I turned up and quickly scanning the audience couldn't spot anybody I knew and upon frantically messaging people I discovered that all of the few who I thought were attending had had to cancel for one reason or another! A bit disappointing but no calamity: when you have 200+ people in a room that's 200+ people to talk to. It turned out the guy across the aisle from me was also called Yusuf and therefore we were guaranteed to have a good time!
The host kicked things off and one by one the speaker line up did their thing. Some spoke about their own stories and some of the challenges they'd faced while others chose to share other people's stories. All were interesting and all were powerful. There were reverts, rappers, doctors, social activists, youtubers, poets and storytellers - it's rare to see such a wide variety of performers and I was suitably impressed.
The storyteller, Mary Clark, had a background in science but told a very human story revolving around depression (which seemed an odd choice to me given the empowerment focus) but it was handled delicately and turned into an inspiring story about mental health issues.
The rapper and singer duo from Deen Squad delivered strong performances and, technical issues notwithstanding, they proved to be very entertaining. The rapper, Jae Deen, spoke about his own journey to Islam and some very personal difficulties - particularly poignant was his line about having never prayed jamaat (congregational) prayer in his family home as his parents and family were not receptive to his Islam.
The poet, Tommy Evans, had three poems lined up - the first two were in line with the inspiration and empowerment theme but he finished with a very amusing poem about his beard! (If you click the link you'll see a photo of the man and note he has a shaved head and a ginger beard!)
Harry Fear from Russia Today talked of his experiences as a news correspondent assigned to cover Gaza. It was fascinating to hear his views on the issue as someone whose job it is to be the mouthpiece of the news.
Dr Swee Ang (orthopaedics) delivered a very moving story of how she arrived in the region many, many years ago as a Christian Zionist but upon working in Lebanon with Gazan refugees and then later in Gaza itself had her views changed to the other side of the fence and has written a book about her experiences (From Beirut to Jerusalem).
During the lunch break I abandoned my new Yusuf friend and went to talk to the speakers/entertainers. They proved to be as interesting as you would expect from such colourful background and my enjoyment of the event rose several notches and I also managed to get a front row seat for my troubles which was an excellent result! I spoke with Majdi Aqil from Interpal who gave me useful advice when he found out I was learning Arabic. Dr Swee Ang shared her views with me on the current Junior Doctors'/NHS privatisation issues and when I left the auditorium for Maghrib prayer I ended up leading some of the poets in prayer and I managed to have a chat with them as well.
And eventually we wound up doing the fundraising that was the primary purpose of the event. Most of the audience were students yet together they collectively pledged to raise over £70,000! Outstanding numbers mA and it was very heartwarming to see the passion and eagerness to help those less fortunate.
Empowerment and Powerful. These themes ran through the whole afternoon's entertainments and activities and, aside from the ideas and thoughts it sparked in my own head, I'm really pleased I went along.
No comments:
Post a Comment