RoadWorks Media Magazine

WELCOME TO THE ‘KINGDOM OF DREAMS’

URBAN

Robert Deniro and his illustrious career The legacy of Mandela Quince Garcia interviews the Stereo Mc’s

ARTS & CULTURE

MAGAZINE

#3 June 2015

LIFESTYLE CULTURE ADVICE ART SPORTLIFESTYLE ARTCULTURE ADVICE SPORT

QUINCE GARCIA EDITOR’S LETTER My name is Quince Garcia B.A, I am the company director for Roadworks Media and UN recognized Ambassador for peace. Working extensively on two previous publications I felt it was important that I had more control over what I felt represented the ideals that Roadworks Media stood for. That is to champion young people efforts, from all walks of life and finding solutions for positive change. We stick by our core values of empowerment, encouragement, creative expression and enlightenment.

Our support for young people has been acknowledged and given gratitude by the Prince’s Trust, which has been duly noted by the future King himself. Prince Charles took us up on an offer to visit us a second time at our office Kennington. Roadworks Media prides itself on the example we set. That being myself and Julien Bernard-Grau being unemployed and setting up our own business. Also, I am an ex-offender that has changed from being a criminal to become a House of Lords attendee and a university graduated qualified mentor. We were determined to turn our misfortune into becoming company directors and provide opportunities to young individuals.

Along the way, we embarked on building a portfolio for ourselves and planned to discover how we could work together. That journey has helped us to be recognised by our colleagues in the media, to develop events, have our films screened, win and be nominated for awards and provide opportunities to gain support for our efforts.

Today we are partnered with two outside organisations that has formed a group called The FLY Consortium, which develops workshops for the Department of Work and Pension and Job Centers in Southwark. Collectively, the Fly Consortium supports areas in career development, conflict and behavioral management and creative media training. They all offer skills to be confident and job ready, with improved sense of self-belief and awareness, to become employable.

We have worked with ex-offenders, ex gang members, single parents, dyslexic individuals with low self-esteem, disheartened unemployed university graduates and generational unmotivated effective individuals, who find it extremely difficult to work. Nevertheless, discovering that I should edit the magazine was a decision I felt needed to relish from. The moment I decided, I told myself off and thought “It just seems only right, what is the matter with you?” without any omen forces dictating, it felt like destiny had planned this for me from the day I was born. Nevertheless, I am excited and truly enthusiastic about continually publishing a magazine that provides the training and experience to young individuals who are having difficulties with developing a career for themselves.

The first two publications of Roadworks Media Magazine have been self-regarded as a credible intuitive experimentation. Ok, I made it up while writing this, but I’m now set on a collision course to evolve and strive for greater excellence from the pride I have taken from the previous editions. Ideas for Roadworks Media Films are being researched and thoughts for better productions are being exercised. Roadworks Media is not just about creating films, publishing and providing workshops. It’s a way of life, which helps to encourage young people to feel encouraged about stronger cohesion and interaction in society amongst classes other than their own. So the hardship individual situations that we discover can be lead on a model that Roadworks Media’s was built from. Each edition will now transition itself into providing regular content, with creative imagery that highlights our content, ambition and support. We want to use revenue from advertisement to develop more workshops, print the magazines and advertise brands that we can say are supporting young people, host events and of course advertise brands that will be seen to be supporting young people’s initiative to change and get into employment. So I hope you enjoy the 3rd edition and we will continue with our mission to create transformation through the inspiring education of Roadworks Media.

MEET THE TEAM Management Julien Bernard-Grau

Julien is the co-founder of RoadWorks Media, a filmmaker, photographer, writer and tutor.

He oversees RoadWorks’ activities as well as constantly developing and creating new and exciting projects.

Digital Media Lauren Turner

Writer, blogger and social media whizz kid that spends way too much time on Tumblr & listening to Taylor Swift. Can often be found with a camera in one hand and a phone in the other.

Editor Quince Garcia

Quince managed to change his life and has now dedicated himself to helping others by co-founding RoadWorks and helping young people into media.

Graphic Designer Jay Juggapah

Graphic Designer, enjoying working with different projects with Roadworks Media.

Illustrator Jacob Eiseman-Renyard

A dedicated illustrator with dreams to contribute to children’s cartoons, live-action Tv, films and stage shows, books, and public art installations.

Also a very talented actor!

CONTENT’S PAGE 8. Malta Change 12. Pants Sagging 14. Crime and Unemployment 17. Running for the bus 18. Stereo MCs 22. Locked up Labour 29. The Art of Protest 32. Robert DeNiro 34. The Taboo Subject 37. Why everyone should do yoga!

38. Remember 80s Apartheid 40. Getting ready for the future

Malta

Creating Change

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n the past couple of months I’ve repeatedly heard Malta described as the Gateway to Europe. With the tiny island positioned between Europe and North Africa, this is hardly surprising, particularly after the events of the Arab Spring and the political disharmony of neighbouring countries. However, being in the strategic position that it is, it was perhaps the most relevant place in which to hold a conference focused on creating change and promoting peace. By bringing together youth organisations from the UK, Malta, Austria, Finland, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, Israel and Palestine, the United Peace Federation [UPF] aimed to create an environment where it was possible to discuss social change and how it is possible for an individual to have a positive impact on both national and international levels.

One of the main ways in which the UPF promoted this environment was through a series of workshops and discussions that accumulated in a session on open space technology. During this session on open space technology, everyone from the group was given the opportunity

to present their ideas in the form of a project that they could work on for the remaining time in Malta. Everyone was then given the choice out of the ideas presented, as to which one they wanted to work on most. They were then asked to team up with the other people that were passionate about the project too.

The past couple of months I’ve repeatedly heard Malta described as the Gateway to Europe.

The variety of different ideas and thoughts on how youth members could effectively change society for the better was amazing. A particular favourite of mine was a project that allowed this oneweek conference to be transferred into a programme to be taught in the separate countries of participants, extending this ideal of positive social impact to others.

Another was an art and performance piece that summed up the idea of community and how it is possible for people to work as one. However, the most important one, for me at least, was the project proposed by Thomas and Lukas. Their idea was to let the marginalised in society speak. To interview refugees and immigrants in Malta and let them share their story so that we could tell it. To help them have a voice through an online platform (Shabka) and to understand what was really happening on a global scale.

Malta is a tiny island, and as such the influx of immigrants, particularly in the summer when the sea is calm is, to the Maltese, overwhelming. As such they have very complicated processes by which they assess immigrants and, as the Maltese minister of youth and sport himself said; “it takes two years to apply for refugee status and these two years are years spent unemployed” because it would be illegal for them to work. As such, if they are working, it is illegally and for little money, causing them to be marginalised further. By talking to immigrants and refugees however, we were able to get first hand experiences of how the immigration system works in Malta.

One man, a 41 year-old Ghanaian, told us about his experience with such detail and openness, that it was incredibly hard to just walk away. We are unable to change his past, we are unable to change the immigration

system in Malta to make him feel less rejected and marginalised, but we can tell his story and the story of the other immigrants and refugees that we met and make sure that they are not forgotten or marginalised any further.

Thus, if I had to pinpoint what I learnt in Malta, I’d have to split it into two: 1. That young people can make a difference, particularly when they are thrown together and told to create something. Young people have this openness to others that older people are more hesitant in showing, and although our backgrounds may have been incredibly different we were able to form a mini community, and it was wonderful.

2. That there are people in society that get forgotten, and not in a “Neverworld” sense either. These people aren’t falling through the cracks into a mystical wonderland, they are struggling to create a sense of selfhood, to feel safe and until we start talking to them and allowing them to speak out against the injustices they have suffered nothing will change. Despite feeling that it is important to share these people’s stories, I am also incredibly aware that despite all the good intentions in the world, I’m still re-imagining what they told me through a Western perspective. And this isn’t great.

There are lots of things that need to change, and hopefully this conference was just the start.

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Pants Sagging What can I say? To start with, that I was once guilty of wearing my trousers in this manner. I think back and slap my face and attempt to pull it off as it were a mask. There are leading potential factors to convicts in America. But I did not watch any American prisoners wear their pants in this fashion and think “That’s the style I want to emulate on the road.”

It all boiled down to a link of attitude and conveyance. If my pants start to drop, I just wouldn’t be bothered again to pull them up, and I wanted it to enforce my image of being a bloke from the streets.

American prisoners wear their pants in this fashion and think “That’s the style I want to emulate on the road.”

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The eccentric conservatism of my Father was appalled by display if he witnessed it. It became a discussion of ridicule and abhorrent when he socialised with peers from his fine circle. However, it is partly blamed on learning behaviour too, which I am hesitant to admit. My street credit still needs to be preserved of course. I do not want anybody thinking that I have gone soft and all romantic

Nevertheless, man ain’t no punk, ya get me!!! Though pants sagging on reflection just made me look scruffy and unpleasant. about life. I say all that while dreaming about baking some scones with whipped cream and freshly made strawberry jam. Nevertheless, man ain’t no punk, ya get me!!! Though pants sagging on reflection just made me look scruffy and unpleasant. So I then ask myself, “Is this an impression I want to give?” The answer in short would be an outstanding no. Therefore, I am going to work on

what impression I do want to give. Now before you jump on a defensive band wagon, this is neither an attack nor a persuasion. It is a shared experience and opinion that bought me insight into how I perceived a bit about myself. So if pants sagging encourage individuals to look at themselves at some point, than hail pants sagging and long may it continue.

However, if you become of a certain age or a certain person over twenty give with children, that is when you will be attacked for your unwillingness to progress so you can further yourself in life. Well, at least make an attempt to prove to yourself that you now want to be a man. Pants sagging on a fifty year old have been seen mind you, and it has been a jaw dropping sight.

It comes across of having mixed feelings between being unsure and having will power. Whatever the case, encouraging young people to be civil, polite and decent, is not signs of weakness. It is signs of a whole heap of self worth and value. So if you see a pants sagger, give them the benefit of the doubt as they explore impressionable signals that warrant mistakes for wonderful lessons.

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Jacob Eiseman-Renyard

Crime & Unemployment It’s a double act that leads to a different psychological state than when you’re not committing crime, and employed. Behind the easy notion to blurt, it’s laziness for why people commit crime and choose to be unemployed. My experience that I go by, for why I committed crime and remained unemployed, gives me answers of a lack of philosophical well being, not understanding the idea of self-confidence, being emotionally self-conscious and a huge amount of self-belief.

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ll that was detrimental to my coping mechanism that effected how I felt my functionality in society could orchestrate; in order for me to feel like I could be an instrumental human, conducting a form of communication where I could believe that my voice would be heard.

There is a “black and white” attitude towards society’s judicial system that suggests criminals shouldn’t get any form of social support, and that they should be punished for their crime: by keeping them locked up with conditions where they can suffer for their crime. I challenged myself to

understand the ideal implication of how British society’s system could be operated, but then looked into the idea of its rules and regulations being broken. Quickly, I noticed a system that was relating to the one present.

Getting young people into work is a huge topic for politicians, and the investment to support their attempts to get employment is colossal. The rise in youth unemployment comes to a generation who have been encouraged to be self-sufficient ant entrepreneurial, as opposed to state-reliant on education and local governmental support.

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I wrote a short film on the topic of this article called Bored. It’s about youth unemployment, and young people feeling they have no place in society, resulting in anger and frustration against a system that has sent a message of slashing funding for initiatives to support young people, unemployment on the rise and lies about tuition fees, all of which doesn’t provide an appealing idea that the government is on the side of supporting young people. I wanted to also send a message of the contradiction that I have always wrestled with from what is idealistic: That is the view of young people killing each other despite increasingly all being in the same boat, feeling trapped into a system that locks people away from crimes against it.

Roadworks Media has committed itself to supporting an infrastructure that helps young people into employment.

Being able to reflect on my past gives me a great deal of passion, because it helps me to believe I have some answers. In truth I know some of my

views are waiting to be confronted for challenges I can only believe will help me to face outlooks I didn’t consider. The workshops we have been providing to The Department of Work and Pensions are testament to our passion and commitment, which was a notable success. We were given an aim to get 40% of our candidates into employment but we managed 80%, obviously doubling our target and feeling extremely satisfied on what we delivered. My ambition to roll more workshops out is an aim, so I can engage with more young people who genuinely want to gain employment.

Supporting young people in workshops and helping them to get jobs is a massive reward. However, my best reward comes from changing and influencing young people’s perception for them to recognise a challenge, that helps me to believe anything is possible.

Roadworks Media has committed itself to supporting an infrastructure that helps young people into employment.

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Running for the Bus Put yourself in the situation where you believe that it is possible to catch the bus, which is about to leave at any moment. It can be an awkward situation, especially if you feel certain that you are going to catch it. However, if you don’t catch it, the humiliation can transfer into deep rage. But in general, we humans become another beast or a performance seal, like me!

But at first, I’m Maximus from Gladiator.

Then I end up like Andre the seal trying to catch a bus. And it is like a kick in the balls, because Andre is my middle name. And that’s what a lot of my friends and family members call me.

Great! But there was Andre the Giant!

But let’s be real, there’s no way to convince you lot out there. I am not a fucking giant. A lot of my friends try to convince me into being something that I am not...to the end.

Quince Garcia

Stereo Mc’s The Stereo MCs are a band with an unmistakable sound that supported an era in British Music. Urban music was growing into a genre that was commanding its own right, to be in the hemisphere of the commercial scene.

And an underground market was becoming extremely popular, vibrant with tunes and full of acts today that have been recognised in the commercial market.

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tereo MCs can easily define the era of the early nineties when music had transformed from being associated with bubble gum blowing, shake of the head with bright coloured sun glasses and plimsolls, into hard toe capped shoes and a political message that was demonstrating how the world was changing. The Berlin wall had not too long come down, Nelson Mandela had not too long been out of prison and computers were rapidly evolving.

The band became cemented in history for their achievements on the album Connected, which includes their most successful selling chart toppers.

How excited I was to introduce myself to Rob Birch in Brixton, one sunny afternoon, near the arches of Brixton train station! A lead singer who’s unmistakable voice and

presence displays an energy that verifies the Stereo MCs sound. Nick Hallam, DJ and producer, has contributed to the longevity of the band still being able to record and play for audiences. It’s a clear partnership that works on a positive level that keeps the heart of the band beating.

I had the pleasure of meeting the band at their studio and filming an interview that gave me so much satisfaction.

The fact that I was invited into their creative space was a privilege. Stepping into their studio, I knew it was going to be an experience and I now was introducing myself to a band that was well established in their field.

Interestingly for me, I found that these guys don’t give a lot of their personality away. Their commitment to their trade seems far more important, and seeming

so engrossed is measured very highly with. They were so open about how they developed, and explained where they are at today still feels the same as when they started. Their music is cemented in the roots of hip-hop and reggae culture, but drives a core British identity from Rob Birch’s voice. That has an attitude juxtaposed with a message that represents the journey of life and aiming to spread positive vibes.

By now, you may think, “O yea, Quince is in the back pocket of these guys and wants to keep them sweet”. Fair enough, that may seem true but it went deeper, I can tell thee! Our efforts to provide support for young people with training and experience so they gain some insight into the media industry has gone a long way in the band’s interest, with Rob Birch coming to our workshops and offering talks, and allowing Roadworks Media to come to their studio and be interviewed on film. So this write-up is not about keeping anybody “sweet”, but it is about making you aware this band’s commitment to being socially responsible to helping the young we support. This is a great credit to a band that record music, which takes a lot of inspiration from their urban lifestyle. The fulfilment of blowing away an inferior complex helps me to pay tribute to them

being so approachable and genuine. I am so proud to gain a fraction of their profound journey, which has been seeded in Britain’s urban and popular culture. A journey I hope I can continue to share and be a part of. However, being linked to these guys, I am almost certain that these guys would turn it back on me and say it gives them pride to be a part of the Roadworks Media journey.

Not mentioning the other band members comes from not having the pleasure of meeting them, but I feel optimistic that this will materialise. Being able to recognise all their albums offers a catalogue of their unique sound that helps to reflect their identity and how they have evolved. Without question The Stereo MC’s longevity goes in sync with other great well-known bands like R.E.M, The Rolling Sones and Aerosmith.

Hmmm, I might hear some of you sigh but I am just reflecting them to bands that have stood the test of time by sticking together and still playing. It comes for me to recognise, where I can jump off and stop the enthusiasm I have with writing about The Stereo MC’s. However, I don’t think this enthusiasm can ever be played down, and knowing they will be here on linked to Roadworks Media is an honour.

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Julien Bernard-Grau

Locked Up Labour

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oing back many centuries the practice of incarceration and forced labour have gone hand in hand with times of social oppression and hierarchical power structures.

None can be more greatly remembered in our recent European history then the horrific penal methods use by the Nazi during the 1940s. However this template for human imprisonment, torture and slave labour was not born in this era. Early records can trace the construction concentration camps back to the British Empire and the Boer Wars of the 1890s in South Africa.

The concept is to forcefully detain human beings for actions that are deemed by the current group in power to be illegal or prohibited. This oppressed workforce was used to great effect during World War II where approximately two hundred thousand people where forced to construct the Burma - Siam railway. Or by the Nazi’s use of its inmates for abhorrent scientific experiments.

Both resulting in mass genocide and the controversial medical and scientific advances that to this day informs the education doctors and scientists.

prisoners could best make use of their time by working for the gain of their captors. These draconian practices traveled across the Atlantic in the 1830s and were imposed on the indigenous communities of the Americas. As the late Russell Means explains, libertarian political activists, the principles used then have now evolved (curbed by the signing of the fourth Geneva Convention) and passed the borders of the reservations to establish themselves in US cultural life.

Though the “Home of the Free” only holds five percent of the world population. Twenty five percent of the world’s prisoners are locked up there.

In the UK we hold a bit under fifteen percent of our population behind bars.

So what does government do when they have a massive logistical operation to coordinate? Such as air travel, public transport, energy distribution, healthcare and mass incarceration? They outsource the work to private companies and corporate organisations such as Serco and G4S have lots of profit to gain from the privatization of prisons. G4S holds a fifteen-year contract worth £468.3 million to build and run HMP Oakwood,

The over riding concept is that these

Julien Bernard-Grau 22 RoadWorksMedia issue #3

which houses 1,600 inmates. Serco was also been charged with building and running HMP Thameside for £415 million over the next 25 years. Incidentally both prisons where recently ranked worst in the country in the annual prison ranking.

It surprised me to find out the in the UK there fourteen private prisons in the UK, housing a bit over 12,500 inmates.

Traveling back to the US where the privatisation of jails has been around for a lot longer and as a result is significantly more developed.

So what does government do when they have a massive logistical operation to coordinate?

The system in place takes full advantage of the nations surplus workforce by placing them in work program’s not unlike the chain gangs of the 1920s but now as a ‘modern’ prisoner you can expect to find work that ranges from agriculture, to building office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, manufacturing textiles, shoes, clothing andparts for Patriot missiles as well as construction of residential homes, earning not much more then a dollar fifty a day. The model of privately governed workforce is beginning to affect the industries it provides labour to. What socially responsible company can compete when you are paying your staff the equivalent of sweatshop wages?

In the UK we are not yet as advanced in this system of forced labor but the government have been in talks

were prisoners could expect to serve their time by working for Marks & Spencer, DHL, Virgin, Iceland. Paving the way to cutting out 2 million of the UK’s unemployed residents.

The

model of privately governed workforce is beginning to affect the industries it provides labour to.

The skeptics I have spoken to on the subject of our current socio-economic system tell me our government candidates are selected and put forward by corporate interests to advocate a capitalistically motivated social regime.

So a privately run prison is no different then a state owned detention centre.

The practical applications of inmates being encouraged to work in jail, study, or gain a trade are not necessarily a bad idea. The official view is that the primary function of prison labour is to provide training and work experience to aid an inmate to find post-release employment.

However it is also common knowledge that prison work aids in the control of the population keeping them occupied and out of trouble as demonstrated in the design of the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme, used to ensure prisoners good behavior and participation in purposeful activity, by offering earnable privileges such as extra personal visits, time out of cell for association etc. This system was first introduced in 1995 in response to the Woolf Report on the revolt at Strangeways prison in 1990; the Government wanted to re-establish control within the prison system and put an end to the power of solidarity amongst prisoners. “This has been a valuable policy which has played an important part in securing order and control in prisons�

David Hanson, Prisons Minister, 2008.

A major difference however in the privatisation of public sector industries is that in privatised business the profits generated does not directly go into the governing countries coffers. Also as has been continually demonstrated corporate institutions are incapable of being satisfied with the profits legally generated and seek to earn greater remuneration by manipulation and clandestine practices as has come to light with the parole system scandal were G4S over charged the government for tens of millions of pounds.

This has been a valuable policy which has played an important part in securing order and control in prisons

Yet I have not yet completely given up on the philosophy of democracy and it is with this belief that I will continue to educate myself on the forever changing and developing legal legislation that governs human imprisonment and have the issues raised to be brought forward to public debate.

Julien Bernard-Grau at the Asha Centre July 2015.

Patryk Les / http://patrykles.com/

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Amy Woodrow Arai

The Art Of Protest For many of us, the internet and social media have saturated our everyday lives, a constant stream of information and images – from the banal to the ridiculous to the profound.

Social media has also revolutionised revolution; we have seen in the last few years how it has facilitated the organisation, coverage and reporting of global and national movements such Occupy, anti-austerity protests in Europe, the Arab Spring and more recently, protests in Turkey, Brazil and Egypt.

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here is nothing new about people taking to the streets, yet the internet offers up new channels of communication that can circumvent censorship, sidestep the hegemony of mainstream news and loosen the stranglehold of corporate media. It has also facilitated solidarity across continents, finding unity and commonality in the face of oppression, division and aggression.

I have experienced a love/hate relationship with communication technology over the last few years (see The Short Circuit Report). Working from a desk in London, supporting activist networks and communities

resisting the devastating impacts of the extractive industries, the speed of electronic communication and access to information is an incredible tool for information sharing, activism and solidarity. However, the pace and pervasiveness of it can feel like an unrelenting appendage – always online, plugged in, always connected. Constantly being bombarded with images of destruction – to ecosystems, livelihoods and communities – a seemingly limitless stream of news of human rights abuses and a relentless pillaging and toxification of our Mother Earth. Though it is vital to stay connected to the realtime impacts of our global system, this access to information can become

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oppressive, overwhelming and even paralysing. It can make the crises that world faces today seem like a too great a challenge – too big a problem to fight.

Thus, an important question to ask is: “How can we face the mess we are in without going crazy?” How can we stay informed about global events and the impact we are having on the planet, and remain positive about our ability to be part of the change? How can we honour the pain that we feel for the Earth – the distress, fear and anger we feel about climate change, wars, and social and economic injustices – while remaining strong and energised enough to be part of a solution?

Recently, it has been through social media that I have been reminded that in order to fortify our resilience, we must be the change we want to see, and this includes acting with love and kindness – even in the fight against issues we perceive as morbidly unjust. It has reminded me that maybe the best use of one’s energy, and a way to look after ourselves and each other, is not to only stand up and say: “NO, this has to STOP!”, but to also say “YES to LIFE!” and work to create the world that we want to see.

Recently – via social media – I have come across some of the most tearjerking, humbling, defiant acts of beauty and humanity in the face of aggression. It reminds me of the power of symbolic gestures of peace, kindness and commonality. For example, the German pianist who wheeled a grand piano into Taksim Square in Turkey and played to a silenced crowd – still wearing gasmasks. The wobbly phonecam clip relays a captivating ethereal calm, the levelling universality of the music pacifying and uniting the crowd – how could you fire at a piano recital? http://www.youtube.com watch?v=LoMLhXBHg6M I also saw an article online recently of how a mosque in York dealt with English Defence League (EDL) supporters who came to their place of worship to protest in response to the horrific murder of a British soldier in Woolwich, London. A potentially volatile situation was met with an invitation to share refreshments, open dialogue and an impromptu game of football – who would ever underestimate the power of tea and biscuits in conflict resolution?

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We have also been witnessing the power of creative protest over the last few weeks at the anti-fracking protest site in Balcombe, West Sussex. Hundreds of people have been gathering to voice their objection to Cuadrilla Resources exploiting oil and gas in the area. The protests have highlighted and criticised the toxic process of hydraulic fracturing as well as the UK’s energy policy – our government is continuing to plough money into fossil fuels extraction and investing nowhere near enough in renewables. The site has not only brought together local people and campaigners from around the UK and beyond, but it has been a living example of alternative energy production, by providing the electricity for the camp from solar power.

The Belt it Out at Balcombe event was another example of the power of music in protest – the assembled crowds uniting through song to make a peaceful stand against fracking. Choirs converged to sing a haunting rendition of Jerusalem, joined by protesters and locals alike – even the police line broke rank and sang along!

Symbolic gestures like these are incredibly powerful because they pierce the illusion of separation and difference.

Their potent simplicity remains in the cultural consciousness, like some of the most enduring images of peaceful protest, such as: the image of the lone man standing in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square; the women’s

This Article was originally featured in Life Arts Media: http://www. lifeartsmedia.com/the-art-of-protestthe-internet-activism-and-resilience

anti-nuclear peace protest camp at Greenham Common US army base ‘embracing the base’ and dancing on the silos; and the anti-Vietnam war protestor poking flowers into the barrel of a gun.

It would be naïve to propose that peaceful, non-violent action is appropriate in all situations. However, the celebration of LIFE in activism and protest – spirituality, solidarity, kindness, song, humour, music, and dancing (all the things that make us human) – is an incredible tool for resistance. It is also vital for the resilience and strength of individuals, communities and social movements.

Quince Garcia

Robert DeNiro

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obert DeNiro has played roles that has defined him as arguably the world’s finest actor on screen.

The New York born academy award winner first came to prominence in Martin Scorcesse’s classic, Mean Streets. His performances in such films as Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, Once Upon A Time in America, Goodfellas and amongst more has helped to define a generation, having captured wide ranging audiences.

Being introduced to Robert DeNiro was an interesting paradox, due to the film not being a production that his roles usually paid homage to. The film was Midnight Run, and looking at DeNiro’s catalogue after the intrigue of Goodfellas. This made me think, “Wow, I am watching a man express himself with deep substance.” The array of films outside his roles of playing a gangster demonstrates a persona who is able to look at the world through other people’s eyes and become that

person of depiction. It is important for aspiring actors to study great actors, but my passion urges you to go further on the craft of DeNiro. Not just to watch his movies, but to read and watch his interviews. Find out about the biography of his life and how he became an actor.

His reluctance to embrace celebrity status is an example of volume. The message is clear like his roles he is most synonymous for. It is a duty to the role and committing to it is so real, that you as the audience, will believe every movement and word that I say.

Quince Garcia

The Taboo Subject

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ince the rise of the Internet, the rise of being aware of paedophiles has risen. There are two things I question about this topic. The first, being, has the internet help to excite paedophilia or does paedophilia get more exposure to bring out those who at one time could have hidden their crime?

However, growing up in the 80[s and 90’s it was a taboo subject for society.

More so in the 80’s and it seemed so socially unacceptable. However, talk of it was heard for my precious ears and I was aware that paedophiles were about.

The term I knew to be associated with adults who had perverted desires for children. This was also an insulting term that was more regularly used. Though now it would be found as a highly derogatory to use this term in any other context, other than what it means. Is a result of some consequence if the person has no reason to be called one? Now children are not allowed the freedom I

had as a child these days to go out as much. It’s a shame that society in Britain has gone this way. However, it’s fair to say that paedophilia is not only the concern of parents. We now in Britain can acknowledge a prominent rise in gangs, drug dealing and the carrying of weapons. This impact on society has not only transformed the idea of how parenting is approached. The outlook on parenting changed but I question has it evolved? And if you have the opinion of believing it has not. Then I question are you able to see the positives?

Technology has accommodated children a lot more than when I was a child. Television has evolved from four channels and choice seems to be at the top of the consumer’s agenda.

Some people who I’ve had conversations with believe that this is part of a bigger plan. To publicise such negative events in

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society can encourage people to behave inappropriately. However, does responsibility of humans lay in the power given to society for elected officials to be responsible or should we as individuals be responsible for breaking laws that have consequences? I know this for certain, this crime of pedophilia has no place to be warranted and it’s punishment seems extremely minimal considering the victims life will be effected by such a trauma.

Well known publicised figures like Gary Glitter, Stuart Hall and Jimmy Saville have caused damage to adults who are reminded of their actions when the news broadcasts what they did. The publicity it has brought gave so much for society to think about. It’s a concern that

Stuart Hall and Jimmy Saville have caused damage to adults who are reminded of their actions when the news broadcasts what they did. has allowed society to talk about it openly. Would I want it being discussed for a debate, that doesn’t allow these child sexual predators to believe it’s a topic that society doesn’t talk about? My answer to that would be a catagonic, yes. I believe it’s important for society to talk about it, so it’s made vermantly clear. This crime is disgraceful, disgusting, vile and monsters for any human being to commit such an act.

36 RoadWorksMedia issue #3

Why everyone should do yoga!

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oga has been practiced for thousands of years, focusing on building up the bodies’ strength and flexibility as well as the mind. The use of yoga to promote health benefits however has only just been pushed to the forefront of modern medicine, being advised to help conditions such as chronic back pain, depression, diabetes, stress relief, heart disease and fatigue. But what makes yoga such a great form of exercising?

Part of this reasoning lays in the fact that it is a relatively soft exercise, relying on building up core strength and balance through a series of controlled stretches and movements that enable you to build up endurance and confidence. By doing this continuously over a period of weeks or months, it has a positive effect on your heart, mental health and any aches and pains you may be experiencing.

Of course, all of these aspects have a very physical reasoning behind them; however, many scientists have argued that it is the meditative element of yoga that is the most powerful.

Meditation is fantastic for managing the physical effects of mental stresses.

The results of these stresses include higher blood pressure, high blood sugar, tense muscles, depression and a lowered immune system. By meditating as well as carrying out small controlled movements you are able to reduce all of the aforementioned ailments as well as bringing your mind back to the centre.

Quince Garcia

Remember 80’s Apartheid

I

t was a face that I would see on t-shirts, key rings medallions on chains and even stonewalls. The question usually was “who is this man�, but confidence in receiving an answer was low. Instead, I usually pictured it in my head, that he was someone important for black people.

Years passed and a concert for a man named Nelson Mandela was to be held. My Mum taped it on three tapes and made me watch it with her; yes, three tapes. Straight away, I knew that this man was important.

When I began to watch the tapes, the face I had already immortalised was being called to be free. I was excited and my Mum had no choice but to tell me a little about this man.

The image of this man came alive and it was even more shocking to discover why he was in prison. His face was now being linked to South Africa and knowing already that the white people there disregarded the black people. A resentment had been there against a system I felt lucky not to be part of. The struggle was living through the strength of a man I immortalised, before I even knew who he was, and it was his eyes that gave reference to freedom and courage.

39 RoadWorksMedia issue #3

Getting ready for the future

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ell us a little bit about yourselves and your business!

What RoadWorks Media does is, we provide mentoring, training and experience through media and media activities. The media activities which we have going on at the moment are, film, we got the Podcast and the magazine.

Julien: My name’s Julien and I’m co-director of RoadWorks Media. My background is in theatre and film, and hat made you want to set I met Quince on a music production up RoadWorks Media? program a number of years back.

One aspect of the company is that Julien: I guess Quince sort of we do Youth Engagement work. touched on that, we met on a Quince: I’m Quince, I also co-direct program that was being run by RoadWorks Media. Julien and I met Lambeth, it was rubbish and it didn’t on a course as he said, and it was a let us use the equipment when we wanted to and we just knew course to do with sound. Basically we could do something a whole we got speaking about films and lot better. It feels like it’s always we just got talking about what we been something that I’ve always thought we could do if we were wanted to do. For me, art is about working in the industry. Julien was community and it is about society unemployed at the time, I was and raising these conversations unemployed, and we just thought and bringing it to people. it would be very enterprising to get involved, and find a niche to Quince: Yeah, just what make films. Also, we thought that Julien said really! at the centre where we were at, they could be doing so much more there, so we thought let’s try and do it ourselves, and that was it!

W

W

hat is the best thing about starting RoadWorks Media?

Julien: Freedom. We get to choose, you know? You’re not told you have to turn up here at this point, at this time, and you’re going to have to work for this amount of years before you get a pay rise, you know? It’s independence. It’s an ability to choose what you want to be doing with your time. I think that’s definitely one of the bonuses for me.

Quince: Yeah, and I think that the fact that even when things are going bad, you still can appreciate the fact that you know, you’re dependent upon yourself, so you can’t blame anybody else. The buck has to lay with you…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fired myself…

Julien :(Laughing) Yeah?!?

Quince: I have! Then I’m rehired as somebody else, which is another manifestation of me.

sometimes can create a bit of a malfunction… When you’ve thought, the whole time that it’s meant to be this way, but no! It’s not that way, then you start implementing the new way into the company, and I think you gain more strength from that because you’re looking at things in a wider perspective.

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hat are some of the struggles you’ve faced?

Julien: One of the areas that I found as difficult in setting up RoadWorks is that a lot of the stuff is new. Like it’s not stuff that I’d studied beforehand and so we’re learning a lot of things from scratch and have to research it and see how the system works, so in terms of business, finances and all of these sort of things. A lot of stuff we had to learn straight away.

Quince: When we first got started, Julien: Hired and fired the same day! I think me and Julien had lots of skepticisms and lots of fears about Quince: Yep! So I become how the system is run and I think, somebody else. I’m constantly the more we started to really get changing every time I fire myself. involved and do stuff, and interact That might sound funny, but there’s a more with other businesses, we certain element of truth in that. That’s started to realise that there is a way of me and of us evolving. more corporate businesses that do want to support organisations Like you know, we’ve had a way of like that we are ourselves. More doing things and we’re realising that than what we expected. parts of our personalities are getting in the way and not good for the bigger picture of the company. We’ve had to dispel these attitudes, and that

I think this then started to make us realise that actually, there’s more going on with both of us and how we also push the company forward, and I think you know with ourselves I think we had to learn how you engage with different businesses, different people. With that in mind, I think that’s really pushed us to you know, steer the company in going in the direction that we ultimately want.

Quince: Or I would like to have an outfit and on the outfit … let me finish… ok, it’d be C.F.R. and then I’d turn into Charity Fund Raiser Man Julien: And then people would start throwing buckets of money at you!

Quince: Yeah!

(In a weird voice) “Charity Fund Raiser Man will you come and save us?!” I’d come flying, and f you could have any enterprise then you know. They’d give me the related super power what would it be? money and I would go back, “Go back and give this to the Cancer Research foundation, yes that’s Julien: An enterprise related right! – Take it, the money!” super power? Well it’d have to be something about like, wealth And Cancer Research would generation. I’d just look at my bank be like: “Thankyou Charity Fund account and it would just start Raiser Man! Thankyou!” filling up, you know with money, because that’d probably be a Julien: We can now cure cancer! pretty good super power to have.

Quince: Yeah, we can cure cancer!

Quince: Yeah, if I could have any superpower, anywhere I Julien: No one will ever have turn up I would be paid bucket cancer ever again now because loads of money and I can we have enough money. choose a fraction of that to go Quince: I can’t think of anything to different charities I guess. more worthwhile to be honest.

Julien: Yeah, and I guess a nice I can’t think of anything else. super power to have would be like to get the best result you want from Julien: What other superpowers could you have as an entrepreneur? every meeting. That’d be pretty You could have like bid-writing cool. So every meeting we went skills I guess couldn’t you? to, we’d just be like POW! “Yeah, you got that grant”, or “Yeah!we Quince: Oh yeah! partnered up with these people”, like that would be pretty awesome.

Julien: Like super bid writing skills, just like booom!

I

Quince: When you know that could never get turned down.

Julien: Yeah, the golden bid!

Quince: Yeah! You write your name on the top of it and every bid writers like Julien: Oh my god it’s a golden bid!

Quince: Oh my god it’s RoadWorks Media! Don’t bother reading it. Just give it to them.

Julien: Just give them the money.

Quince: Yeah, that’d be a good one!

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here would you like to see the business in 5 years?

Quince: I would like to see the business in different pockets of the globe, providing a service to communities. I’d like Roadworks to be a company that creates more social cohesion, so you know if you notice somebodies down, you know, you try and help them up.

Julien: Amen. Yeah. Definitely.

Initially published on hatchincubator.org. Hatch is an enterprise incubator that helps 18-30 year olds get their businesses off to a flying start!

43 RoadWorksMedia issue #3

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45 RoadWorksMedia issue #3

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