Samosa-led Stepney All Saints Sixth Form Students’ Workshops and Debate: ‘Does White Privilege Exist?’
In November and December 2023, The Samosa Media conducted five media and arts workshops at Stepney All Saints School, East London, helping Year 12 Sixth Form students to explore, study and debate some complex social issues and challenges.
Students were able to choose the topic and prepared a live debate which was recorded and filmed by Victor Rios Samosa Media Associate and Three Bloke Film Productions. The workshops are designed to discuss history, politics, religion, race, and culture.
Students gained confidence-building skills, and the ability to think critically, contribute meaningfully to discussions and articulate their opinions whilst considering different perspectives and questioning assumptions.
The workshops have proved particularly significant as young people have become increasingly aware of prevalent injustices and the workshops explored and discussed a range of issues including the conflict and violence in Gaza, Black Lives Matter, Sexism, Islamophobia, and prejudice faced by young people from working class backgrounds.
Samosa Media provided a safe space for students to discuss such sensitive issues whilst allowing them to see alternative and conflicting points of view. At the heart of the workshops was a focus on looking at historical events, their resonance today, and the importance of taking in historical perspectives when looking at sensitive current political and cultural issues. The workshops also focused on the BAME contributions to building modern Britain.
At the end of the workshops the group chose to debate ‘Does White Privilege Exist?’ The debate was filmed and can be viewed here.
Student Feeback and pictures from the workshops are also below.
‘I found the samosa media sessions interesting, there were various topics we discussed such as white privilege, and communism vs. capitalism which evoked different opinions. I think one of the most important things I learnt was focusing on different groups and nuances rather than just having a generalised opinion – and in terms of debate it really improved the discussions. For instance when discussing white privilege we looked at the effects it had on different classes of people; people from white working class backgrounds were less likely to experience white privilege. I feel like it helped me to consider a more stronger argument through including specific examples where white privilege didn’t apply. Overall, I found the sessions helpful for my public speaking and improving my confidence.’
‘I gained an understanding of the issues that affect many people across the country, not just in our local community. This project helped me improve my own public speaking confidence and communication.’
‘One thing I really liked was the different music clips at the start of every session – from Beethoven to Stormzy. Anwar taught us to keep an open mind and not to limit ourselves.’
‘I definitely improved my public speaking and gained confidence from the interactive lessons. I would recommend this workshop to other students.’
Student Production Team and Panel. Mustafa Alim, Maryam Liu, Hannah Hasanath-Taher, Ali Akli, Tamim Ahmed, Yumna Chowdhury, Shahnaz Ferdus Khan
For further information on the workshop method, please email Samosa Media at info@thesamosa.org.uk
