Ahead of the launch of our beloved Talks Tent programme, we welcomed area leader, Kacherelle Brown to write a piece for us taking a look at the concept behind this hive of activity on site.
Kacherelle dives into her amazing work building our talks, panel and spoken word programme in previous years at the festival and gives a taster of what’s in store for We Out Here 2024…
The Talks Tent has always been the base for community, vulnerability, connection and growth. It offers a space where creativity is the foundation and exploration is a tool. The concept is to craft experiences and stories that change people’s thought processes and open people up to different worlds and topics — creating unforgettable ideas that linger for a lifetime.
In a world where we are increasingly digitally connected, yet disconnected, where the loneliness epidemic is constantly rising and where people’s differences are continuing to divide us rather than bringing us together through empathy and compassion. The Talks Tent is a home where human connections can be fostered through deep conversations from global communities while also making sure we are having fun, captivating moments of joy and celebrating our uniqueness.
Over the years, we’ve had some amazing spoken word collectives that represent different parts of the UK, Gobs Collective (Nottingham), Poetic Unity (London), Chris Jam and Reece Williams (Manchester), Spoken Lyrik (Birmingham), Born:Free (London) and our annual poetry slam hosted by Hammer and Tongue to name a few!
A look back on 2023:
Every year, we celebrate music and have had lots of ‘Artist Talks’: where artists can delve deep into their practice, and background, and we can get to grips with the person behind the music! Last year Brian Jackson’s deep-dive was transformational and Jimetta Rose’s ‘In Conversation with Kate Magic’ discussing music as an act of worship was extraordinary, especially after watching Jimetta’s live performance with the sun coming out during her set, singing ‘Let The Sunshine In’. It’s moments like these that allow you to believe in something higher than yourself.
Some of the best moments of last year had to be when a middle-aged woman appropriately flashed on stage during a liberating talk about body confidence. This lovely woman had recently recovered from an illness and was proud to show her scars. She inspired so many of us to love the body that we are in. Another memorable discussion was a talk called ‘Women Behind The Mic’. This talk explored three women (LaJoyce Brookshire, Robin Dunn and Janine Coveney) who helped towards the success of some of the most important artists in Hip Hop and spoke about everything they had overcome during this time, which couldn’t have happened without the help of Alanna Henry. Often women’s, but especially black women’s, stories are not told or discarded.
The Drug Science conversation covered the war on drugs and offered a fresh perspective on the truth about drugs, based on the latest science, highlighting examples of how drugs can be used to heal rather than harm (medical cannabis and psychedelics) and Katrina French from Unjust broke down discriminatory culture, practices and policies within UK policing and the wider criminal legal system. We also had a complimentary talk that discussed Herbalism Science and Indigenous Wisdom where we got to know more about psychedelics from their original cultural roots. Ahau Samuel, a native Mexican medicine man, broke down his indigenous culture and 11 years working with natural medicine, facilitated by the amazing Laz The Plant Scientist.
The team:
I love being a part of We Out Here Festival because of the ongoing room for expansion and development. Our values as a festival relate to my values around togetherness, social and racial justice/equity and most importantly openness to doing things differently, with a never-ending sense of curiosity. It’s also been so nice to be surrounded by pioneering women, especially women of colour who are making unprecedented changes in a very male-dominated industry. Women like Victoria, who’s leading the wonderful family programme and making some amazing changes for communities in Margate with the People’s Dem Collective; DemiMa, who heads up the wellness area and offers deep moments of peace, showing us how to get attuned with our bodies and release stress; Carli, who manages to bring us all together, and Samantha from BookLove who has been with us from the start. Not to mention all the other women who have contributed in one way or another! I strongly believe that we are paving the way for a new type of leadership, where working collectively and effectively is key and where diversity and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords, but the heart of everything we do.
Why I do what I do:
My love for events started with big house parties at my mum’s when I was a child, growing up on a council estate in Sheffield. Community was everything and my mum’s house parties were the talk of the town. It was full of Jamaican food, a massive sound system and a lot of rum! Everyone was welcome as long as you had good vibes. Fast forward to today, group gatherings still hold a dear place in my heart. They are the perfect form of escapism from the daily pressures of life and allow people to be in the moment, and to be in a place that is centred around play and joy. I’m grateful I’ve managed to shape a career in this industry and I’m able to bring a central place for discussions that aren’t hidden in the toilets or on stairways in the early hours of the morning.
Books and art are my escapism and have helped me overcome my own mental health issues. It wasn’t until my early twenties that I fully got to indulge myself in literature and work within it. I often thought these kinds of spaces weren’t for me and they certainly weren’t accessible to me when I was younger. Helping programme and create the Talks Tent, allows me to give back my love for music, literature and art all in one go. Hopefully, opening up spaces for everyone and minimizing the imposter syndrome that we all often feel.
This year’s programme…
The main drive for this year is to make sure we dream up more fun and have conversations that are both light-hearted and provoking. It’s my mission to continue to open doors and hear from communities that are often overlooked. A space where everyone can feel seen, heard, supported and most importantly nurtured. We want to continue to make sure there’s a good balance of speakers and our talks are accessible to everyone, no matter your race, socio-economic background, gender, age or accessibility needs.
If you leave the talks tent feeling energised, motivated and hopefully understanding your power (and our collective power) to go out into the world and change it in the most beautiful ways, my life mission for my small part in the festival has been accomplished.
As the activist and writer Alice Walker stated:
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
What’s in store for 2024, there’s too many to mention but Kate Hutchinson is doing something exciting for all the singletons (did somebody say blind date Jazz) as well as some exciting collaborations with Elijah, Yomi Sode, Skin Deep, Novara Media and Black British Book Festival. More will be announced in April.
As always, I send much love to all the people who come along to the talks tent year after year and make it such a special place. I appreciate you and enjoy our laughs, hugs and cries together!! See you in 2024!
