Words of Colour & Bristol Libraries present a panel discussion on the theme Politics, Power & Protest, with Muneera Pilgrim & special guests (Please scroll down for links, including reading recommendations)

Based on the theme of Power, Protest and Politics in the BBC 100 Novels That Shaped Our World longlist, 'Power, Protest & Poetry' was a series of online literary events with international poet Muneera Pilgrim, encouraging participants to create works in response to the books and our times.

In this podcast episode, we share with you the final event, 'Power, Protest & Poetry: The Bristol Edition'. It took place online, on Thursday 8th April 2021, and was a panel discussion on the theme Politics, Power & Protest with Heather from Words of Colour (see description below), Muneera Pilgrim (see bio below), and special guest Colin Ward, from the Bristol Radical History Group (https://www.brh.org.uk). There was also a reading of selected poems from the workshops, plus a special performance from Muneera Pilgrim.

What does it mean to have witnessed the pulling down of the Colston Statue, and the 'Kill The Bill' protests? What does it mean to live in one of the most segregated cities in the country? If you were given a platform, what would you write?

By its nature, this discussion was more political than our usual content, so just to remind you that any opinions expressed here are not those of Bristol Libraries, but rather the views of whoever was speaking.

Muneera Pilgrim is a Bristol born international Poet, Cultural Producer, Writer, Broadcaster and TEDx speaker. She co-founded the Muslim Hip-Hop and spoken word duo Poetic Pilgrimage, and she is a co-founder of Black Muslim Women Bike. She regularly contributes to BBC 2’s Pause for Thought, she is a community artist with In Between Time, and alumni associate artist with The English Touring Theatre where she is writing her first play. Muneera’s first full poetry collection will be released late 2021 with Burning Eye books. Muneera has written for The Guardian, Amaliah, Huffington Post, The Independent, Al Jazeera, Black Ballard and various other platforms. She has been featured across the BBC network, as well as Sky News, Sky Arts, and Al Jazeera. In 2015 a documentary about her former group Poetic Pilgrimage was commissioned by Al Jazeera, “Hip-Hop Hijabis has been screened several times since. Find her on Instagram and Twitter (@MuniPilgrim).

Words of Colour Productions is a Creative Development Agency for writers, artists, creatives and entrepreneurs of colour that collaborates with organisations and institutions who are ready to actively commit to systemic transformation programmes that inspire and facilitate inclusion and action. Find Words of Colour on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

BBC Novels That Shaped Our World: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/494P41NCbVYHlY319VwGbxp/explore-the-list-of-100-novels-that-shaped-our-world

Muneera Pilgrim's Reading Recommendations: https://wordsofcolour.co.uk/power-protest-poetry-muneera-pilgrims-reading-recommendations/

Poetry showcase online: https://wordsofcolour.co.uk/power-protest-poetry-the-workshop-poets/

Transcript coming soon

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