The Future Already Here – IMAGINE Festival 2022

This online event will highlight how it is possible to move beyond racism, sectarianism and capitalism towards a future that is bigger than our past.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. CS Lewis

CRAICNI’s (Cultivate Respect, Appreciate Inclusion across Cultures) three-person women’s’ panel features Mary McManus, Annie Yellowe Palma and Susan McEwen. The speakers will show the future that is being created for all our children. Mary will set out a fresh economic context; Annie will cover a new approach to raising and socialising children in pro-humanity. An inclusive, mindful approach to parenting that avoids creating a ‘need’ for anti-sectarianism, anti-racism and allyship. Susan draws lessons from parenting her children.

Eileen Chan-Hu, CRAICNI’s CEO (with her knowledge of similarities and differences growing up in Northern Ireland) will facilitate a lively discussion, with helpings of ‘good craic’ and music. Join in with and act for the future.

Our panel is designed to encourage and ignite your action. For example you might sign Collaboration for Change’s (CfC) ‘Declaration for The Common Good’. The declaration is summarised as how: “Small collective actions by the many have the capacity to create the change that builds a more peaceful, just and resilient society.”

The panel will highlight how people and projects already prove that it is possible to move beyond racism, sectarianism and capitalism. They will show working on these together can create even more movement towards a future that is bigger than our past. These interconnections have been known for some time.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifices. Capitalism was built on the exploitation of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor, both black and white, both here and abroad.”

Our three short talks will encourage people to engage in making positive change in a way that makes sense for them. The short introductions below illustrate the panel’s wide personal and practical experience. We will all benefit as they show us our future is truly already here for us and our children.

Mary McManus has 24 years experience of working in the community in a Welfare Rights capacity. For over 15 of those years, she was Director of East Belfast Independent Advice Centre. Over the years Mary has spoken and written on issues of social justice and is a member of the grassroots campaign group, Right to Work/Right to Welfare which campaigns for social security reform and fair employment. In 2020, Mary completed Masters’ research at QUB into the anti-poverty potential of Community Wealth Building.

She is currently an independent researcher and advocates for more systemic solutions to create a society that is fairer to both people and the planet. She also works on practical ways to make them a reality. Mary is a board member of Collaboration for Change.

Annie Yellowe Palma is a former qualified social worker, who specialises in work with children and families. She studied at the University of North London (UNL) where she achieved a BSc (Hons). She later achieved a Post Graduate Advanced Award in Social Work (AASW) in management, supervision and mentoring, at Leicester University. Nominated as a Positive Role Model for the National Diversity Award in 2021, she is the award-winning author of, For the Love of a Mother (The Black Children of Ulster).

Annie has taken a lead in developing alternative theories, narratives and ideas in examining the root cause of racism. Her ground-breaking strategies include a new solution-focused, educational tool for communication, Post Colonialoquialism – a new re-humanised language that puts people first.

Susan McEwen is a senior yoga teacher and co-owner of Yoga Quarter and Refill Quarter Belfast’s first dedicated zero waste shop. In 2021 she was a speaker at TEDX Stormont. She is inspired by Emma Dabiri’s book What White People can do next: From Allyship to Coalition. Susan introduced a new word, coalitionators to our vocabulary.

Susan is a strong advocate for the adage that ‘actions speak louder than words’. For Susan thinking and talking about the changes that you want to make must be a first step to doing something, no matter how small.

Eileen Chan Hu was born in Belfast, of second-generation Chinese. She is passionate about adding diversity, inclusion, creativity and colour to our society. Her 25 years of experience in the field of race covers English language teaching, community development, community safety initiatives and health and well being. Eileen has sat on an array of boards, was a member of the Centenary Forum and an Equality Commissioner (2018 – 2020). She is currently on the All-Island Women’s Forum and is Vice-Chair on the Migrant and Minority Ethnic Council NI and is a Trustee on New Europeans UK.

Eileen has been a member of the Belfast Speakers circle and has spoken on race equality, social entrepreneurship and women issues. In 2021, Eileen was a TEDx Speaker. Her talk: GaiWaak, Made in Belfast, Made with Purpose, presented both her cross-cultural experience and the philosophy she inherited from her parents.