We stepped into a ring of light. Amongst us were people of Russian, Armenian, Italian, Yemeni and Irish descent, as well as two Americans, one of them a native New Yorker on a visit, and South Asians. As ever, Port Hope was set up for atmosphere. But this gathering was more intimate. The lighting was low, flickering images of recent political events – not least the iconic election of Zohran Mamdani to Mayor of New York – danced across the walls, and ambient sound filled the space. At our feet was an illuminated ring of strip-lighting and within it an egalitarian circle of chairs, set up around an imaginary ‘campfire’. A small, diverse group had gathered to sit there and reflect. This was the People’s Circle.
This was a launch event, though events like this are not entirely new to us at Soul City Arts. In our earlier Sparkbrook bases, we have a long history of running so-called ‘Hubb Debates.’ While experts would often attend those events, sharing their expertise on topics of burning relevance, this was no formal academic panel, there was no stage/audience divide, and the action moved freely between conversation, music, rap, spoken word, and visual art. The process was also two-way, with local people sharing their knowledge and experiences with the experts and the artists, in their own way, commenting on the topic and providing cohesion and flow. That was where I, as an academic engaging the public, first learned this craft.
The People’s Circle builds on this lineage: retaining the spirit of provocative engagement, replacing hierarchy with inclusivity, whilst somehow, in a vast warehouse space, retaining the safety and intimacy that allow conversation to be honest and vulnerabilities to be shown. Tonight, that conversation was guided and structured by Sufia Hussain and Faisal Sheikh, who had suggested our theme. Talking about Mamdani’s historic election as New York City’s first Muslim, South Asian mayor, we reflected, of course, on what his victory meant for us in the UK, and in Birmingham in particular. Yet the conversation ranged further afield, as we explored how hope and political agency could be nurtured locally and how grassroots energy might be translated into real social change on a wider scale.
In so doing we got a sense of the range of perspectives in the room, culturally diverse, religious and secular, political and professional. And there was disagreement. As it did back in the days of the Hubb, the temperature in the Circle can rise occasionally, as people vent and opinions clash. But by deliberately keeping the circle small – between 20 and 30 participants – we retain trust and often share much more about ourselves than we might have expected.
And we also learn to listen deeply: the art of future Circles will involve us fostering both free expression and mutual understanding and empathy. We aim to allow differences to surface and sit together, to prevent diversity from turning into irreconcilable division. And though any one given Circle might not in itself change the world, it can change how individuals think and feel. And as Mamdani has shown us, those smaller steps and local models can lead to bigger victories and grander visions.
