‘I can still see that same voicelessness that I experienced growing up’

“Having moved away from Bristol and then come back, I feel that not much has really changed. There are new buildings and different shops and restaurants but I can still see that same voicelessness that I experienced growing up in the inner city,” says Muneera Pilgrim. She is now an international poet, cultural producer, writer and broadcaster.

As a black Muslim woman from a working-class background growing up in St Werberghs, Muneera did not envision the possibility of earning a living from her art. Her experience of attending St Thomas More (now Fairfield High School) in the 1990s was one of low expectations. Like her peers growing up around her, she was told that the academic route was not for her and she should “do an NVQ and become a nursery nurse”.

“It’s what all my friends were told, they thought if you were a girl from a working class background then you should do something like that,” says Muneera.

Two Master’s degrees later, and with the legacy of being part of the first all-female Muslim hip-hop duo to tour the UK behind her, Muneera has defied expectations and is doing something she never thought possible.

“I always wondered how people could live off art. I’m dyslexic and I have ADHD so it was a long time before I realised that my ability to communicate and tell stories was something I could do professionally.”

Muneera wants to build connections and community and inspire confidence in women through her creative workshops, which begin this month. “Womens’ issues and womens’ rights are close to me. I felt it was important to focus on women as often a lot of opportunities are not offered to them, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds: black and brown women, working class women, Muslim women.”

Muneera’s creative workshops for women are being delivered as part of the We are Bristol project – a collaboration between In Between Time, Ambition Lawrence Western, Eastside Community Trust (formally Up Our Street) and UWE Bristol.

Although the free workshops will be taking place on Zoom, a lot of thought has gone into “locality” explains Muneera: “I think locality is important and that is why I think it’s good that Eastside Community Trust are hosting these workshops. They have good networks locally and I wanted these workshops to reach people in these communities.”

As well as building community, the aim of the free workshops – entitled ‘A little bit of Joy’ –  is about co-creating artwork with women in and around Easton. Similar workshops are set to take place in Lawrence Weston.

The aims of the workshops are in line with the ethos of the wider project, which is about bringing artists and local people together in creative projects.

A lot of thought and study has gone into the preparation of the workshops. Since August Muneera has been working with In Between Time to construct a programme that brings the theories outlined in Pedagogy of the Opressed, Pleasure Activism and the work of feminist author and social activist Bell Hooks into practice.

Pleasure Activism highlights the importance of joy, Muneera says: “Pleasure, joy and relaxation become a form of resistance in a society that says we have to be working all the time. This is especially true for women when living in a society that doesn’t value us.”

The first workshop is a taster session, taking place through Zoom on February 17 at 7pm. To book a place, visit www.eastsidecommunitytrust.org.uk/events/joy-project

Main image supplied by Muneera Pilgrim

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