Earlier this week the interns attended a lecture organised by the 3 Faiths Forum and hosted by Amnesty International.
The lecture, entitled ‘Identity and its discontents’, was given by Bonnie Greer – and boy has she had some identity crises in her time.
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| Bonnie Greer |
In her lecture, Bonnie took the audience through the various stages of her life; from being a working class, black, child to a student activist to a feminist and even gaining British citizenship.
None of the interns present were quite able to empathise with Bonnie’s identity dilemma. The talk ended up posing more questions than it answered but at least showed how people who had no idea who they are can become pretty successful.
Compared to the political, religious and economical lectures we have attended over the past few months, this talk was by far more abstract.
Bonnie spoke of labels that we give ourselves and how these can sometimes be at odds with the way we are perceived, or labelled, by society. In the past few years we have been schoolchildren, sixth-formers, university students, graduates and now interns. What will be the next label we apply to ourselves? And will it suit us? Watch this space for updates...
As we have all survived the mid-term reviews we are now turning our attention ever more to life after the internship will involve. This requires thinking about who we are now and who we want to become. How we see ourselves at present and we want to be seen by others, say, this time next year. Everyone except Matthew continues to contemplate potential unemployment – a label Bonnie, amongst all her anguish, has apparently never had to deal with.
On a brighter note we have a dinner with Mgr Armitage to look forward to next week and meeting with the applicants for next year’s internship at their interview days later this month. If only they knew what they are letting themselves in for...!
Congratulations are also in order for Daniel's family and especially his mum as she was baptised last month.
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