20 each p&p.
Email us!

Two Charged with Stephen Lawrence Murder

Two men are to face trial for the murder of London teenager Stephen Lawrence 18 years ago.
Gary Dobson and David Norris have been charged with killing the 18-year-old at a bus stop in Eltham in 1993.
Dobson, 35, and 34-year-old Norris were arrested last September but the development could not be reported until today for legal reasons.

Read more at: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pair-face-trial-over-stephen-lawrence-death-094425389.html

Let Justice be fully done.

THE BOY WHO CRIED JUSTICE - A poem by Tanya Parthipan

 I was inspired to write a poem about Stephen Lawrence through Shake explaining in detail the prejudice and injustice in his death. What touched me most is how the Centre dedicated themselves in respecting and protecting his memory, showing that Stephen Lawrence did not die in vain. He created a centre that helps many people. For me that is true dedication. - Tanya Parthipan

HEY STEVIE - A tribute poem for Stephen Lawrence by Rotimi Skyers

Reviewed by Zena 
A hard hitting poem by a young man who had never written poetry before but found his voice in less than a week!! Another piece that successfully communicates the waste of life to race hate as Rotimi almost puts himself in the place of Stephen. He shows respect to UK Hip Hop Artist Sway too, for his contribution of positivity to inspire the black youth, young boys just like Stephen.
Click here to listen to some of Sway's music.
Click Podomatic mediaplayer to hear the  poem read by Rotimi. 

INJUSTICE - A poem written my K.K Johnson

Stephen-Lawrence died before his time.

His death brought about the creation of this centre.

A charitable trust created in remembrance of him.

He was an architect in training.

And a brave and intelligent person. - K.K Johnson

Review by Zena -  K.K writes with an uncomplicated style that penetrates and provokes thought. Her poetry resonates on many levels.

 Click and Listen



Injustice

What could possibly happen to you whilst waiting for a bus?
Should you expect the worst?
Fear of murder because of the color of your skin…
Fear that that day would be your last day?
What could possibly happen to you whilst waiting for a bus?

Should you run when you see people coming?
Should you have a ‘gut feeling’ that something is wrong?
Is there a voice in your head that tells you something isn’t right?
Innocent, young and bright…
What could possibly happen to you whilst waiting for a bus?

Would five other youths murder you?
Would these youths get away with this murder?
Would the police sit back and fail to take the right action?
Would your name be disrespected and disregarded in this way?
Is this the outcome of waiting for a bus

THOU SHALT NOT KILL - Poem by Selina Nwulu

I wrote, Thou Shalt Not Kill, as I was really struck by how despite the fact that Stephen Lawrence was murdered, there is so much of him still alive somehow. And after spending a week in the Stephen Lawrence centre and seeing his pictures in the reception area, I wanted to pay tribute, not only to the people that pushed for Stephen's case to be brought to media attention and to the centre, but also to the strength of the human spirit, that can still reign despite every injustice.

It's so easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged after hearing about injustices such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence, mainly because it often is so overwhelming and discouraging. But I wanted to use this feeling and take inspiration from Stephen Lawrence to create a poem that highlights that together we can be much stronger than any gang, knife or racist crime and the injustices that arise as a consequence.  - Selina Nwulu



Thou Shalt Not Kill
 a  poem for Stephen Lawrence who would be 36 on 14th September 2010.

Here is the image of a man-child
Eyes wide,
Future Full
Black and white lines on his shirt
Snapped hope ‘93

Political gangsters
Squat on humanity
As it sinks further,     deep
In pain and misery
Swirls in red tape and the queen's democracy

Democracy becomes
Blood drenched
Stabbed, five inches          deep
Justice made blind

Moral imposters
Banking on flimsy legislation
Minds behind those black and white lines
Blood on their hands,
Drip drops a trail on the ground
Swirls turn justice monochrome

Stephen Lawrence

You miss the colors
You miss the freedom love can bring
You miss
Everything an 18-year-old saw and you didn't

Impotent fools
Loaded with steel hatred
Unaware that
The pen will forever trump the blade

The power you crave from that
Phallic metallic stick…
We are repelled
Powerless powerless fools

Thou shalt not kill
A battle waiting to be won
Thou shalt not kill
Education.
Words from a mother to a son
Thou shalt not kill
Knowledge.
The wisdom to walk away
Thou shalt not kill…

My peace. Your Peace. Our Peace