his is the third year engaging in an anti-racism campaign promoting Drumchapel as an anti-racist community. Last year our campaign was called “No to Racism” and this year we decided not only to say, “No to Racism” but also to put a positive message across by calling our campaign “Building Bridges – No to Racism.” We wanted to raise awareness in the community about the importance of bringing people together, starting in Drumchapel where we live and work. Our message was a positive one which promoted the sharing of cultures, traditions, costumes, religious beliefs, food and many other aspects of the people who live and work in this multicultural community of Drumchapel. We launched the campaign with a ceilidh which was attended by more than 100 participants.
We prepared three activities, which we delivered in the different schools and groups with whom we engaged: the human library, the tree of origin and the diversity flower. The human library consists of an asylum seeker or refugee telling the story of their journey. The tree of origin consists of the participants drawing the outline of their hand and writing their place of birth in the palm of the hand. The diversity flower consists of writing a theme or topic in the centre of the flower and the participants write what they think about the theme or topic in the petals. To conclude, we ask the group to stand behind the campaign banner to declare their belief in anti-racism and the need to build bridges.
We engaged with all schools and different community groups in Drumchapel. Our activities were well received and stimulated good discussions around the issue of racism. The campaign also has a song which was written by Jason from Fortune Works based on Bob Marley’s “One Love.” We invited the groupBulding Bridges – No to Racisms and the schools to sing the song which is also a means of building bridges. All our activities were covered by Drumchapel TV and will be posted on as many social media outlets as possible.
We concluded the campaign with a multicultural celebration in the community centre. At the celebration we had dance presentations from Iran and India, and a woman from Syria, dressed in traditional dress, who spoke about her culture and traditions. In true Scottish tradition a piper then piped in the haggis which was followed by Rabbie Burns’s address to the haggis. A quiz with many international questions tested our multicultural knowledge and a short raffle then followed. The event was sustained by delicious food and concluded with the campaign song “One Drum”.
Over the month we directly engaged with 955 people during our activities and events around Drumchapel. With many more being reached with the production of our video and social media platforms.
We thank all our partners and the people of Drumchapel for embracing the campaign; Antonine Primary, Camstraden Primary, Langfaulds Primary, St. Clare’s Primary, Drumchapel High School Anti-Racist Society, 3D Drumchapel, G15 Youth Project, Drumhub, Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland, Men Matter Scotland, the Warm Welcome Café, Drumchapel St. Mark’s, Women of Wonder, Antonine Court, Chance to Change, Fortune Works, New Hope Community, Friendship House and Anyiso.
One of our feedback questions asked:
‘Since attending any of the Building Bridges events or activities, have your views changed? If yes, in what way?’
The responses included,
- “better understanding”
- “learned a lot”
- “my eyes have been opened to what folk actually go through”.
We understand racism still exists in Drumchapel which we also verified in a couple of comments on the petals of the diversity flowers. However, our hope is that the campaign will contribute towards Drumchapel becoming even more an anti-racist community that believes in the right of everyone to live their life to the full no matter their country of origin, their colour or their beliefs.
