YOUNG LOYALISTS WITH DREAMS - WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT
04/02/2023
Who’d have thought
Of a young loyalist working on her second Masters
Who’d have thought
Of a young loyalist dreaming of being a show jumper
Who’d have thought
Of young loyalists being
The most imaginative, innovative and creative.
Who’d have thought
Of the young loyalists inviting Catholic friends to bonfires
Who’d have thought
Of a young loyalist dreaming of being a games designer
Who’d have thought
Of young loyalists being
The most imaginative, innovative and creative.
Everybody dreams
Dreams whirl in colour swirls
Thump and pump and pulsate
Then bounce against society’s fate
Dreams are equally distributed
But the opportunities
Not so much.
Who’d have thought
Certainly not those of us
Who box in and confine young loyalists
To caricatures
Stereotypes
And the butt end of jokes
Certainly not those of us
Who never listen to their dreams
Who ignore the hurdles and hindrances
And don’t have in our own dreams
That one day soon
Everybody’s dreams might come true.
I rethink.
The exhibition PresentFuture at 4 Corners Festival 2023 was the most imaginative and innovative event that we have ever done. It was dreamed up and planned by young loyalists.
In a year when our Festival theme was Dreams:Visions For Belfast, we had asked Alternatives NI through their BAND project to ask young people and children in loyalist communities to share their dreams. Beyond our wildest dreams they conjured an immersive visual experience of lights, colour swirls to a beat driven soundtrack. There were photographs and spoken word too.
I spent an afternoon at the exhibition with some of those young loyalist dreamers and the Minister of State For Northern Ireland, Steve Baker. Conversation was frank and honest. It was a listening experience. More than listening I was stretching to hear. We heard from articulate young loyalists seeking investment into education and jobs in their areas.
And I asked myself… what am I doing to help these young people to fulfil their dreams.
Thank you BAND at Alternatives NI and the two Debbies, Jonathan, Oisin and Ryan
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