TRIPWIRES on air in Birmingham

Members from TRIPWIRES were invited to be part of a radio debate in Birmingham. This is an excerpt of a blog by Hussina Raja about the day...

"I hope you're all well. So while you were ploughing through your day Julia and I went to Birmingham to take part in a radio debate. Some of you may know (or not) that today was the official Music Freedom day!!

Throughout the debate we were given a number of questions and asked our opinions. Most of what we debated was similar to the discussions we have at TRIPWIRES. I found the debate kept making reference to religion, particularly Islam when discussing freedom of expression. It was insightful to get views from members of the audience, who were obviously passionate about their religious beliefs. The issue of religious and symbolic dress was brought up and the impact it has on being an influence on a person. We discussed the hijab and the banning of it in certain countries and came to the conclusion that media exposure combined with paranoia led to a sensationalised view that adopting such religious clothing could lead to extremism.

We touched on the presence and influence of Music in society today and how it is a powerful tool that gets people listening. With reference to Iran I understand that it’s not music as a whole that the Iranian government censors. Rock and Rap are banned genres of music in Iran depicted through stereotypes and negative media exposure as satanic and far too liberal for the traditional liking of the government. I came to understand that music creates fear because of how powerful it can be as a method of communication. How is it that I can listen to Nas when I was a youth and enjoy the rhythm but not understand the lyrics? Only now do I actually listen to the lyrics and not only make understanding of them but also relate to the music. Also how funny is it when your down in the dumps or going through a break up that you start to identify with certain music? That is the power of music; it generates emotional reactions and is influential to in some way to everyone.

"Music is so powerful because it attacks all the functions of the human being, the brain, the heart and the stomach...music is more powerful than words." - Daniel Barenboim (Pianist and conductor)

This made me realise how important it is to have something like TRIPWIRES, where we can debate issues of concern within a safe environment and from different perspectives. I think it would be exciting and rewarding to work with young people on a national basis so we can learn from each other. Seen as we have incredible technology which is taking over our basic forms of communication, we should utilise it to speak to other like minded individuals around the country..."