Today we met up with a group of 'senior citizens', who meet regularly through the Royal National Institute Blind (RNIB). The topic of this morning's discussion was 'sectarianism and racism' in N.I. We were using both poetry and music to address the various issues that might arise. Once again we had Gordon Hewitt from 'Scream Blue Murmur' in the hot seat, the music was provided by Wilson and Binu from 'Beyond Skin'. Skye was in charge of'technical duties'. There were approximately 14 'senior citizens' in attendance.
After initial introductions, Gordon got the show up and running by reading a 'light hearted' poem which took a look at the conflict in N.I. This started a very interesting debate regarding the use of comedy to address serious issues. It was generally accepted that one of the strengths of our culture was the ability to laugh at ourselves, and that humour was an another way to deal with atrocity. The group had strong opinions on how we should move forward, and as was to be expected, not every one shared the same point of view. Concerns were expressed about the number of people moving here. Understandably, fears were expressed about jobs, housing, benefits etc. However most agreed that a lot could be learnt from meeting and talking to people from foreign countries. Poems were written, drums were played and (I think) a good time was had by all.
Friday, 3 April 2009
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