Otherwise Silent

I talked with Katy Sadler and Sarah Taylor Silverwood from Feminist Work for Change about women’s safety in public space. We touched upon the public response to the murders of Sarah Everard , Blessing Olusegun, Nicole Smallman, and Biba Henry and how women are sharing their safety precautions when entering public space, especially at night. We also talked around abuse and harassment in schools and the need for education to be more encompassing and start by breaking down gender stereotypes.

Katy Sadler and Sarah Taylor Silverwood work in the arts in Birmingham. They are both members of Feminists Work for Change a working group for the West Midlands that aims to address issues affecting the lives of women and girls, and to create positive change in the immediate and longer term, locally and nationally.

The episode sound is composed by Zach Dawson. Presented by artist and activist Amelia Hawk.

Talking with human rights campaigner Zita Holbourne from BARAC (Black Activists Rising Against Cuts) about the UK summer of deportations which has seen chartered flights to to Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam Jamaica and Zimbabwe. We talked about what deportation and detention is, and questioned what the political intention with these actions are. Zita told me stories about people who have been let down by the system as deportation rips families apart and ends life chances. She talks through the impact of deportation on different groups of people from those overstaying visas, the Windrush generation and Commonwealth soldiers.

Zita Holbourne is the chair of BARAC (Black Activists Rising Against Cuts) a UK campaign group that fight against racism, injustice, austerity & for migrant rights. She is also the co-chair of Artists Union England and a multidisciplinary artist.

This episode explores the circumstances that might push a woman into a crisis position and leave her homeless. We talk about the impact of domestic violence on families, and how their isn’t enough council housing to support people needing to leave their homes. This is creating a build up of women in shelter. By the end of the episode we have a general conversation about feminism, oppression and racism which turned into a really enjoyable rant. My son has added his vocals to this conversation so there are moment where it is a challenging listen, but if you make it to the end its really worthwhile.
This episode is kindly supported by a-n, artists newsletter and the sound is composed by Zach Dawson. Presented by artist and activist Amelia Hawk.

In this episode I talked with Dr Juliet Stone about the way poverty is impacting society today. We frame the conversation by looking at the Minimum Income Standard which is used as a base line to set the Real Living Wage, an opt in scheme for employers to pay an acceptable minimum to employees. The conversation covers a rage of areas from intergenerational poverty, looking at children and families in particular, to the impacts of benefit cuts and the cruelty of government policy.

Dr Juliet Stone is a Research Associate at Loughborough University, a part of the Centre for Research in Social Policy. The Minimum Income Standard is funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

This episode is kindly supported by a-n, artists newsletter and the sound is composed by Zach Dawson. Presented by artist and activist Amelia Hawk.

I met with Labour Councillor Sharon Thompson to talk about what Birmingham is doing to help homeless citizens in the West Midlands. Sharon has played a key role in setting up Birmingham's prevention strategy and has been the first Homelessness Ambassador for Birmingham and the West Midlands. We talked about what is happening in the region and nationally as well as laying the blame for the exponential growth of homelessness firmly at the Tories door.This episode is kindly supported by a-n, artists newsletter and the sound is composed by Zach Dawson. Presented by artist and activist Amelia Hawk.