Hi!
I know not many people (if any) read this blog because I haven't made it very public/linked it to other social media (I'm nervous ok, I've never done a blog before, I will advertise it in my own good time.)
But I have lots of write about and I will catch up on here soon!
The past month has been crazily busy, and I've got some really exciting stuff going on.
My University has awarded me a 'vacation scholarship' which gives me money do some research in the US this summer on a project I've designed myself, which I will obviously write much more about. Linked to that I was invited to a staff lunch at my University to meet two professors of History from Central Michigan University which was a really exciting and let's admit, very nerdy, experience.
I have lots more to write about Journey to Justice, which sadly ends its run in Newcastle's Discovery Museum on Monday (4th) after its big hand-over event to Sheffield on Sunday.
And yesterday I stood up in-front of 70 members of the History society (way out of my comfort zone, I still cannot believe I did it), delivered a speech about why I would be good as the Academic Officer next year, and I won the vote!!
So yes, exciting things, I will expand on them soon.
I feel like everything at University is going so well for me at the moment, which makes me nervous that something is going to go really wrong soon! I've been really poorly a week ago so I hope that was 'it'...
Peace x
Showing posts with label Journey to Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journey to Justice. Show all posts
Friday, 1 May 2015
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Journey to Justice has well and truly kicked off
(I really should have written this blog post earlier when everything was fresher in my mind, but still, better late than never.)
On the 4th April 2015 I attended the launch event of Journey to Justice in Newcastle's Discovery Museum. It was a really wonderful and inspiring event. There were many incredible speakers, notably Marcia Saunders and Archie Sibeko who spoke emotively of their experiences fighting injustice and standing up for their beliefs, in the freedom summer in Tennessee and South Africa respectively. Both were wonderful speakers who had the audience enthralled at every word.
There was also music performed from NESS, Kingsmeadow Community Choir, Crossings, and legendary folk musicians Johnny Handle and Benny Graham. These singers and musicians sung about freedom and hope, and made every member of the audience believe that they too could transform someone's life for the better through the power of music and words.
Carrie, the director of JtoJ, had worked incredibly hard to get this dream off the ground, and she was spoken highly of throughout the event. Bethany also did a brilliant job as compere, introducing acts and leading the choirs. Clearly the whole team has done so much work to realize a very important idea.
Last night I attended the 'Pits and Protest' event with Joseph and a family friend Brian; an evening of folk music with Johnny Handle and Benny Graham at the Mining Institute. This was another of Journey to Justice's events. I had not been inside the the building before; it is beautiful and really something special. The concert itself was both funny and very poignant. Johnny and Benny sang, read poems, and recited stories of mining disasters and hardships, and it was a very enjoyable evening. Journey to Justice is about the wider world's fight for freedom, but they are also telling the stories of local injustices, such as the lost of the mining communities round Newcastle.
I am only a volunteer, but I have made an effort to be involved at every stage I could and give my support and feedback, and Carrie herself emailed me this morning saying 'You are one of our greatest supporters and that is wonderful to see/hear!' which really made my day!
I cannot stress enough that what Journey to Justice is doing is incredibly vital in today's world. There is still injustice and exploitation, and we do still needs projects and messages such as this to let people know that it is not ok, and we will not continue to stand by and let it happen.
I'm not an expert at reviewing events and this is only brief, but this blog is about things that I think are important. And the launch event of Journey to Justice was just the beginning of a long and very special journey that is doing a lot of good for so many people.
[photos to come soon]
On the 4th April 2015 I attended the launch event of Journey to Justice in Newcastle's Discovery Museum. It was a really wonderful and inspiring event. There were many incredible speakers, notably Marcia Saunders and Archie Sibeko who spoke emotively of their experiences fighting injustice and standing up for their beliefs, in the freedom summer in Tennessee and South Africa respectively. Both were wonderful speakers who had the audience enthralled at every word.
There was also music performed from NESS, Kingsmeadow Community Choir, Crossings, and legendary folk musicians Johnny Handle and Benny Graham. These singers and musicians sung about freedom and hope, and made every member of the audience believe that they too could transform someone's life for the better through the power of music and words.
Carrie, the director of JtoJ, had worked incredibly hard to get this dream off the ground, and she was spoken highly of throughout the event. Bethany also did a brilliant job as compere, introducing acts and leading the choirs. Clearly the whole team has done so much work to realize a very important idea.
Last night I attended the 'Pits and Protest' event with Joseph and a family friend Brian; an evening of folk music with Johnny Handle and Benny Graham at the Mining Institute. This was another of Journey to Justice's events. I had not been inside the the building before; it is beautiful and really something special. The concert itself was both funny and very poignant. Johnny and Benny sang, read poems, and recited stories of mining disasters and hardships, and it was a very enjoyable evening. Journey to Justice is about the wider world's fight for freedom, but they are also telling the stories of local injustices, such as the lost of the mining communities round Newcastle.
I am only a volunteer, but I have made an effort to be involved at every stage I could and give my support and feedback, and Carrie herself emailed me this morning saying 'You are one of our greatest supporters and that is wonderful to see/hear!' which really made my day!
I cannot stress enough that what Journey to Justice is doing is incredibly vital in today's world. There is still injustice and exploitation, and we do still needs projects and messages such as this to let people know that it is not ok, and we will not continue to stand by and let it happen.
I'm not an expert at reviewing events and this is only brief, but this blog is about things that I think are important. And the launch event of Journey to Justice was just the beginning of a long and very special journey that is doing a lot of good for so many people.
[photos to come soon]
Monday, 23 February 2015
Involvement with Journey to Justice
It appears to have been a while, blogspot...
Just a quick update about an exciting opportunity I'm getting involved with!
I'm volunteering in April with Journey to Justice (http://journeytojustice.org.uk/) an organisation promoting human rights movements of the past to inspire people to stand up for injustice today.
They're bringing an exhibition to Newcastle in April on the American Civil Rights movement, and linking it with Newcastle's own radical history. Throughout the month there will be incredible talks, films, music and events promoting human rights of all kinds, and showing the important impact of music on the movement in America in the 1960s. So I'll be present when I can at the exhibition and evening events, answering questions and handing out information.
I met up with the lovely director, Carrie, last week because I could not make the volunteers meeting which had happened the previous day. We had a very interesting chat, introducing me to the project and its aims. Later as I was finishing my cup of tea, Carrie had arranged a meeting with producer and BBC reporter, Murphy Cobbin, who worked on the short film 'A Kings Speech in Tyneside'. This documents Martin Luther King's time there when he received an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967, 5 months before he was assassinated. I got chatting to Murphy myself and ended up staying for about 45 minutes of their meeting (oops).
It was a fantastic opportunity to meet with both of these amazing women and hear their experiences of fighting injustice, and their views on civil rights, inspiring me greatly. On doing research in America on the recently discovered footage of MLK's speech in Newcastle, Murphy has recently interviewed many of MLK's friends and fellow activists, including Andrew Young, as well as King's surviving children. She gave us many fascinating insider stories about his life and legacy from her interviews: she literally had me and Carrie hanging on to her every word.
It was a truly remarkable experience I feel really privileged to have had. Perhaps I stayed too long on their meeting (!), but I could not have asked for a better spent, or more thrilling, Thursday afternoon. I am very much looking forward to being involved in the exhibition in Newcastle and following Journey to Justice in its fantastic promotion of human rights.
Just a quick update about an exciting opportunity I'm getting involved with!
I'm volunteering in April with Journey to Justice (http://journeytojustice.org.uk/) an organisation promoting human rights movements of the past to inspire people to stand up for injustice today.
They're bringing an exhibition to Newcastle in April on the American Civil Rights movement, and linking it with Newcastle's own radical history. Throughout the month there will be incredible talks, films, music and events promoting human rights of all kinds, and showing the important impact of music on the movement in America in the 1960s. So I'll be present when I can at the exhibition and evening events, answering questions and handing out information.
I met up with the lovely director, Carrie, last week because I could not make the volunteers meeting which had happened the previous day. We had a very interesting chat, introducing me to the project and its aims. Later as I was finishing my cup of tea, Carrie had arranged a meeting with producer and BBC reporter, Murphy Cobbin, who worked on the short film 'A Kings Speech in Tyneside'. This documents Martin Luther King's time there when he received an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967, 5 months before he was assassinated. I got chatting to Murphy myself and ended up staying for about 45 minutes of their meeting (oops).
It was a fantastic opportunity to meet with both of these amazing women and hear their experiences of fighting injustice, and their views on civil rights, inspiring me greatly. On doing research in America on the recently discovered footage of MLK's speech in Newcastle, Murphy has recently interviewed many of MLK's friends and fellow activists, including Andrew Young, as well as King's surviving children. She gave us many fascinating insider stories about his life and legacy from her interviews: she literally had me and Carrie hanging on to her every word.
It was a truly remarkable experience I feel really privileged to have had. Perhaps I stayed too long on their meeting (!), but I could not have asked for a better spent, or more thrilling, Thursday afternoon. I am very much looking forward to being involved in the exhibition in Newcastle and following Journey to Justice in its fantastic promotion of human rights.
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