Zena and Sai's Tributes to Jayne Cortez

Shake!'s poetry facilitators for our upcoming August course pay tribute to Jayne Cortez.

We've previously posted about John La Rose being an inspiration for Shake! together with New Beacon Books and the George Padmore Institiute - tonight these organisations are putting on an event paying tribute to the influential poet and activist Jayne Cortez with our Zena appearing on the bill.

Details here.

For those who were at our #VoiceVersePower showcase last month you will also have heard a poem from Sai that was written during a Jayne Cortez workshop. You can read the full poem over on Sai's blog and watch a performance of this piece on our showcase video together with interviews from the night and performances from the Shakers.

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.

News Flash: Shake! in the Red Pepper 'Summer of Action

Woop! Check out Shake! in the Red Pepper 'Summer of Action' http://www.redpepper.org.uk/summer-of-action/
More details on how to get involved with the shake! intensive this summer at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre below:   Spread the word :)

Shake! Update: Hannan Majid and Richard York, from Hi8us South join Shake! intensive.

EXCITING NEWS UPDATE: this Shake! we will have film makers Hannan Majid and Richard York, from Hi8us South. Derek Richard from Hi8us tells us:

Richard and Hanan tend to work together and/or interchange themselves across the duration of a project. This might seem unusual, but it always works for us. Here are links to recent projects of theirs which will make it clear why they're right for this work. They'll bring a lot to the week in general through the work they've been doing.

The Trailer for their most recent feature doc, The Machinist. It was released before the Rana factory collapse in Bangladesh, but has since been attached to campaign to raise money for the victims in addition to its original role as an awareness raising film about working conditions in garment factories in Bangladesh: 

The second is a short made about Adidas for War On Want on the same issue: http://vimeo.com/67196013

We are so excited to be working and learning with them.

If you are a budding film maker, or interested in film join us for our Shake! intensive, email farzana@platformlondon.org for an application.

Shake! Film: Perceptions

 

Here is the final edit of the film made by Shake! participants during our Shake! 2013 at the Stephen Lawrence  Charitable Trust, Deptford in February. The film was a response to a range of political discussions that took place during the week ranging from; power, race, media, misogyny, environment etc. Sam Liebmann and Derek Richards from Hi8us South supported Shake! participants to create, shoot and edit the film.

"It seems that during this time of need the work of our sector is looking more at how we can empower young people as social activists. Young people aren't just in need of support, they have perhaps the strongest desire to act for change and, as we've witnessed, produce some of the most creative socially engaged work.

Shake!  in February was like a breath of fresh air in the smog of negativity that many of us are experiencing. With Platform we're getting ready for the second run of 2013 in August. More news coming soon in the meantime check out this short piece, one of many outputs from the February workshops." 
- Derek Richards, Hi8us South

http://www.hi8us-south.co.uk/2013/05/shaking-perceptions/

Film by:  Ceris, Christina, Dershe, Holly, Ifthekar, Nathaniel.

For  more info on our summer Shake! August 5-9 at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, email farzana@platformlondon.org

Official: Shake! Showcase At Least 18% Better Than Glastonbury

Gender issues get a lot of discussion here at Shake! so it was with interest that we saw this article today on the representation of women on the line-up at festivals.

We thought it only fair that we checked ourselves and with a hasty count-up and re-design of our Verse/Voice/Power poster from last Sunday's event we were pleased to find that we seem to have got the balance about right.

52% of our advertised line-up defined as female (a whole 18% better than Glastonbury) and if you factor in some unavoidable abscences on the night together with the closing performance from Shake! co-ordinator Farzana this is boosted to 64% - yes, by these statistics we're almost twice better than Britain's iconic festival.
 
Nudge to Billy Bragg for a Shake! slot for next year's Left Field maybe? :)

Check out some of the performances of the night here:

Event: Shake! Showcase #2 Voice! Verse! & Power!

Voice! Verse! & Power!  is the explosive showcase from the participants of the second Shake! course. Featuring freshly created poetic, filmic and musical responses to injustice, the showcase will present an original and inspiring mix of political creativity. The event is FREE, but with limited capacity, it is important to get your tickets early! So get on down to The Albany in Deptford on June 23^rd and join us for what promises to be an electric event. 

Get your tickets here: http://shakeshowcase2.eventbrite.co.uk/

See you there!