Episodes
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In this series, ‘Taking my white privilege on’, I am talking to black artists about their life experiences and looking forward to the future to the society we want to build and live in and exploring what part I can play as a white woman living in a white rural area.
In this episode, I talk to Casey Bailey, the Birmingham Poet Laureate and our focus is on education.
Like everything else, our education system is changing – but big organisations can take a long time to change course. Most schools would claim not to be racist, but is that actually the case? How can we ensure equality of opportunity and aspiration? How do we equip young people to question and challenge the social structures around them?
Casey Bailey is a man of both words and action, an artist and an educator. Casey is a nationally renowned poet who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and been commissioned by the BBC. At the same time, he is a secondary school Assistant Headteacher. Casey’s is a Specialist Leader in Education, with a specific focus on Behaviour and Community factors and has worked in a number of schools supporting their, development, implementation and review of behaviour policies and the development of a whole school culture around behaviour. He is a leader in raising aspirations and removing the disadvantage gap
The things that have driven Casey to pursue a career in teaching, have also led him to work within his own community and the wider community to support and promote the development of people who contribute positively to their environment. Born and raised in Nechells, Birmingham, Casey has experienced first-hand the impact of deprivation and lack of direction, but also the strength and resilience of so many people from this type of background. Casey is determined to see harnessed the qualities these areas can instill and to overcome the issues that are often synonymous with such places. Casey’s work within his community, along with his other work in education and poetry was recognised by Birmingham Live in 2018, when they named his as one of the 30 most influential under 30 year olds in the city (#Brum30Under30). This was followed up in 2019, when the University of Worcester awarded him an honorary Fellowship and membership to the university’s College of Fellows.
To find our more about Casey and his work, please visit: http://caseybailey.co.uk
To support these podcasts and find out more about my work, you can visit my website at www.amydouglas.com and become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/AmyDouglas
Thank you to Arts Council England for supporting these podcasts.
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In this new series, I am talking to black artists about their life experiences and looking forward to the future to the society we want to build and live in.
In this episode, I talk to Graham Cleland, a Graffitti artist from County Durham - and my cousin.
In the past, as a white woman living in a rural white area, I have been wary of talking about race. I felt I had no place in the conversation and that my voice wasn't wanted or needed. Black Lives Matter has changed that. The campaign felt like a hand being extended to ask everyone to come together in solidarity to face the difficult conversations, to listen, to struggle through the awkwardness to find the right language to be able to discuss the issues. This series is my first step on that path.
Graham and I are cousins - and friends. He is someone I have played with, teased. shared family events with and admired as he has grown as an artist, mentor and role model. I normally see him at big family gatherings, where the cousins gather, swap stories of what has happened since we last met and laugh at some of the daft things our relatives have done lately (of which there are always plenty to choose from!). We have never sat down one and one and had a serious conversation about Graham's experiences of growing up in a white family, in a white area, with an absent black father. Until now.
Graham Clelland is a graffiti artist - proud of his raw, passionate, exuberant and subversive artform - a combination of modern expression and an impulse as ancient as cave drawings.
Growing up in the North East England, Graham was first inspired both by the emerging hiphop scene and the beauty of illuminated lettering he discovered in Durham cathedral. Over his two decades as a graffiti artist, he has created commissions and exhibtions throughout Britain and Germany. As a youth missioner, Graham uses graffiti to engage some of the hardest to reach young people in some of the toughest areas in Britain
To find our more about Graham and his work, please visit: https://realgraffiti.jimdofree.com
To support these podcasts and find out more about my work, you can visit my website at www.amydouglas.com and become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/AmyDouglas
Thank you to Arts Council England for supporting these podcasts.
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Missing episodes?
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Helen and Amy discuss Duncan and Scottish Traveller lifestyle; the importance of living in balance with the land and, of course, there are stories!
Helen remembers how she first met Duncan, his self-reliance and how he balanced acknowledging the scorn and prejudice he had encountered with an open-hearted generosity and joy in meeting new people.
A warm, intimate conversation as two friends make the most of a chance to reflect on a unique man; the startling relevance of his stories today and the incredible tradition he carried.
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This is a short first podcast. It is an introduction to Duncan Williamson and a little of me learning of how to podcast from podcast expert, Hannah Hethmon.
My name is Amy Douglas and I am a traditional oral storyteller. I learned much of my craft from Scottish Traveller storyteller, Duncan Williamson. I'm currently digitising boxes and boxes of reel to reel tapes he gave me with help from the School of Scottish Studies. Here is a first story from that archive and an introduction to who Duncan was.
In future podcasts I will be sharing more of Duncan's stories and meeting up with other storytellers and artists influenced by Duncan to talk about why - and if! - his stories are still relevant today.
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A small sample of what's to come...
