Radical Well-being – Hidden Voices

Hi, guys. Welcome to the Radical Wellbeing show on Women's Radio Station. My name is Ingrid Marsh and we are here in our studio in Covent Garden supporting women's wellbeing. On the Radical Wellbeing Show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you, sharing their unique stories. Women who refuse to be defined by their pains, by stigma and or by stereotypes, and instead are taking back their power. As such, they've had to overcome human huge obstacles in their lives to be where they are today and together. Our mission is a simple one and that's to inspire you to overcome life's challenges too. To don your wings, to kick away the roadblocks and be the person that you was born to be. As always, we're happy for you to connect and engage with us via our email address, which is presentersomensradiostation.com now this week's show is called Hidden Voices, and particularly the hidden voices of refugees and the impact on their mental health. So let's just clarify what a refugee is. So, refugees are people who are forced to leave their home countries because of war, ethnic violence or other forms of persecution. Many who have faced oppression, war and torture in their country of origin may be experienced, may well be experiencing various mental health problems such as anxiety, stress and depression. In fact, they're often at greater risk of developing a mental health problem than the local population. In fact, research suggests that asylum seekers are five times more likely to have a mental health need than the general population and more than 61% of them, that's quite high. 61% of them will experience serious mental distress. However, data also shows that they are less likely to receive support than the general population. The increased vulnerability to mental health problems that refugees and asylum seekers face is linked to what they call pre migration experiences, such as the war trauma, as well as post migration conditions such as separation from family, difficulties with asylum procedures and poor housing. The plight of refugees and internal displaced person is a world crisis. At any given time, there are millions of people who have been forced to leave their homes. The group Human Rights Watch estimates that in 2001, the world held 14.9 million refugees and 22 million internally displaced persons. At the end of 2015, there was 123,000 asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. So helping me with this topic today is a lady simply known as Lambes. Through her poetry, Lambes has become an advocate for refugees, a subject which seems to have been put on mute, she believes, for far too long. She brings to light the way the very personal and heartfelt stories of those seeking refuge in the UK and raises awareness of the immense suffering that refugees go through. A spoken word poet, a singer and storyteller and also has a background in theatre and performing arts. And I think how better to kick start the show with Lam's poem? Lam, over to you. Okay, I feel like I should just get into the poem, so please do. Have you ever felt like wherever you go you can never find home? No matter how many people are around, you always feel alone. Have you ever wanted to claw out your own eyes so you cannot see what you have been shown? You don't understand my struggle, you don't understand my pain. But how could you when you don't have battle scars running through your veins? How could you when you don't have the memory of your father giving up and shooting out his own brain? How could you when you've never seen your 7 year old brother hold a rifle up to another man's face? They couldn't save us. The life we wanted wasn't the life they gave us. Now they call me brave, but how else could I be? I couldn't stand by and watch my mother cry from her mental chains. When she sleeps, she screams my brother's names. Ya Allah, please take away her pain or put me in her place. I just want to keep her saying I'm tired of seeing her suffer every single day. Have you ever felt like wherever you go you can never find home? No matter how many people are around, you always feel alone. Have you ever wanted to claw out your own eyes so you cannot see what you have been shown? You don't understand my struggle, you don't understand my pain. But how could you? Have you ever run until your feet bled? Have you ever been so close to death but you're worried about your friend? Have you ever had your child murdered while he's out trying to find some bread? His blood splattered across the mud as scared civilians run across his body. But what can we do? We run and we run, but where can we hide? We run and we run while our mothers cry. We run and we run, but I would rather die because I'm tired. I'm tired but I can't cry. No, I can't cry because I have to stay strong. Not for myself, but for my mother. For the little girls who made it here with me. For the baby who lost his family, for my uncle whose wives became a casualty. Have you ever felt like wherever you go you can never find home? No matter how many people are around, you always feel Alone. Have you ever wanted to claw out your own eyes so you cannot see what you have been shown? You don't understand my struggle. You don't understand my pain. But how could you when you've never had to go without water for days? How could you, when you've never had to put a bucket out in the rain? How could you, when you've never been so weak and brittle that you can barely go on your knees and pray? They say that we should be grateful that we made it to the uk. There are plenty other people who couldn't make it all this way. So I should be glad that I'm here today? Well, my gratitude will never erase my memories. My gratitude will never forgive the people who put our lives in jeopardy. Yes, I made it here now. But why do suicidal thoughts still plague my mind? Why can I not forget about the people who were left behind? I'm trying to find all the positive thoughts, thoughts but they're hidden away. So what's left to do and what's left to say? I'm trying to keep a smile on my face but the only thing that's keeping me sane is the Lord that I cry to each time I pray. Wow. You always make me cry when you read that poem. Thank you so much. Thank you so, so much, lamb. And the first time I did hear that poem, I remember crying. I still cry now because it just moves me. Because, you know, I was one of those ignorant people who really had no idea. And I think that's the beautiful thing about poetry, that it takes you into other people's worlds so you can get a better understanding. So, land, can you tell us your story? What was your situation? Where were you born and what happened? So the. I was. I was born here and I grew up here. But this story is not my story. It's somebody else's story. But I feel like, as a poet and as somebody that feels like there needs to be brought awareness to this subject, I am. I can be that person to tell this story. I can be that person to bring light to a subject that I really do feel like is not spoken about at all, you know, until I actively seeked information by speaking to refugees and reading on their stories and all of that, I really didn't know anything, so, yeah, I felt like it was important for me to tell it. Well, it's mental because. So we've never talked about it. We literally are just talking about it now for the first time, aren't we? And I. When I heard that poem, I thought, my gosh this was. You had been through this. And in the past, I've heard people try to do somebody else's story. To me, it's never really quite worked because they haven't been there, they haven't seen, they haven't felt it. But you really do take us there as if it was your personal experience. Why do you feel it was necessary to bring this to fore. To take this on, to take on this baton? The first. When I first wrote this piece, I was actually invited to perform at an event in support of Syrian refugees. And this was. So I did a lot of research for it because I thought, I can't. This is like, a real thing. Like, people are really going through serious struggles and. And people are feeling so displaced. So I can't just write from nowhere. I really have to, like, be serious about this, basically. So that's how it started, and I really did. Writing this was like an emotional roller coaster, even for me, because although this. Although I myself am not a refugee, a lot of the feelings of, like, being displaced and struggles with, like, my identity are real feelings that I've felt. So I feel like myself is in this poem, basically. Yeah. And you're totally right, is that Sutton and I do these shows. I think people. What I want people to do is to not just take the topic itself and sort of isolate themselves from it, but really to see how it relates to their own life. Because it's still the same pains and struggles, but different levels of pains and struggles. Like you said, some of the things that you suffered, you. You realize that they had been through that too. Now, you said you did a lot of research in this area. Was there. So this particular poem, was there one particular person you had in mind? Was it a group of people's experiences? It was a group of people's experiences. So I watched some documentaries and I read some news articles. I spoke to a refugee, and yes, it was, like, different things that were brought together that helped me create this poem. Right. And why do you feel that? Like you said, it's just a story not talked about. And I said, I'm guilty of it. It's not until I heard your poem, I thought, gosh, I don't really know much about this. Why is it, do you feel that it's not talked about, that it's just given that label refugee and left? I feel like. I don't know. I want to say that I feel like the government is to blame, but. But I don't know. I don't know why it's not Spoken about. But it needs to be spoken about more. You know, it's not enough for somebody to just like hear my poem and then that's the beginning and end of it and then they go home and live their lives and they completely forget about people living in this way. So yeah, I don't know why it's not spoken about. Yeah. But certainly you're doing something about that. Yes. Thank you, lad. We listen to Ingrid Marsh. This is the Radical well being show. I'm joined by the wonderful poet, storyteller, performing artist Lamb Simply know by the name Lambs. I love that name. It's just such powerful topics and it has that lovely name to sort of sit beside it. Lambs. It's like you don't expect this power to come out from her. I'm joined with her today. We're talking about topic of refugees. We're also going to talk a bit more about poetry as well as a form of self expression. We're talking about that. But yeah, in particular I want to talk about the plight of refugees there and the mental health issues that they experience. Like, you know, once again, I didn't think, I didn't know about this. That's the great thing about doing these shows. I get to meet people, take me into their world and help me to give the world as well a better understanding about what people are going through and how we can use some of the lessons from that to fight back and to empower ourselves and also what we can do to help. That's also important. Love you to engage with us. Like I said, it's presenters@womensradiostation.com this is the Radical Wellbeing Show. My name is Ingrid Marsh and do stick with us. We've got a lot more coming up and a lot more poetry as well. Like I said, it's pretty powerful. Welcome to women's radio station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons live on women's radio station. Hello and welcome to future classic women awards with me Stefania Passamonte on women's radio station. Hello and welcome to Julie Mae is listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at women's radio station supporting women's well being and we're talking all things autism women. The possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of three and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show from Tummy to mummy here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything, fertility, pregnancy, birth and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. Hello, my name is Ingrid Marsh on Women's Radio Station and coming soon is the Radical Wellbeing show to help support women's wellbeing. Each show I shared airwaves with ordinary women like me and you, doing extraordinary things. Women who have overcome huge obstacles in their lives, who are now here with me to empower you on the Radical Wellbeing show. You'll be inspired to kick away the roadblocks and live your life to the fullest. If you're ready to get radical about your well being, then this is the show for you. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover and mental health advocate and you can listen to my show. Get booked here at Women's Radio station daily at 5am and 5pm throughout my shows we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch@presentersomensradiostation.com join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Do you want to be a doula? Would you like to support families through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period? Do you have qualities of compassion, listening, caring and empowering? At Nurturing Birth we offer approved doula training courses across the UK which are facilitated by an award winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more@nurturingbirth.co.uk. You're listening to Women's Radio station supporting women's well being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadio station. That's WomensRadiostn or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back. It's Ingrid Marsh on the Radical well Being show or rather on Women's Radio Station under Delightful Studios in Covent Garden. I'm joined by the wonderful lady called Lambs. I love her name, simply Lambs and we're talking about the plight of refugees in the uk and through poetry, she's become an advocate for refugees, a subject matter that she believes has been put on mute for far too long. And she wants to do something about that. Like I said, this, this was called this. This particular show has been called Silent Voices, and we're not making those voices silent anymore. In fact, if you know my own work, I have another platform that I call Women with Voices, which you can find out. Womenwithvoices.co.uk and it's about us having a voice. And it's true to say that refugees really don't have a voice in this country. Want to do something about that. So we are going to be spoiled again with another one of Lam's poems. And yeah, lambs, please kickstart again. When we cry, we cry alone because they don't hear us. We come to this country for refuge, yet they fear us. We are mercilessly murdered, but they won't help because they don't want to come near us. Mothers are still crying because their children are still dying. Police are still lying and playing duck, duck, goose with our lives. We come here thinking we'll survive until another Shukhri Abdi dies. We're looking for answers that we'll never be able to find. Because when it comes to our lives, the public turns blind. Why am I not hearing Shoukhri's name in the news? They label our deaths as accidental, even when the bite marks on our bodies are showing through. It's not enough for our profile pictures to turn blue. If only Mama Shukri knew. If only she knew that this is in the land where the streets are paved with gold. Whoever is listening to this, my advice to you would be to forget all the stories you were told. Because refugee lives don't matter here. Heck, non white lives don't matter here. Now, let me make this very clear. We are disposable. This position is non negotiable because we can't negotiate the colour of our skin. We can't negotiate the situation we were born in. Where do I begin? Because this stage isn't enough for me to save you. You're reading this poem, but I don't even know if it will get through. We are just pawns in their game, getting into the right positions for the blueprints that they drew. So my final question is, what if it had been you? What if it had been your mother's eyes that never ceased to water? Or worse yet, what if it had been your daughter? You would want them to say her name. You would want somebody to Blame you would want them to stop playing games because your life is not a toy. Shukri's life was not a toy. Yet right now her 12 year old body is wrapped in a gauze in her grave while those bullies enjoy. Gosh, why do you do this to me? Oh, wow. Just once again you just take us to places that unknown and just leave us with goosebumps. Lambs. Okay, tell us about Shukri Abi. What was her story? So Shoukri Abdi was a 12 year old refugee from Somalia. She came to the UK and she was bullied at school a lot. Even the week prior to her death, she was pushed into oncoming traffic by some bullies. She was found drowned in a river with bite marks on her body. And a fisherman claimed to have seen four bullies drowning her. And those are the same bullies that have been known to, to be, to be bullying her. Yet her death was ruled as, as an accident. And there wasn't like any news coverage on this. There wasn't any. You had to actively seek the knowledge. Maybe, maybe if someone told you about it then you would have to actively search for it. So I thought that was, that was sad as well. How long ago was this? I think was it this year? I think so. It's quite recent. Yes, is. It's recent. I found out about it recently anyway and yeah, it made me feel very emotional, especially because a lot of the, the photos that were shown were of her mother. And I'm feeling so emotional right now because like I said, like when I'm writing, even if the story is not specifically about me, a lot of the emotions and the feelings I feel personally and literally every time I think of the way her mother's face looked like. Describe that. It was like I felt like I could really like feel some sort of. I could feel her pain. Like, you know, I haven't got a child who's died, but like I really felt like through her eyes, like I could just feel my heart like burning. And yeah, it was really emotional. And was her mother here with her? Yes, yes, yes. Her mother was a refugee with her in this country. And you know, there was the fact that there was like so much evidence to show that this wasn't an accident. You know, she hadn't just walked herself into that, that river. And the fact that it was still ruled an accident, it just shows the sort of discrimination that, that, that people face. People like, like me and you. Regular people. Yeah. Refugees are not often seen as regular people. No, they're not. You know, and that's what worries me really. It's the label again, isn't it? The label refugee. And the, the bias that kicks in with that is that they're less than that worthy. And the big issue I have with things like that, excuse me, is that people treating people less than and then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that they start seeing themselves as less than. These labels are really quite scary and in a way, perhaps wasn't given any justice based on this label of being like. So it's a struggle for me and you, but let alone someone with that status at just 12 years of age. And in fact, in my last poem, one of my lines was, they say that we should be grateful that we made it to the UK because there are plenty other people who couldn't make it all this way. And that line, even sometimes I think, like what? Like, okay, yes, of course I'm grateful that I've made it to a place safer than what I could have gone through, or what so and so could have gone through. But that doesn't mean that I should just get on with it basically. Well, yeah, because I was thinking about that because I was actually, as I was coming here and thinking about some things I wanted to talk about and I was thinking this must be something that they face. A lot of people say, well, you should be grateful you're better off than where you was. But I kind of thought, well, you're not giving up one war for another war. One of a broken spirit, for your spirit to be continually broken. It's, it's a mental war. It's a different kind of war, isn't it? So it's like giving up one for the other one can still kill you effectively. Exactly. And that's a lot of, that's the thing that a lot of people don't understand, you know. You know, there are so many battles that you have to face no matter where you go. So just because, just because a refugee is here now, just because they made it out of the wars in their country doesn't mean that, that doesn't mean that like they can just live this like completely separate life. Because that's still them, that's still part of them. That's still part of their experiences. Yeah. If anything, they need more care, don't they? Because of what they've been through, the traumas that they've been through. Since you then come to a place and stigma and stereotyping and labeling. I know they're just throwing three simple words. But even for me, I mean, I do so much work around this area for people to realize the impact on our mental health and our spirit and on our well being and particularly and that question of spirit, it's, it's just the same thing. So, no, I totally, you know, I'm totally with you on this. And we'll talk about this a bit more after the break as well. Listen to Ingrid Marsh on the radical well being show. I'm joined in the studio love lady called Lambs who's an advocate for refugees and uses her lovely poetry and her storytelling to share their story and to give them a voice. They don't have a voice. And really important thing that she touched on there that people say, well, you should be grateful. Yes, I'm grateful. But then to what? Come to another country? Come to a country and be crushed? Have my spirit crushed and be treated less than. I don't think so. We're gonna be talking about this a little bit more. We'd love you to engage with us. Love to hear your views on this. And don't forget to, you can do that by emailing me@presenterswomensradiostation.com because she's a pretty powerful woman, lans. She's so powerful. We're going to be talking a bit more about poetry as well because I know there's many women I meet out there who say I'd love to write poetry, but I'm so afraid. So we're going to talk about ways that you can do that too. So do stay listening and speak to you after the break. Welcome to the women's radio station supporting women's well being. Women's radio station is all about diversity from opinions, career, ethnicity, education and most importantly, women's well being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? 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With a wide range of sponsorship opportunities including individual programs, we can tailor your experience for you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com Women's radio stations supporting Women's Wellbeing welcome back listener to Ingrid Marsh on Women's Radio Station from our student Covent Garden where we're supporting women's well being. This week we're talking about poetry and the plight of refugees in Britain. Before I go back over to Lamb just to quote a few more interesting statistics. So every year thousands of people arrive in the UK seeking sanctuary who are fleeing conflict, both political upheaval and persecution. Once here, however, their problems are often far from over. They face the uphill battle of gaining gaining leave to stay. They face racism, isolation, separation from friends and family and for many, poverty, destitution. The combined impact of these experience of mental health and well being of refugees and asylum seekers can be devastating. What people don't know is that even unaccompanied children are not allowed to apply for their parents to join them in the uk. So it means you can come over as a kid and still be separated from your parents. So I just want to mention an organization that's campaigning to bring about a change to this, and they're called Families Together. And they basically say we talk about the war and persecution often divides refugees from their families. But there are few straightforward legal ways for refugees to safely join their loved ones in Britain. So hashtag familytogether are compelling to bring about a change in this area. So please log on to their website to give them more support. And don't forget, if you are a refugee in this country and really struggling with your mental health or know somebody who is, you know, log on to mine their website as well. They have a section dedicated just to this area and there's some awesome information there. But please do seek help. You do matter. Your life does matter to a lot of people here. It's just a matter of finding them and they're, you know, two great resources there. So, like I said, I'm joined by the wonderful Lambs, who's a spoken word poet and an artist really highlighting the issues of, of refugees in this country. But I just want to talk to Lambs more, a little bit more about her poetry as a craft, as an art form. Because it's one way that women can be hear, heard, isn't it? Because our voices are often silenced. They silence us under these labels, don't they? Or you're refugee, you're old, you're too young, you're black, you're this, what have you. And there's all these labels they put on us to silence us. You're a single mother, have all of these. And this is how they silence us. It's so easy to silence women. But one of the ways that we can have a voice, we can express ourselves is through poetry. And I'm fascinated that, you know, that Lam wasn't a refugee herself, but you hear how she expresses herself and expresses, expresses this issue. And many have, many of us have issues that we want to stand for. And poetry is a wonderful way of doing that. So, Lans, back to you. How did you get into poetry? I actually have been writing my entire life. I don't remember a time when I haven't been writing. Really. Yes. And I actually like, some of my poetry is in like, poetry anthologies from when I was like 12 years old. Like, I've been writing throughout school and everything. Yeah, yeah, I've been writing forever. What made me think to myself, oh, crikey, when you said a minute ago what happened to Shukra. Shukri Abdi. Shukra Abdi, you said that happened this year. And I thought, Kwaki, you've constructed that poem in that short space of time as well. Because when I write, it takes me about a year for each poem. I thought how you've put that to. Together so beautifully and so one. In such a short space of time. What process do you generally go through? Is there. Is there a set process that you go through before you start writing? No, for me personally, there's not like a process. Things just come to me. So, like, you think. Do you think poetically? Do you think I. I've always said. I've actually said that. Like, I think that I think poetically. I feel like it's easier for me to like just speaking poetry. It's easier for me to like, even I think my. My journals are in poetry as well. Like, I'm just like constantly. Like there are things like I can just look at something and then like, I'm just thinking of like, poetry or even like a song, but like, that's even like a version of poetry. So she's doing some moves around these words at the very. I just. I. I think. I think everything is like. Everything is poetry. Everything. Everything is a rhythm, everything is a. Is a motion. I feel like poetry is just everywhere because I'm a speaker, I speak, I do motivational talks. I do lots of talks. So when I create, I just see almost like a story, how I would deliver that on stage or what have you. And then I have to try and make it into a poem. And that takes me forever to think of it poetically. So I'm envious that you can just like, it just feel flows that way from. That's obviously something you meant to be doing, I think, because, like, there's inspiration everywhere. Like, for example, with the. With the Shukri Abdi poem, I'm not 100% sure if it actually happened this year, but I found out about it this year and I was so. It's like emotions also drive my poetry. So I was so upset and I was so angry and like, the, the words that she just vomited out of me, they just came out of me. That's poetic. And literally the day that I found out about it, I had written the poem. Really? That quick? Yeah. That's phenomenal. So, yeah, yeah. Emotions. Emotions can really drive your poetry. But it's funny because I sometimes get cross of myself with poetry because I'm generally quite a joyful Person, very deep person. But sometimes I think when I recite my own poems, I feel almost like this is such heavy stuff and such. And then it makes me upset and I think, I don't want to be that kind of person. I think I'd love to be able to write a happy poem, but that's not what drives me to put pen to paper. All your poems, emotional ones, or have you ever written anything that's a bit happy? Because my poems, I think in general are pretty like, emotional, some political. They're very, like, not. Not very like happy poems. I do. I can recall some, like, uplifting poems and positive poems, especially with regards to body image that I've written. But generally the. Generally it's like I. It's not on purpose, by the way that I write these sorts of poems. It's just like that is just what comes to me. And the only person I can be is myself. I was good to say that. It's who you are. You express who you are. Because my poems are always female empowerment poems. No matter what happens or they empower in some way, and I can't help but be driven by those. Like, you said that that's, that's who you are. You're expressing who you are. And that's what Poach is all about. Is that form of self expression, isn't it? Yeah, that's exactly true. So there are many people who want to get into poetry. What would you advise them? What would you say to them? I think the first thing. The first thing is that you should always be yourself. I think that when people try and like, start getting into poetry, you know, especially if you get into it by watching other people put and listening to their pieces, you might think, oh yeah, I want to be like that person. Just be like yourself. Just write whatever comes to your mind without thinking that you need to copy somebody else, somebody else's style or whatever. Could they? Perhaps, though, because I know when I teach public speaking, I sometimes say, okay, copy first and then find your own voice. Would that work in poetry, do you think? Or is it just really straight off, Be yourself in a world, mind you, before you answer that, where women are. Keep being told that who you are is not good enough. Where being yourself is so tough. I think. I don't know. I think it would be better to just like, just try and be yourself. How would that. How could they break down those barriers? Because I know I. That's one of the things. I work with people to be themselves, but they're not comfortable with being They've not been themselves for so many years, for so long, being themselves feels almost a bit scary. Tough one, perhaps? Yeah, that is a tough one. Have you always been yourself? Have you always been able to express yourself? Was there not a time where it's like, I better not say that because it might upset people? No, I have thought, oh, I better not say that. No. Or like, I shouldn't say that, but I'm going to anyway. I shouldn't, but I'm gonna. What gives you the courage to do that and not be. Not stall because of. I think when I look at myself, I just think there were just so many things about me that the world hates already. You know, I'm. I'm big, I'm tall, I'm dark skin, I'm African, I'm Muslim, I'm so many things that the world is constantly trying to throw at me that they hate. You know, we. We think you're this and we think you're that. We think you're worth this because you're. You're fat, we think you're a terrorist because you're Muslim or etc. Etc. So I'm not going to like, like, how low can they kick me? Do you know? I mean, like, was there a time where you did allow it to kick you to silence you? I think. I think there was a time when I tried to be. Especially like in secondary school when I tried to be like, maybe like this funny person to kind of mask everything else that I was. But I just grew into myself and I started to love myself. And it was. It was a journey. But. But, you know, I've got people around me that love me and care about me and encourage me every single day. And I think it's important to have people like that, but then also to just find it within yourself to. To love yourself and encourage yourself to be whoever you are, no matter what skin color, no matter what body shape, no matter what religion or anything. I adore you, lambs. I just adore you because it's so true. Because your authentic self. There's nothing more beautiful. But I think we just live in a world where, for women especially, it's as though there's two choices. To be accepted and to be safe. And there's a part of us we're programmed to want to feel safe as opposed to being empowered. And there are two choices that we have to make every single day. And you're certainly helping to empower. Listen to Inga Marsh of the radical Wellbeing show I'm Here with lambs. I'm going to be speaking more poetry after the break, so make sure you stay listening. Going to be talking more about self expression, expressing yourself, being who you are and not being tied down by the labels that are out there and knowing that you're awesome and just the way you are. So learn to embrace and accept that. So do stay listening and don't forget to email us in if you want to hear more to the Radical Wellbeing show and my name is Ingrid Marsh. Stay with us. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie Mae is listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station Supporting Women's well being and we're talking all things autism women. The possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of three and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show From Tummy to Mummy here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything, fertility, pregnancy, birth and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. Hello, my name is Ingrid Marsh on Women's Radio Station and coming soon is the Radical Wellbeing show to help support women's wellbeing. Each show I share the airwaves with ordinary women like me and you, doing extraordinary things. Women who have overcome huge obstacles in their lives, who are now here with me to empower you on the Radical Wellbeing Show. You'll be inspired to kick away the roadblocks and live your life to the fullest. If you're ready to get radical about your well being, then this is the show for you. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover and mental health advocate and you can listen to my show. Get booked here at Women's Radio station daily at 5am and 5pm throughout my shows we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers and book enthusiasts, all with a theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch@presentersomensradiostation.com join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Do you want to be a Doula? Would you like to support families through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal family period? Do you have qualities of compassion, listening, caring and empowering at Nurturing Birth? We offer approved Doula training courses across the UK which are facilitated by an award winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more at nurturingbirth.co.uk. You're listening to Women's Radio Station supporting women's well being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter womensradio Station that's womensradio Stn or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Hi guys. Welcome back. Ingrid Marsh Here on the Radical Wellbeing Show. This week we're talking about hidden voices. We talked about the hidden voices of refugees expressed by the Beautiful Lambs through her wonderful spoken word poetry and also generally we've kind of moved on to the hidden voices of women in generally and how they can use poetry as a form of self expression expression. So Lam is going to spoil us again with another poem. And over to you Lamb. Thank you. Here lies the skin of a black girl Trying to bleach away that black girl. Trying to team light skin that black girl don't want to see the reflection of a black of a black girl. Here lies the soul of a black girl. When everyone told that black girl. Which man wants a loud mouth pig snout bag to not ghetto looking black girl? This ain't Africa black girl. Here lies the hair of a black girl. I don't want these black girl curls no more combing like a tug of war. I want my hair long blonde and silky smooth down to the floor. Here lies the parents of a black girl. Open your eyes black girl. For centuries they've been trying to tear us down. So you better wear your hair like it's a crown black girl. Here lies the world around the black girl. You ain't enough black girl. Your skin's too rough and your hair's too tough. You need to invest black girl. Invest in your bleach cream and your blonde weaver and a nice white man called Steve so you can have cute little light skinned babies. Go ahead and relax your hair chemical burns who cares because we want to rip that Black girl. Dilute that black girl. Confuse that black girl. Because we hate that black girl. We don't rate that black girl. Your black is too intense, Black girl and it's causing us offence. Black girl. Here lies the heart of a black girl. She's too weak, she can't speak she knows this ain't right but she's given up the fight. She gets on her knees and asks God, why me? Why did you have to make me, a black girl, win a white man's society? God, when I open up my eyes, I better not see an inch of black girl inside of me. Here lies the body of a black girl. RIP. Oh, wow, wow, wow. Oh, gosh, you're so powerful, Lambs. It's just beautiful. And I just want to thank you so much, you know, because I know there's so many women who feel disempowered. Women, women of color, I always say. So I empower women. That's my job. And like I said along to my website, there's lots of information there, ingridmarsh.com but I always say to people, so it starts with women. All you need to start doing is then adding the layers and these are more hurdles that women have to face. So start with women, then you add, like, women of colour, then you add women of a particular age group. And, you know, like I said, the religion, age, it just goes on. Size, body, confidence is a huge one. And we have a woman here in the studio who's just like, you know, just kicking those walls down, kicking those rules down, kicking those stigmas down, those stereotypes down. Lambs, do you think there is an awakening happening, that people are realizing that the stereotypes and stigmas are lies and we're to waken up from that and just really embrace who we are? Do you feel there's no. There's a change coming? I do. Especially with, like, the rise of social media. I feel like every single day people are helping other people to see that there's more. You know, we can wake up now, we can open our eyes, we can, we can. We can learn to love ourselves better, you know, and nobody can. Can tell us who we are anymore. So, yeah, definitely. I feel like there's Though the awakening is right because I get split, to be honest, I get split between two worlds because I know the both worlds. I do live my life in different worlds. So, you know, there's research that's come out that plastic surgery, for example, is going through the roof. While the high street is dying, plastic surgery is going through the roof. So I Live in that world. And I can be amongst who speak about plastic surgery like they're going to brush their teeth. And then I can be in the other world where I speak of women like you who are empowered and empowering others to, you know, to know that that's just disempowering stuff and to live your life and to be yourself. So I get crushed between two worlds when I share that with you. That on the other side that things like, could I get out today? Things like plastic surgery is going through the roof. Does that make you feel any different about the awakening, or do you still. You're still confident that change is coming? I'm very confident that a change is coming. Even with that information, Yeah. I don't know. Obviously, I don't know, like, their reasons for doing whatever they're doing, but I don't think it makes a difference to the fact that there's definitely, like, the changes here. Definitely. Yeah. You mentioned your poem as well about the hair, the relaxing of your hair. And this was, you know, important to me. I was relaxed my hair for many, many years. Sit there on fire, my head on fire every single month. I used to think, this can't be right. This is absolutely nuts. What made you refer to that? So I have never relaxed my hair, right. But my mom. Oh, my God. Used to sit down chemical bunning up my nose. It was just. It was just like Black women, like, felt like this was what they needed to do. You know, I need to relax my hair. Not just for those who don't know. So relaxing your hair is when you straighten your hair. So it takes the kink out and you're straightening your hair and you have to put this cream on your head and it is like fire. It is burn your head. And some. I believe there's some cancer links to some of these brands and what have you. But yeah, just for those who don't know. But yes, yes, exactly. You know, black women feel like they have to relax their hair not just because of, like, how tough it can be to, like, comb out, but. But because we're told that our natural kinky hair is inappropriate. It's, you know, in. I've heard in some states in America that, like, our hair is banned or something like that. Like, there were some crazy, crazy things going on. There's like an outrage about the natural hair that literally grows out of our head. Like, we're not putting it there. Like, this is our natural hair. But yeah, so I felt like that that is. That is a thing that that black Women have to face. And I do feel like it's like something that we have to face. Like I refer to relaxing our hair as that. Yeah, okay. And just to say as well, what's interesting, I was at a talk recently, there was an Asian woman there, an Indian woman, and she was talking about the plights of. Once again, you talked about the bleaching of the skin. And with them, you know, the lighter the skin, the better you're. You're deemed as more beautiful and stuff like that. And this is one of my gripes. I'm gonna talk about this on another show with the artificial intelligence at the moment. Guys, great stuff that's happening out there, but it does perpetuate these stereotypes. In fact, there was a bit that showed how those with Afro hair were deemed as less intelligent in the algorithms it was pushing out. I'm gonna need from you very quickly. And I could go on and on and on. We know because we're still on the same page. Lam Lamb's rather. Can you give me a tip, a radical well being tip for anybody who is going through the same or who wants to get into poetry. Can you give us a. Yeah, I can give you a tip for whoever wants to get into poetry. So first, all I want to say, like, if you think about something, just write it down. Like, however silly you think it might sound in the moment, just write it down. And just like, you can just leave it there. You can leave it there for years, but at some point you'll come back to it and it will turn into something even. In fact, you might come back to it a year later and realize, no, this isn't a poem. This is a short story. This is a play or something, you know, and if you do want to get into poetry, you should also check out some, some amazing open mic events like, like Poetia, which goes on at the Concrete Space. At the Concrete Space at the moment. You can follow them on Instagram. And Poetic Unity, which goes on at the Black Cultural Archives. You can also follow them on Instagram. It's also a very inclusive place, that one. That's why Kickstarter. In fact, I poet at Utah, very close to my heart. I actually went there for an event, was leaving there and I was cornered and they said to me, will you be writing a poet next? Oh, I don't do poems. I do motivational speaking. It was the same thing. And because I refused to be held back by fear, I did then create some poetry which goes down really, really well. So, you know, my hat's off to poetry. You got a lot of time for those guys. Lambs, we absolutely adore you. If we want to get hold of you, how do we do that and find more of your beautiful work? You can follow me on Instagram at Olabarra O L A B A R A Or you can email me at lams poetry l a m spoetryyahoo.com Fabulous. Well, guys, I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did. It's going to be a very short Ingrid says today, because I just wanted to get more juice out of Lambs while I. While I had her. But I think we've picked up some really important points about today's show. So first, we're talking about refugees. It's not. They're not just a title, not just refugees for us to realize these are human beings like me and you, who deserve to be treated humanely. So please stop and think. This is my big campaign I'm always talking about for us to slow down our thinking. Stop and slow down our thinking. The bias will kick in straight away. Do not beat yourself up. Our brains are programmed to work in patterns. I have my biases too. But what we can do as humans, which machines can't do with their biases, is that we can stop and think and reconsider that decision that we've made. And if it is steeped in bias, then we can do something about it. We've converse our decisions. Don't beat yourself up. But you can beat yourself up if you don't do something about it, if you stick with that bias. There was that we also talked about the hidden voice of women generally and how we can use poetry as an art form to express yourself and express who you are. Ilam said something very beautiful is just to write from your heart. Once again, I say create a soul space at home. Surround yourself with beautiful things. It's not expensive things, it's things that makes you connect with your soul. Have plants around that clears the energy space and what have you. And just write freely. Let your pen flow. Don't edit it, let it just flow and be free and know that you are good in enough. Another thing that Lamb's rightly pointed out today, the bit that I moved by the most. I don't know which bit to pick in particularly, but I love the bit where she sat here, confident, just saying, look, every label I was given was a label to crush me, you know, oh, you're big. Oh, you were Muslim. Oh, you're black. Oh, your hair. And you see, you hear A woman here that's being crushed. No, no, she is empowered. She refused to be defined by those labels and those stereotypes. Guys, I hope we've gone somewhere in helping to empower you today to be who you were meant to be, to don your wings and to fly. Remember, we will be here next week at the same time. I'm here every week, Same time at 4 o'. Clock. Thank you so much for joining us. Don't forget, email us in presentersomensradiostation.com this was of course the radical Wellbeing show. I was joined with Lams. Don't forget to log on to my website. Log on to the women's radio station website where you'll find links to links to her information. And don't forget guys, to stay beautiful. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station Supporting women's well being Women's Radio Station is all about diversity from opinions, career, ethnicity, education and most importantly, women's well being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? 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