PhoebeE's blog

I can’t believe it has already been a year since my first ‘Creative Protest’ blog. I thought as we come to the end of this series it was worth taking a moment to reflect on what my year protesting creatively has looked like, and what has stood out to me. At first, I thought this would be a quick task, but looking back at the year and all the many different forms of protest we have looked at, I feel this may be a more difficult task than initially expected… 

First a quick summary of the forms of protest we have looked at: 

It’s the Olympics! And so this month’s Creative Protest is looking at those times when sports and protest have walked hand in hand.  From competing in sports being a protest itself, to sports being a platform we use to get messages across- there is no denying that the sporting world gets a lot of attention, and so it’s only right we use it for promoting peace, love and justice… 

sat·ire

[ˈsatʌɪə]

noun

the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues:

This week is Refugee Week, and it so happens that this year it is falling right in the middle of the general election campaigns. So, here is your call to action: write to your local candidates!  Using the email template attached, write to your local candidates and encourage them to prioritise the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in their campaign. This email template was created from a workshop we ran with Exeter SCM, on the themes of standing up for refugees and asylum seekers. The discussions we had informed the creation of this template for you to use.

TW: infant death, racism 

boy·cott 

[ˈbɔɪkɒt] 

verb 

withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organisation, or person) as a punishment or protest: 

If we ask you to imagine a meeting aimed at ending poverty, what comes to mind, and where are you?

Perhaps you’re thinking of a gathering of professionals in a formal meeting room, discussing strategies and policies. (Exciting? No?)

Perhaps you’re imagining something more dynamic and grounded in community: people bouncing ideas around and seeking to reclaim power.

It’s maybe less likely you’re imaging yourself at an art exhibition, or a live gig, or a poetry reading.

At the end of 2023, SCM members and friends joined together in a craftivism campaign to send over 150 origami boats to the new Home Secretary, James Clerverly. This was in response to the Government’s ‘Stop the Boats‘ campaign, which we believe is driven by a narrative rooted in trying to keep refugees and asylum seekers outside of the country, and aiding in the building of a general hostile environment for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. The ’Stop the Boats’ campaign in particular focuses on the boats that carry refugees across the channel, rather than the people seeking refuge.

If I have had the pleasure of joining any of you readers in person for a workshop recently you will know I am a big fan of Grace Petrie, the self-proclaimed ‘lefty scum, protest singer’. In April I was blessed enough to go to her gig in Birmingham with my cousins and mother, and of  course, there I found my muse for this month’s creative protest blog! Music can include everything  from  writing some of the best music of the 21st century, like Grace Petrie (in my humble opinion), to banging drums on marches, to changing lyrics to songs to generate new meanings.

“Why don’t you actually do something rather than just praying about it?”  

You could be forgiven for thinking the only place the Bible and theatre cross are at children’s nativity plays and the odd Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. However, these are words we perhaps don’t hear together as much as we should. The basis of modern theatre and much of what we see on stage today, has come from a combination of these two things.