Beatfreeks Diary -BYAS, Behind Scenes & creativity

A day with #TeamBeatfreeks at the Birmingham Youth Arts Summit

Hello peoples!

On Friday, #TeamBeatFreeks took part in the Birmingham Youth Arts Summit or BYAS, It was also the last day of mine and Marian's work experience placement so it was an overwhelmingly emotional day.

In the morning, BeatFreeks ran workshops for primary school kids about the importance of Arts and what they mean to us. Anisa and Laura performed the poem 'Birmingham' for the group and proceeded to have a rap/ poetry battle (which Anisa won) before really getting to grips with how the arts has shaped peoples lives and what the children most liked about it. It would be an understatement to say that the whole team was shocked by what these year 3 & 5 children came up with. Their ideas were truly inspiring and demonstrated a raw passion for the arts. 

One quote that stuck with me was a year 5 boy who said that 'art is immortal' and I was further impressed and truly gobsmacked when a girl in year 3 said 'art is beautiful even when it's ugly'. So as you can see they got pretty deep. So whenever we heard their light bulb moments we ushered them to the graffiti wall to jot down their ideas.

BeatFreek Grafitti wall at from our workshop sessions.

After a truly eye opening morning all of team Beatfreeks (Anisa, Laura, Aysha, Marian and myself) took a break to prepare before we received the Secondary school pupils. Whilst on break Anisa took the time out to learn how to play the ukulele, which was pretty entertaining, when she was playing it the right way round.  

In the secondary school workshop we created an idea of 'Arts City Central' a Utopian city focusing on arts in any and every way. We got the pupils to build and brainstorm their ideal city that was largely fueled by the arts. When the city was created without including some of the more morose ideas of I quote 'eating dead people everyday', we got Amerah or SoulPoet, dressed as a fed, to come and tell the kids that this no longer existed and the world was now 'bland land'. For this Amerah had to square up to a kid who was literally twice her size, which had the whole room in stitches. But she won so kudos to her. 

Anisa and Laura chillin' at Art City Central 

After, a quick break and twitter reboot we entered to pupils into the 'tigers lare'  

(our ghetto knock off version of dragons den), this got them thinking like entrepreneurs but also as social entrepreneurs as most wanted to create something positive that fed back into the community. Which I think was truly refreshing especially from teens, who are largely regarded and stereotyped as being negative within society and local communities. It just shows how wrong the news is. The groups then pitched their ideas to the rest of the group (which is obviously more nerve racking and intimidating then the real dragons den, seen as there were loads of us). Their ideas were fresh and innovative and later had the whole summit laughing and pulling out their skanking fingers!

Although, before we let them leave, we made them write down a #Change1Thing about Birmingham, and hang it on our washing line, the ideas ranged from wacky and wonderful to gross and inspirational. 

#Change1Thing, What would you change? comment below.

When all workshops were over it was time to wait for the nights debate to start. When in the hall, we sabotaged all the tables by writing #TeamBeatFreeks on all of them, very discretely may I add.

As the evening began we were once again bombarded with the amazing talent that Birmingham has, BOA students took centre stage, SeaSickSoul and Carl Sealeaf performed a news piece and Call Me Unique skatted and sang like her life depended on it, amongst other truly amazing   performances. Then it was time for debating and we were coincidently sat next to a Birmingham City Council representative and strangely enough someone who had contacted BeatFreeks earlier that day for a volunteering opportunity. I know, nuts right!

Throughout the debate many interesting topics and ideas were shared on how Birmingham needs to address issues with how the Arts are dealt with but also the positives of a community that is ever growing. It was so educational but also entertaining to hear from so many people and their different views. I really loved it, a total highlight of the night. Anisa also took to the panel for the final debate, and may I add totally killed it with a speech that had all of us applauding mid sentence, and of course a cheeky BeatFreeks plug or two were involved. 

But all in all, the whole day at Birmingham Youth Arts Summit was a success and truly made for some unforgettable memories, BeatFreeks ruled of course and we met the amazing PolarBear, Brummie poet extraordinaire, who we are now super happy to announce is a Beatfreeks champion, so whoop whoop, and check him out on YouTube if you don't know who he is. I gotta admit he's pretty awesome!

Team Beatfreeks, left to right, Aysha, PolarBear, Zack &Spoz

Anywho, I will have to love you and leave you at that. Don't forget to subscribe to BeatFreeks TV on YouTube to watch our vlogs of the Young Arts Summit and more.

Till Next Time,

PEACE

Aliyah 

#TeamBeatFreeks

Beatfreeks/Canis Major #BCCTakeOver

Today, Thursday 11th July, Beatfreeks and Canis Major teamed up to promote the launch of BeatfreeksTV and the Canis Major clothing line. 

We were joined by super talented singers, dancers, poets, free-runners and models, who showcased their talent by performing in the town center in front of an amazing crowd. 

To check out pictures of the meeting before the street performance, follow us on Facebook at Beatfreeks.

Don't forget to subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel BeatfreeksTV which launches tomorrow. In there you will be able to keep up to date with poets, musicians and many other talented people from all around. 

Also check out the amazing clothing by Canis Major at www.canismajor.co.uk and follow them on twitter @Canis_MJR

Modern Day Poetry Revival

Never a dull moment when poetry is involved.

Poetry has always been popular from the times of Yeats and Shakespeare to the rise of Hip Hop in the 1980s poetry has always been used to as a way of self expression.

Although along the way its popularity petered out, But don't you worry poetry fan because here at Beatfreeks we're bringing poetry back, yeah! *que JT dance*.

Yep thats right, we want to revive poetry, which hopefully won't be too hard with the Tumblr generation spewing it like song lyrics. Although, what most do not know is that, Birmingham actually has a thriving poetry and spoken word scene. I know right, who knew.

These are my 5 poets you need to know:

"To the inventors of High Heels, I say, F*ck You!" - Phoenix 

1) Phoenix - Every time I hear Phoenix, or Najite Graham, perform I'm left gobsmacked. Her words are so impactful but also poetic and her Girl Power tone has me stunned.. She's Birmingham's Genius.

"If Jack and Jill went up the hill to have some hanky panky, I wonder, will there be a Frankie"
 -Wandering Dragon

2) Wandering Dragon -  He will have you rolling around in stitches with is comical lyrics and he always has the audience captivated with his imaginative words.. Total lyrical genius.

"Are you beautiful or ugly?
That one's actually a trick question cause everyone's the former."
 - SeaSickSoul

3) SeasickFist & Soul Poet - These two (Jaden Larker & Amerah Saleh) are both solo poets but also collaborate together as SeaSickSoul. Their words alone are explosive, political and eye opening but together they are out of this world. We love 'em.

"Condemning the effects, their never questioning the causes." - Spoz

4) Spoz -  whose real name is Giovanni Esposito was Birmingham's Poet Laureate 2006/07 and is now a Creative Director at Beatfreeks. His words pack a punch and are satire filled, his witty words especially on Jeremy Clarkson will have you giggling away. We also love his epic hair! 

"We are the greatest ones. In every sense of the word.

Yet made to feel worse for the less that we earn" - David Spitfire

5) David Spitfire - Always unprepared or forgets lyrics but that's fine because he has the audience laughing out loud and never fails to bring the good vibes straight up, we love his jacket too!

These poets perform regularly at Beatfreek events, come and see them for yourself, they're pretty brill! I don't lie. 

So get your fingers tips at the ready, clicking will occur because poetry is back and stronger than ever with thanks to these Dudes and Dudettes.

 Anywho all that is left to be said is that you should come and join us at Poetry Jam every first Thursday of the month at Urban Coffee co. If you don't your a philistine.

PEACE

Aly

Team BeatFreeks

Featured Blog Piece by Ayesha!

It wouldn't be nothing without a woman or a girl, will it always be a man's world?

I have often heard people say that “women and men are not equal.” To back up their argument a list of things that women can not do, that men can (and visa versa) would be added. Women might not piss standing up, and men might not be able to bare children  but ultimately woman and man are born equal! They are different, yes, but one is not more important than the other. One cannot survive without the other. Woman and man are meant to be a harmonious team! They are equal opposites! Just like an up and a down, night and day, push and pull, inhalation and exhalation. Man and woman are the two opposites of the same motion. However, when one tries to control, and overshadow the other. Or when one forgets it’s purpose and falls victim to the will of the other, instead of following it’s own destiny, things become unbalanced! The motion will become stagnant.

Would you say that the world we live in right now is a harmonious world? Yeah! Me neither! War, competition and violence seem to be such a prominent part of our society. I don’t know about you, but i am fed up of hearing about young girls being abducted, and wars in foreign lands. What would it take for humanity to become balanced again? I want nothing more then for people to have respect for one an other no matter the persons creed, colour or sex. Maybe the imbalance we see in the world is a reflection of the imbalance we carry within ourselves.

Being an ambitious woman, I have alway felt that i have so much to offer, but for some reason could never quite assert myself without fearing what other people would think. I know I can do what ever it is I put my mind to, but why do I feel so apprehensive when it comes to expressing what I really think and feel? Maybe its down to the experiences I have had when I have attempted to assert myself in the past. Or maybe I’m just not man enough for the job!

A woman can now participate fully in society; she can lead boardroom meetings, play football, study any subject she chooses, and participate in political decision-making.  Since us women became “free” we have been trying to prove our equality by doing everything a man can do, and then some. As Beyonce puts it we’re “strong enough to bare the children, then get back to business.” However, things still don’t feel quite right. Women are free in a man’s world, but it is still a man’s world! (hold tight james brown). Women’s bodies can do what ever they like, but when a man wants to see some titties, or relieve some pent up tension, a woman’s body suddenly becomes public property!? Who are we to say “no” to these “compliments.” For some reason we are expected to open ourselves up to be groped, grabbed, critiqued and wolfwhistles at by strangers, as if their sexist gestures are signs that we are successful women. After all what could a woman want more then desirability?

I believe that peace, and respect can only be created when man and woman learn how to cooperate, and build a world that is governed by both masculine and feminine principles. The first step in cooperation is understanding! Men and women are different, and the same, all at once! We must understand the power in ourselves and the power of the other.

The main perpetrator in the oppression of the feminine is the media. It’s continuse sexualisation of the female body has had a significant impact on our perception of femininity, and a woman’s place in society. The images that we are continuously exposed to from birth tell us that the female body is synonymous with sex, sex is not something women just get to experience, it is something that our bodies define! “Sex sells” after all, but it always seems to be the female body on sale. I was taken in by all the lies splashed over the covers of magazines, billboards and television programs. like most people are at first! It was only until my eyes were opened that I realised how harmful my actions had been. Only then could I really see the damage I hade done to myself by repressing my femininity, and replacing it with this new false view of what it means to be a woman.

I modeled myself as a man at work, and an object of desire in my personal life, neither of which were really me! I also noticed how the two ways of modeling myself would sometimes over lap. At work I felt obliged to giggle back when faced with sexualising comments. I use to assist photographers on photoshoots, a lot of which were celebrity shoots, so the people being photographed were not always professional models. I was often referred to as “eye candy” by the man I was working for, to keep the male clients happy so the photographer could get a good shot. One client referred to me and a female make-up artist (who was working for herself not the photographer!) as “the photographers glamourous assistances.” A little condescending! At the time I didn’t argue with these comments, but when doing the job I was there to do, (set up lights and organise digital files) I often felt like I wasn’t good enough, or that I wouldn’t be taken seriously on the job.

I finally see why I felt so damn frustrated in both areas. Since reading a lot of feminist literature I finally feel fulfilled in both areas of my life, I have gained insight in areas that I couldn’t see before, I have answers to questions and a deeper understanding of reality. I can’t say I have quite mastered it yet, and the system isn’t really built to accommodate this new feminine perspective, but understanding is the first step! If enough people allow themselves to understand, hopefully the system will respond accordingly!

If you would like to view the original blog piece, check it out here: http://ayeshajones.com/2013/06/21/it-wouldnt-be-nothing-without-a-woman-or-a-girl-will-it-always-be-a-mans-world/

Work Experience: Welcome Aliyah & Marian - About Us

Hi!

We are Aliyah (Aly) and Marian (Mazz) and we are A Level students about to go onto our second year. We are also the masterminds behind Librascope® (check it out because we are not pluggin’ or anything  ;P). We first got involved with Beatfreeks when we volunteered for the Identity Showcase and since then we have been addicted to Beatfreeks events and have been to as many as possible. We love how Beatfreeks is reviving poetry as a way of social change and how they support local social enterprises and give Birmingham artist a platform to be seen and known.

We wanted to get work experience to get involved with this brilliant organisation and to try and change the world one step at a time, because we are ambitious like that :D

Whilst on work experience, we will be blogging our butts off and hunting down and interviewing up and coming artists and also helping various Beatfreeks events alongside the Beatfreeks team. We will also be promoting Beatfreeks on a whole.

If you see us come and say hi, we won’t eat you, PROMISE.