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A day in the life of a shadow: our first Journal of the Week

“For me …politics had always existed in some virtual world far away where politicians meted out decisions that affected people’s lives either positively or negatively.” Celina Mbwiria records her reactions to a first full council meeting.

Meet Celina Mbwiria one of the first people to take part in Opening Doors Shadow Scheme in October 2006.. Since Celina wrote our first Journal of the Week Phil Attridge has retired from the City Council and grown a beard but he still works as a bus driver in Edinburgh. And Celina’s perceptive comments are still so relevant we are delighted to publish them again to celebrate our fifth anniversary of Leith Open Space. Now read what Celina discovered about local politics…

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Cross cultural winter festival

Christmas decorations, Chinese lanterns, henna hand painting – it sounds a great way to warm up at the end of a cold week.. A winter festival celebrating the wonderful mixture of cultures in North Edinburgh starts with a hands-on workshop on Friday 10th December and continues with multicultural food and live music at a party in the evening. Everyone is welcome to North Edinburgh Cross Cultural Winter Festival but its best to book in advance.

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Red soup for a warm winter supper

No food miles from field to this farm shop

By popular request, here’s the recipe for the red soup we mentioned on Facebook the other night. Basically you can put together whatever red veg you can find in your cupboard – a mix sweet potatoes or carrots and tomatoes with lentils for extra nourishment. But this is the one we made the other night and it worked well.

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Fair Play in the media?

“The media has a major role to play in our multi-cultural society. It also has certain duties in ensuring responsible reporting on issues of asylum, refugees and immigration.” Paul Holleran Scottish Organiser National Union of Journalists

Flashback to 2005. The top action point, the one that gathered by far the most votes at our first Open Space event was about the role of the media in shaping public perceptions of minority communities. It is interesting to look back at the response (or lack of it) we received from newspaper editors and wonder how much has changed?

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Re-opening the open space: what we have learned in five years

Five years ago we took a step into the unknown. We invited every multicultural organisation we could find to a meeting in a huge open space at the top of Ocean Terminal. We did not know how many people would come or what they would choose to talk about. Invitations to the event simply asked people to bring their ‘burning issues’ around the question of what it is like to live in multicultural Leith.

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What’s in a word?

Ah, the complex power of words. Yesterday we tweeted support for the Hope Not Hate campaign for responsible reporting (something we happen to feel strongly about). In reply came an interesting response from Leith blogger and tweeter, yonmei, saying that the use of the word “shrill” in the campaign against The Star’s coverage of Muslim stories, was sexist. The Star’s editor, Dawn Neesom, happens to be a woman.

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Power to the People?

Anyone for the Big Society? Power to the People? invites you to get involved. Just like Alice, a long-term resident of Hillstone, who is inspired by the new Hillstone Empowerment Project to make some positive changes in her community. Will her enthusiasm be enough to get other people on board and to challenge the agenda of those with power? Find out on Sunday…

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Mridu’s Magical Puri Bread

Continuing our World Kitchen in Leith recipe series, Mridu shares the secret of making Puris

They disappeared like hot cakes. Deep fried Puris were one of the hits of our World Kitchen in Leith festival night. Easier than rotis or parathas, puris still need a little practice if you want to get them to puff up into a ball. Here Mridu lets us into the secret in this extract from her book, Feasts of India. Now read on…

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Opening a new creative space in Leith

Calling all drummers, dancers, singers, poets and storytellers. Here’s your open invitation to take part in a fantastic event to celebrate Edinburgh’s cultural diversity on Monday 1st November at Fort Community Wing. You are also welcome if you would rather help out behind the scenes – or simply enjoy the show.

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Is Leith ready to join the big society?

If we are all to become part of The Big Society should we decide what power and responsibility we want? Should we empower ourselves to say how we want to be empowered?!

One good question always leads to another. Power to the People? The latest theatre project from ACTive Inquiry invites you to bring your stories, thoughts and ideas to a drama workshop on Saturday 30th October at Pilmeny Youth Centre exploring the meaning of power and empowerment.

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