https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-duchess-of-malfi/
The play was as breath taking as it was because it displayed abuse, rape and murder in a terrifyingly naturalistic manner. The body language, emotion and verbal delivery was painfully raw, sat in the front row I felt like a helpless bystander witnessing torture - the very worst of humanity. It followed the lives of the recently widowed Duchess and her two morally corrupt, jealous and violent brothers. So desperate were they to inherit her power and riches they killed her lover, children, the duchess and in the end they themselves get caught up in the havoc. As you can imagine it was quite the heart racer!
The unique element of this play was the use of blood. The second half of the play saw the stage get covered in a pool of blood, a sack was burst from the inside of a dead pig and caused a dramatic leak. This meant that all the action in the second half involved the actors walking across the stage getting their feet covered in blood, as each fight took place the blood spread further and further until almost every member of the cast was drowning in red. The sheer quantity of blood meant people in the front row were provided with blood blankets in case of splash...
Anyway now you have some context, back to the lady who sat next to me... 'it isn't real, is it...?' what I wanted to say is - are you aware that this play is so powerful because it is inspired by the pain endured again and again by the human race? Are you aware innocent people are being detained indefinitely in the UK? Are you aware that people are tortured on the tiniest shreds of evidence everyday? Are you aware that every time the England team loses a international game domestic abuse rises by 38%? Are you aware of the privilege it takes to utter that sentence?
Dirty competition, greed and abuse are not unique to thriller fictions.
We, the audience, were allowed to walk away.
It goes without saying that in "real life" victims don't get this luxury.
And there is a key word - victim.
'A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action'
As affected as I can sometimes feel by human right abuses I have never been the victim of abuse in this context. This line is a valuable one. There must be a balance between empathy and indifference. This is where my title - striving for consistency, becomes relevant. I seek to be an advocate for the voiceless but never a replacement orator. It is not for me to tell their stories in a way that suggests that their version is now unnecessary.
I hope this makes sense, I am still getting my head around how to best implement this in my life, I am imperfect and conscious I make mistakes in this area.
*side note* I am becoming increasingly invested in campaigning for an end to indefinite detention in the UK, last year I ran a session on it as part of my Amnesty workshops at Alderbrook, had external speakers come in a discuss it - was eye opening. You can read more about it here - http://detentionaction.org.uk/campaigns/indefinite-detention-in-detail
On the way to Stratford Sophie and I had a conversation about being an ethical consumer, about our imperfections and desire to be conscious of where our money was going. We discussed the difficulty of staying informed and being consistent in our shopping - perhaps buying a top made from organic cotton but from a company that uses slave labour, ticking one box but firmly crossing another. Sophie made the important point that whilst we can only do our bit, it is worth doing and we should never feel sorry for ourselves as if we are the ones that are victims of fast fashion/ global capitalism/ poverty.
It is helpful to hold in mind 'if I am buying this product/ service for a surprisingly low price then someone else is making up the difference... is my economic gain really worth it?'
This sentiment is useful but not watertight, not everyone has the financial security to make this distinction, not everyone is aware of the impact of globalisation and we are imperfect even when we have the best intentions and are bound to slip up here and there.
At this point I thought it would be helpful to list some practical ways I am striving to be morally consistent... I want to try and make sure I am both talking and walking the walk:
- Buying from charity shops and not feeling guilty if I am buying a product that comes from a questionable brand because my money is going to charity not supporting the brands practice. *side note* charities aren't infallible either... but if you keep looking for an ideal exchange then you will end up living as a hermit!
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| Recent purchases from COW Vintage shop in Birmingham. |
- Setting up a monthly standing order for NGOs I want to support (UNICEF & Home for Good).
https://www.unicef.org/
https://www.homeforgood.org.uk/
And a standing order for my charity account, from this pool of money I give to causes that I have become aware of that month, adding flexibility to this arrangement. This is a way of forcing myself to be generous regularly and in a more sustainable less impulsive way.
For more information on effective altruism I would recommend this book - https://www.waterstones.com/book/doing-good-better/william-macaskill/9781783350513
- Being a member of Amnesty International (did you know this about me?!) and getting seasonal magazines that are full of accessible information on global human rights. Can't recommend this enough, each magazine has a specific campaign focus, has first hand accounts and is full of actions that you can take quickly to put pressure on the decision makers across the world.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/join/
- Reading books that are written by people who have lived through injustice.
Here are a few of the most powerful non fictions I have read or are newly on my bookshelf, happy to lend any of these.
Enemy Combatant - https://www.waterstones.com/book/enemy-combatant/moazzam-begg/victoria-brittain/9781416522652
1000 Lashes - https://www.waterstones.com/book/1000-lashes/raif-badawi/constantin-schreiber/9781771642095
Guantanamo Diary - https://www.waterstones.com/book/guantanamo-diary/mohamedou-ould-slahi/larry-siems/9781782112853
Why I am no longer talking to white people about race - https://www.waterstones.com/book/why-im-no-longer-talking-to-white-people-about-race/reni-eddo-lodge/9781408870587
- Following a diverse range of people/ news outlets/ political opinions on social media. Trying and not doing a great job at getting out of a liberal echo chamber.
- Listening to those who disagree with me.
Going to insert in here of the disagreeing well Christians In Politics clip, would a blog post of mine be complete without a CIP mention?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MEShLYoJ4
Have done this by having frank conversations with conservative/ labour friends, leave voters and trying to proactively get outside the student bubble at uni - church in Twerton and local lib dems.
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| Photo from summer ball, from left to right we are stood in our positions on the political spectrum. Featuring Jake (labour), Me (Women's Officer for lib dems at Bath), Connor (chair of lib dems at Bath), Orla (treasurer for lib dems at Bath) and Jordan (chair of conservatives at Bath) |
- Signed up to Tearfund text alerts to get prayer requests written in response to crisis situations that often go unreported. https://www.tearfund.org/about_you/pray/whatsapp/
- Being 100% veggie at uni to cut down my meat intake. Have a look at The Real Meal Deal for information about the human/ environmental impact of having unstainable eating patterns and food waste. https://www.facebook.com/therealmealdeal2015
- Using ecosia as my search engine - it uses advertising money to plant trees. https://www.ecosia.org/
- Recognising that I am young, idealistic and overly empathetic and this comes with a bunch of pitfalls when it comes to trying to see the world through an open minded lens.
Something I am now going to start doing is a quick internet search on the main shops I buy from before I purchase products, all most all companies have a social responsibility and reading this allows customers to make an informed choice. Things to look out for include:
- Labour practices
- Material sourcing
- Environmental footprint in transport/ use of chemicals in products/ how the profit from the products is distributed
- Ability to recycle product/ packaging
Not quite sure how to end this blog post, know all of this is going to keep swimming around my brain as I have this week started to research and apply for my placement that will start July/ August 2019. This process is reminiscent of choosing my gap year project, faced with almost limitless opportunity going to try and soak it up!
Listened to the Hamilton Mixtape whilst writing this - didn't know I could love the musical more but I do, thank you again Sophie for introducing me. Especially 'History has its eyes on you' ... SO BEAUTFIUL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Y9Sn3vOmk&list=PLf5RBJBB-
m0YSImu3lFwAkSCd5UlLuZw6&index=21
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| Sophie coming to stay! |
If you have made it this far then you might well be in need of some stirring words from Obama to lift your spirits, here you go - https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/1255202997954538/
"Love comes more naturally to the human heart, let's remember that truth. Let's see it as our north star. Let's be joyful in our struggle to make that truth manifest here on earth. So that a hundred years from now future generations will look back and say they kept the march going, that is why we live under new banners of freedom "
Prayer Requests:
- For progress on a personal, local, national and international level towards a more inclusive, equal and loving world where human beings are treated with the dignity they deserve.
- For peace with imperfection.
- For energy to keep fighting the good fight.
- For community and a sense of belonging, we are not alone in trying to make the world a better place.
- For both a restful and productive summer holiday for myself and fellow students.
Thank you for making it to the end of my twenty fourth blog post. Have a life changing week.
