restlessbeings

Human Writes
2010-11-27 08:00 - 2025-02-10 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Conscious lyrics to ignite your conscious; Hip-hop turns up the volume on Human Rights!
Set in an underground, Concrete basement, in Shoreditch, on a Saturday evening hip-hop and lyrical talent exploded on an intimate stage in the name of Human Rights! When Aruba Red tweets the Restless Beings ‘Human Writes’ gig to be ‘The official Roots/John Legend pre-party’ you know you’re not going to be disappointed! With a massive line up of the most established and upcoming artists in conscious music, Restless Beings supporters were certainly in for something special!
Despite the winter freeze and the forecast for snow, over 300 activists and appreciators of real music attended to help give a voice to the voiceless! Welcomed by the usual Restless Beings goodies of lollipops, badges and pencils, a hub of good vibes and shared love of musical talent resonated from the offset, with the illusive DJ Snuff playing classic hip-hop tunes to warm the guests up.

Opening up the night was a talented 15 year old, Sindy, followed by RYU & Onoe. Muslim Belal, moved the audience with his account of his transition to Islam calming the audience poignantly. Mohamed Yahya with Serena, and Poetic Pilgrimage blessed the stage and got the crowd moving, with their upbeat progressive tracks and the positive rapper, Logic MC also performing with Crazy-haze most definitely got the “People’s Army” mobilised. Later, Lady Ny had the audience mesmerised with her beautiful voice and also sang with the illustrious Purple. Pugnacious MC, currently a SOAS undergraduate student also bought raw talent to the stage with his tracks! Restless Beings were then blessed with a surprise appearance and support by the artist that Benjamin Zephaniah describes to be “One of the best lyricists in the Western Hemisphere” – LOWKEY! Performing the iconic ‘Long live Palestine’ and ‘Terrorist’ the crowd were reminded lyrically of human rights issues around the world. The message was further reiterated by the Iron Braydz performing a Restless Beings favourite ‘Free’.

Employing the true beauty of hip-hop and conscious music, audience participation was key in raising the atmosphere. This was conveyed in abundance in the Open Mic session of the gig which aimed to promote boxfresh talent. Out of 500 applicants, 10 artists were chosen to perform for 2 minutes to impress both the crowd and the judges- consisting of the established artists. The Open Mic artists, for some being their first organised performance, included Electric, J Kas, Zak, Sunshine, Mitz, Curious, Ruthless MC, Farhat, Little Moh and Suspect MC. All performed with their own original sound and style and the judges then painfully selected the two acts they thought to be the best- Sunshine and Curious! Both were very different in the style, Sunshine enthusing her melodious soulful tones to champion love and peace. Curious, on the other hand, by day a secondary school teacher, employed cleverly articulated lyrics to win the crowd round. After another performance, this time for 3 minutes, the crowd chose Curious to be the winner of the Open Mic Competition, with screams and cheers that reverberated off the concrete! In an industry that places more power and value with the audience, rather than a record label, the prize for Curious is invaluable as he is set to be endorsed by not only the crowd, but by the established artists/judges and Restless Beings! Among social mediums alone, his voice can be projected to over 250,000 people with RB and artist followers combined!
To close the show, following the more up tempo tracks, the crowd were able to sway to a more serene acoustic set by Natty, performing ‘Coloured Souls’. Other highlights of the night were Natascha of Aruba Red, a long time supporter of Restless Beings, performing an impromptu collaboration with our Open Mic Champion, Curious, beat boxing!
The underlying message of the gig was to raise awareness and charge the activism of human rights around the world. As a hub for activism and social change, and after the success of Project 1- helping the street children of Dhaka, Restless Beings launched Project 2 earlier this year. This project consists of the issues of Uighur Women’s Rights in Kyrgyzstan, the persecuted Rohingya people in Burma and Bangladesh and the marginalised Roma Gypsy community in Eastern Europe. Despite living in a so called ‘modern’ society, it concerns, in different ways, the restoration of basic human rights, which are greatly lacking for such communities as they live in stateless conditions. Our aim is the restoration of these basic fundamental rights on these communities that have been discriminated against, and displaced on the basis of who they are, how they are and what they believe in.
The spotlight is on them and change is coming, with YOUR support!
Despite the gig being more to do with raising awareness of the key issues behind the persecuted communities, a staggering £1,500 was raised, all of which, will go straight towards the human rights project! The support of the artists and the audience was humbling and it is testament to the movement of change out there. However, although the gig is over, the process of change continues. The importance of those post event ‘Monday morning discussions’ at work, school/university , the gym-wherever, helping to spread the word of change cannot be forgotten.
Voice the Voiceless and stand up for Human Rights!

Human Writes 2
2011-11-11 08:00 - 2025-02-10 17:00
Hip-hop raises the volume on Human Rights
With the symbolic green hand of change hung up at the front of the Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel, it was evident that the Restless Beings had landed and occupied the venue! Hip-hop was about to drop some beats to raise the volume and shine the spotlight on human rights all around the world. With the audience and supporters armed with Restless Beings signature lollipops and human writes goodies, the stage set, and artists eager to perform – Human Writes 2 – our annual Hip-hop for human rights gig was to finally begin!

The biggest names in the hip-hop scene, a group of like minded artists with the most conscious and positive music bought the show down and inspired the audience to creatively act and make change for what they are Restless about. DJ Snuff, the groundbreaking DJ and Co-founding member of the Peoples Army movement, well famed for his Speakers Corner sets was dedicated on the decks warming the 300 change-makers with old school hip-hop vibes. Opening up the show was up and coming rapper and poet Kayne Anthony, followed by the talented emcee and singer Melissa Melodee, poet Lorianne – part of the Hip-hop Shakespeare Company founded by MOBO award winning hip-hop artist Akala – and incredible and long standing Restless Being supporters – Poetic Pilgrimage – who performed with guitarist and singer Santiago to stun the audience with their set. (link: http://www.restlessbeings.org/music/who-is-quest-rah text: Quest Rah) also performing with Haan bought lyricism to the forefront and (link: http://www.restlessbeings.org/music/native-sun-profile text: Native Sun) consisting of Mohammed Yahya and Serena Leah then followed, performing ‘Legacy’ with their melodiously rhythmic African hip-hop tones. Jimmy Jitsu, young but quickly rising to success, performed two brand new tracks from his new EP to be released in January 2012. The night continued to move the audience, both the beats and the message behind the music. Caxton Press made up by Manage, Kingpin, eMCee Killa, Amy True & DJ Snuff bought the house down their track ‘The Press’. (link: http://www.restlessbeings.org/music/restless-beings-talks-life-music-and-human-rights-with-mangaliso-asi text: Mangaliso Asi), along with percussionist Kensaye, got the audience feeling ‘On Top of the Globe’. The crowd were then enthralled to be blown away by Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee & The Clinic performing ‘Night Rider’ alongside two other compilations. Lovelle then performed her set followed by the greatly anticipated Black the Ripper, recognised by The Guardian, as one of the top ten rising stars of 2011 and if everyone wasn’t moving by the time Ty was on stage, then they certainly were with his performance!
The open mic competition gave the opportunity for the biggest boxfresh and young talent to take the stage. On the night six contestants, selected from hundreds of applications performed for the chance for an amazing prize, an exclusive video directed and produced by Global Faction, and a one day studio session with rapper Nolay, as well as a set at the next Human Writes gig in 2012 and a free ticket to all Restless Beings events for the year, not to mention promotion to over 100,000 Restless Beings supporters. Poet Curious set proceedings and showed exactly why he won the first Human Writes open mic competition last year. The open mic featured some real talent in the youth scene, varying from emcees, rappers, singers to poets, with the likes of Trigga Tanna, Akillez, Rain Freedom, Emerge MC, Sean Yelo and Salaam Jones, who all performed with passion and a desire for change through music. Rusharr, a 17 year old beat boxer from Tower Hamlets, astonished the audience with a 5 minute set of several hip-hop tracks with various rifts. Based on delivery and content, it was then up to the audience who raised the roof with cheers and screams to decide on the winner… It was a close call, but Rain Freedom came out on top! Just 24 hours later, with shout out’s from BBC London Radio, Rain Freedom was also then interviewed on Revolution on Reprezent Radio!

The promotion of human rights, peace for all and the demand for an end to the marginalisation and persecution of communities can be achieved just as effectively, if not more powerfully through music and poetry, and this was ever more evident with the unity that results in the gigs. Throughout the night videos of the Restless Beings projects were played on loop and explained by the Restless Beings directors on stage; Rahima Begum and Mabrur Ahmed, another reminder of why everyone was gathered together. Through entertainment, the Human Writes audience are certainly taken through a learning experience. One hip-hop fan in the audience, Farhana, had said that she was “*previously unaware of the Uighur community, let alone the issue of bride kidnapping ala kachuu – tonight has opened my ears to some great artists and my eyes to some horrific issues in the world.*”

The excitement was also felt and visible to see online. Our Web & Social Media Team set into motion a tweet-a-lot competition which having run from midnight Friday 25th November to midnight 27th November, resulted in thousands of tweets with #HumanWrites. All in all over 90,000 people were reached through this campaign, and none of that is including RT’s! Ty the day after the gig tweeted: “I’ve never done a show anywhere in the world and the day after, the audience and the artists are all speaking on twitter. NEVER.” In fact the gig is still being talked and tweeted about now, and has lead to more support and calls for a monthly gig with DJ Snuff and Speakers Corner uniting with Restless Beings to be held at D’Gaf in Maryland to start in January 2012 to continue to raise the volume on international injustice!
Our hip-hop gigs primarily raise awareness of our projects and human rights issues throughout the world, however on the night just over £1,700 was raised bucket collections from our generous supporters! As a grassroots charity we appreciate that it’s often difficult for little ripples to make big waves of change, but on Saturday night and since, together as collective, some pretty awesome creative waves were made and are continuing to be made. That being said, it’s easy for the spot light on human rights and struggling communities to be dimmed and continue to go unheard once again. The ‘unfashionable’ human rights issues of the Uighur kidnapped Brides in Kyrgystan or the Rohingya persecuted by the military Burmese Junta may not be in the mainstream media but together we can keep trying to raise awareness, funds and hope for marginalised people across the world.
There is still yet a lot to be achieved, as Mohammed Yahya pointed out “Who knew about the riots in Mozambique?” We must continue and struggle to make it our responsibility to learn more about the world and look to alternative sources to do.
Follow us on twitter and follow Open Mic winner on twitter.
If you would like to volunteer, fundraise for or donate to Restless Beings and become an active member of change, please get in contact.

Poets & Pioneers Nights
2012-02-02 08:00 - 2025-02-11 17:00 | London, London Address, London, SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom
DJ SNUFF / RESTLESSBEINGS / SPEAKERS CORNER / D’GAF
East London’s hottest intimate live music/hip-hop/poetry nights @ D’Gaf.

Mic Righteous
Kingpin [Caxton Press]
Supar Novar
Jimmy Jitsu
Nate, Prose
Nekz
Oracy
DJ Snuff + Open Mic Cypher
& MANY MORE

Enjoy delicious food and lush mocktails whilst soaking up some ‘edutainment’ with beats and rhymes from pioneering poets of our generation!
£5 @ Door
EMAIL rahima@restlessbeings.org to ensure your name is on the guestlist – all names on the list will be able to pay at the door and enter.
Ticket proceeds go to RestlessBeings charity.
Look forward to jamming with you on the night. Bless!

Spring Fair for Restless Beings
2012-03-02 08:00 - 2025-02-11 17:00
A fun evening event to help raise money for Restless Beings. Come along and bring friends and family. From live DJ’s to henna artists, food and lots more. A great way to enjoy your Friday evening, make new friends and help a worthy cause.
Tickets are £15 per adult and £13 per child. Please follow the link below to make your payment:
Online tickets are now closed. Please buy your tickets at the door.
Please email all guest names to springfairmanc@gmail.com once you have made your payment.
There will be a limited number of tickets available. So book early to avoid disappointment.
If you want to help on the night please contact us on the wall page. 🙂
Find out more about the RB Village project and about the £100 in 100 days for 100 kids campaign.

Kukusanya
2012-05-05 08:00 - 2025-02-10 17:00
Set by the river in the intimate Studio Lantern Theatre, over 500 restless beings, from varying occupations and backgrounds all over the UK came together as a united tribe to celebrate 4 years of restlessness at Kukusanya! Armed with Love, Light & Lollipops, a Restless Beings staple, supporters built up the excitement on twitter with the #kukusanya tweet-a-lot competition, reaching out over 165,000 followers, and were ready to get down to drum beats and feel good vibes!
Since our inception little over four years ago our work has taken us from the Roma community across Europe to the street children in Dhaka, women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan and to the Rohingya community in South-West Burma. In harmony with the transnational nature of our work, the event carried a vibrant tribal theme knitting together the distinctive traditional arts of countries across the globe.

The electric vibes were felt throughout the night, with the audience chilling out on traditional Moroccan and Bedouin cushions and rugs set amongst the intimate stage, set alive with the many beautiful arts of different culture all over the world.

Musical delights were in an abundance ranging from the Quqin played beautifully by Nora Wang and composer and incredible flutist Shammi Pithia stunned the audience with his performance with singer Sonna Rele. Live music from our long time supporting artists, the vibrant duo Native Sun, Suzana Ansar and amazing drumming skills from Khansar, Latin, British, African hip-hop rapping dexterity from Street Souls UK, a surprise acoustic performance from Aruba Red as well Melissa Melodee performing the 100kids anthem ‘Broken Hearts’ with all the Restless Beings team singing on stage with her added to the celebration. Bringing a visual treat to the night, Brazilarte executed a show stopping capoeira performance and Manaia Maori stormed the stage with their chants, music and dance, including the haka- indigenous to New Zealand.

Akkas Al-Ali (Directed by Tommy Lexén and played by Priyank Morjaria, Shaeran Thomas, Mauricio Brandes, Matthew Gibbs, Caitlin Thorburn, Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge and Tara Jaffar), playwright and director, brought a short but powerful piece of theatre looking at the kidnapping of women for marriage in Kyrgyzstan (Ala Kachuu), the oppression of the Roma people across Europe, the treatment of the Palestinians and the murder of Trayvon Martin.

With a focus on demanding change and voicing the voiceless, Restless Beings also announced the latest exciting developments with two of our projects. We are now up and running in Kyrgyzstan, helping to combat Ala Kachuu or bride kidnapping which is largely non-consensual and often involves violent kidnapping, mistreatment and rape of women. After an emotionally charged trip to the country in April this year, just a few weeks before Kukusanya, the Restless Beings team interviewed women and families who had faced Ala Kachuu and are now dealing with the many fall outs of the practice. The team held workshops with local charities, filmed an advertisement to be aired on Kyrgyz TV to encourage men and women to say no to Ala Kachuu and initiated dialogue with other NGOs aiming to find a resolution. Incredibly having recently achieved NGO status for Restless Beings, we have partnered with a women’s right organisation, Sezim to offer a counselling service to women affected by Ala Kachuu.

Kukusanya also marked the end of our 100kids campaign which started in February 2012. We set the challenge to Restless Beings all over the world to raise at least £100 in 100 days for the 100 street children that are going to be given a future to at our Restless Beings Village in Bangladesh. With a phenomenal response of nearly 400 Restless Beings taking up the challenge from 32 countries worldwide and 31 cities and towns in the UK alone!

The top 3 100kids fundraisers were announced at Kukusanya, with Shareefa Panchbhaya claiming 3rd place raising £1,701.25 by chopping off all of her hair to show how street girls in Bangladesh do this to appear as boys in fear of rape and sexual abuse. In second place were two little sisters, Aliyah and Khadija aged 4 and 6 and together they raised £3,292.00 being sponsored for horse riding, a 3 mile walk and swimming! Claiming 1st place, raising a total of £3,568.85 was Amera Otaifa, who as the winner of the 100kids challenge will be able to fly out to the Restless Beings Village in 2013 when it will be a fully functioning home, school, rehabilitation centre and a safe environment for street children to play and live out their childhood, as they should.

Although the 100 days of the challenge are up, the problems facing the children in Dhaka are not. Please do not forget them and continue to support the project by signing up on www.onehundredkids.com like TV Presenter and Journalist – Tasmin Lucia-Khan!

With your support consistent, grassroots change is achievable – our 100kids campaign, having raised over £45,000 in 100 days is testament to that! We also debuted ‘Building Hope’, a short film documenting our work with the street children in Dhaka, Bangladesh and the reason why your help is so needed!
Thank you to all who took part in the 100 kids challenge and all our guests at Kukusanya – your help keeps us going and facilitates change in vulnerable communities.
Stay Restless.
Love, Light and Lollipops!

Building Hope
2012-06-16 08:00 - 2025-02-10 17:00
RestlessBeings short documentary screenings will be followed by an informal discussion and an opportunity for you to ask any questions about the films, the projects, the communities we are working with, and make suggestions, support, and help us develop our work.
If you are new to RestlessBeings, this is a great event for you to meet the team, find out more, and get involved. Alongside this, there will be food, networking, and positive vibes to start the weekend with…
Join us 🙂
This is a FREE event.
However, you must register. We have limited space on the night. Dinner will be provided & hopefully drinks and cake too :]
Registration:
To book your place, please email kiran@restlessbeings.org with the following information:
Full Name
DOB
Email Address
Mobile Number
Home Address
Profession
Why are you interested in attending this event?
How did you find out about RestlessBeings?
What makes you restless about the world today?
Email the form above and wait for a confirmation email from us 🙂
Enjoy Pear Drops in a Can, as Drop Drinks will be available on the night for purchase (100% proceeds going to RestlessBeings).
This event is kindly supported by LBTH.
Food will also be provided by Nina Spice Rozina Iqbal.
Cakes provided by missBeesbakery.

LYRIX ORGANIX: RELAY
2012-07-01 08:00 - 2025-02-10 17:00
This summer, RestlessBeings has teamed up with Lyrix Organix
For an exciting event where all proceeds will go towards supporting the RestlessBeings human rights projects, helping voice the voiceless and sustaining the work we are doing with and for the marginalised communities who are at the heart of each of our projects. Details below:
To celebrate the launch of the ‘**Lyrix Organix: Relay**’ tour – in conjunction with **Showtime, Mayor of London** and **London 2012 Festival** – Lyrix Organix re-imagines The Yard Theatre as an explosive hub of spoken word, live music, beatbox, DJ’s, live street art, photography, talks and film for a special charity micro-festival. One-off, one day and one aim; to push the boundaries of live performance at one of London’s most exciting new art spaces.
The Courtyard epi-centre will see the launch of the genre-defying outdoor tour production, ‘Lyrix Organix: Relay’, commissioned by the Mayor of London, which will transform streets and parks across London this summer. This special event will immerse audiences in a 360 degree experience of the UK’s finest poetry, live music, live art and film (including award-winning documentary ‘**We Are Poets**’ and the premiere of a short film about Lyrix Organix at Glastonbury Festival 2011). The main evening performance will see headline performances from poetronica-pioneers **The Kings Will** and show-stopping cellist **Ayanna**.
‘LYRIX ORGANIX: RELAY’
MICRO-FESTIVAL LAUNCH PARTY
@THE YARD THEATRE
Sunday 1st July // 1-11pm
The Relay Team:
**DEAN ATTA** – **ZEE GACHETTE** – **GRACE SAVAGE** – **NATTY SPEAKS**
##Live Music & Poetry:
– THE KINGS WILL
– AYANNA
– HOLLIE MCNISH
– POET CURIOUS
+ open mic (see Lyrix Organix website for details)
##Film & Talks:
– **WE ARE POETS** (award-winning film preview) **LYRIX ORGANIX** (Glastonbury documentary) **RESTLESS BEINGS** (Documentary shorts & talks)
Live Art: JOANNA LAYLA + special guests TBA
DJ’s: MASAI – ANON – RESTLESS BEINGS DJs – TROL 23
@THE YARD THEATRE
Queen’s Yard, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN
(nearest station: Hackney Wick overground)
Tickets only £7 // available from The Yard box office:

**Profits donated to Restless Beings.**

Rohingya: The Human Story
2012-07-23 08:00 - 2025-02-11 17:00
A special event for press and limited guests—exploring the human stories behind the recent clashes and the state-led campaign against the Rohingya in Burma. Featuring exclusive footage, firsthand accounts, and expert analysis.
Uncovering the Human Story Behind the Rohingya Crisis
Restless Beings has been campaigning for the Rohingya community since 2010.
In June 2012, violent clashes erupted, leading to an escalating ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya in Burma. As one of the leading organizations advocating for the Rohingya, Restless Beings has been at the forefront of activism and awareness in the UK.
This exclusive event is designed for press and select guests to gain a rare and in-depth look at the human cost of this crisis.
What to Expect
Exclusive Footage & Firsthand Accounts

Never-before-seen visuals from July 17–19, 2012
Audio and pictures directly from Myanmar since the violence began
Testimonies from Rohingya community members in the UK
Audience-led analysis of next steps for the community
Expert insights into the worsening humanitarian situation

This event will start and end promptly. Please arrive early and plan your travel accordingly.
For press inquiries or questions, email: info@restlessbeings.org
