Idle No More by Umaru

Umaru Saidu  deliberated hard over this poem during the Shake course in Feb. A passionate reading at the Shake Voice, Verse, Power Showcase at the AlbanY, 23rd June 2013.

Human Trafficking by Khafi

A moving and thought provoking poem by Khafi Kareem filmed by Media 4 Youth at the Shake! Voice, Verse and Power showcase, Albany, 23rd June 2013.

And …Where Do You and I Fit In?- Reflections on Coordinating Shake!

Some 9 months since joining Platform, I wanted to offer some reflection on working on Shake!, which is  the project I co-ordinate and what I largely work on. This piece is extracted from my concluding remarks at our last Shake! Showcase , slightly paraphrased for the blog reader. Shake! is a project that brings together young people, artists & campaigners to develop creative responses to social injustice. Our next Shake intensive course is running during 5-9 of August, info below.

Shake! intensive at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust 22/02/2013

Whenever anyone asks me about Shake! and what is that we do, I always struggle and the more I get involved with Shake!, it becomes increasingly  harder. You’ll often find me deferring the responsibility and cheekily inviting the rest of the Shake! team or Shake! participants to answer, probing: “What is Shake! to you?” though this is often because being Voices That Shake!, we are conscientious  about ensuring people’s voices come through and each person has an opportunity to speak for themselves (especially seeing as everyone contributes and takes from Shake! uniquely and differently). It is also because I’m avoiding the responsibility of answering such an enveloping question, I find I can never express or do justice to the fullness of Shake!  However, now seems right to try.

I don’t know if you remember, a couple of years ago there was advert on T.V., I think it was some sort of banking advert, lets just suppose it was. It went along the lines of “Most banks offer you this service or this service, however we offer you this and this.”  Shake! in an entirely different sense evokes an and for me. Every time I describe what Shake! is, I find myself saying: “Shake! engages with: race and media and environment and power and social justice issues. It is a youth project but not just for young people, it informs activists and artists  and educators and older generations through its youth-led policy seminars and youth-led continuing professional development workshops( CPD). Shake! aims to diversify and inform art and activism and education and academia and social policy …” More than anything else I am saying and.  That being the case, I have come to realize that Shake! does in three definitive and profound ways embody an and for me.