For a society to be truly diverse, it must also include people who look, act or think differently to us. A diverse community must welcome any ethnicity, any political, social, or economic background, any creed or absence of, any gender identity, or any sexual orientation. It must embrace differences and rejoice on the richness that comes from welcoming others. If you look around you and everyone looks and thinks the same as you, even if you consider yourself to be part of the "good ones", you don't live in a diverse community. Sometimes, that's a painful pill to swallow.
Two years ago, after the Brexit referendum when Fashion Week was deemed as “too political”, I wrote a piece on why this is the time when creatives must create. Our role as artists is to look around us and try to make sense of the world we are living by studying it, interpreting it and presenting it to society to offer a different perspective on the issues that we care for. We have a powerful and effective way of engaging with our audiences, and we must use it to encourage others to question their own realities.
Also, as creatives, we have a duty to integrate those who are different to us because, if we don't, we end up just talking amongst ourselves and our work becomes stagnant. Only by being open to others and to new experiences is that our work achieves its real potential.
Today, I find myself writing this post after a General Election in the UK that has torn the country apart, and that has left people on all sides with a feeling of unrest. Even the winners are not really sure of what they have won. The aim of those in power is to rip this country apart, tear it to pieces, leaving us vulnerable and easy to control. Divide and conquer, one of the oldest tricks in the book. But, no matter which side you stand on, we mustn't let this happen. We gain so much more by sticking together, even if it means going out and having tea with those with opposing points of views to us. Now, more than ever, we need to integrate others and fight against hatred.
But how do we do that? Where do we start? Well, I know it's easier said than done. Still, there are many things that you can start doing in your communities (family, friends, neighbourhood, workplace, school, religious group, etc.) to become an integrating force. Love and hatred both have a ripple effect, so the only way to fight against the latter is to infuse more love and inclusion into our everyday lives.
Change comes from within, and if we are not comfortable right now with the current situation in our community, we can't just sit down and wait for politicians to come and change it for us. We must start doing something ourselves right now.
If you need concrete examples, I can tell you some of the things that I do to improve the communities that I belong to in the hopes that you can find inspiration in at least one of them:
Respect: I try as much as I can to treat everyone with respect. This is a simple thing that you can start doing right now that won't cost you anything but will go a long way. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone, even those who don't respect you back. It's difficult, I know, but you can't fight hatred with hatred. Count to a million if you must whenever a situation is trying to get the worst out of you.
Speak out: I use all the platforms available to me (social media, blog, everyday informal conversations, photography) to speak out about the issues that I care for.
Volunteer: I volunteer my time and skills to help others. There are a lot of groups out there that are in desperate need of hands to be able to deliver the beautiful work that they do to improve our communities. Just type "volunteer work" and the name of your community in Google and you will find many to choose from. Also, you don't need to become part of an organisation to do volunteer work. You can just pay attention to the needs of those around you, and you will find many ways in which you can contribute to improving their lives. Maybe a neighbour who lives alone and doesn't know how to cook could benefit from your kitchen skills, or you might know someone who is unemployed and doesn't know how to write a CV who will definitely benefit from a helping hand. Imagine if we all did these small things for each other... there wouldn't be a politician who'd be able to divide us.
Reduce waste: during the summer, I wrote this post about the changes that I’ve been implementing in my life to reduce my waste. Some of these changes were no-brainers and easy to implement, while others took a lot of deliberation and compromise. Not only with myself, but also with those who live with me. It’s not an easy feat.
Donate: some organisations need volunteers, but others also need money to be able to function. And the problem with money is that we need it ourselves too and it is often scarce. But, if you have spare change in your pockets or you find yourself with a little left at the end of the month, consider supporting organisations that work on the issues that you care for the most. At home, we give every month to the following ones:
Help Refugees: we donate every month to this organisation that since the summer of 2015, supports a network of over 25,000 volunteers that provide food, clothes, shelter, medical care, psychosocial support and informal education to refugees across Europe and the Middle East.
Humanists UK: I am a part of Humanists UK, an organisation that champions Human Rights (LGBTQ+ rights, Women's Reproduction Rights, Non-religious people rights) and that supports lasting change for a better society. I am also a member of their LGBTQ+ chapter which campaigns for equality and diversity, particularly relating to sexual orientation and identity – both in the UK and internationally.
Stonewall: we donate every month to this organisation that works with institutions (including employers, schools, healthcare providers, sports organisations and religious institutions) to create inclusive and accepting cultures, to ensure institutions understand and value the huge benefits brought to them by LGBTQ+ people, and to empower institutions as advocates and agents of positive change.
Food Banks: we donate every week to food banks through programmes like The Food Vouchers, which double the amount that we put in and donate food to homeless shelters across the UK.
These are some of the small things that we are doing at home to contribute to the improvement of our community. I know that when you put it in writing it doesn't feel like much, but what for us might feel like a small contribution feels like a massive amount of support for those who need it.
Finally, there are other direct and indirect ways in which you can contribute to making the world a better place to live:
Personal projects: Starting 2019, I am looking for ways of giving back to the community whenever I work on a personal project, in ways that are more than just raising awareness for a cause. The work that I'm doing with Art Sense Studio and Skaped comes from that commitment that I made to myself. You can read more about it on this post.
Pay it forward: I feel like the best way to be grateful for what others have done for you is to pay those acts of kindness forward. London welcomed my family and me with open arms, and I know how lucky I am to be able to live and work in this city. That's why I try as much as I can to pay forward all the good things that other people have done for me since I have arrived here.
Play the lottery: I'm not an advocate for gambling, but some organisations rely on the funds that they get when people play the lottery. Only for that, I think it might be worth to play the lottery from time to time:
The National Lottery: they retain just 1% of revenue in profit, while around 95% of total revenue goes back to winners and society, including support for the Arts.
Postcode Lottery: a minimum of 32% of the ticket price goes to charities and good causes.
Thanks for reading my blog and I hope that, even if we might not agree 100% of the times, you have been able to find this post useful and gather a few ideas on how to help make this a better world.
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