Being a woman of color residing in Northern Ireland, Maureen Hamblin understands that racial discrimination manifests in many forms. “It’s not public displays of violence,” she remarks. “It can be covert and unnoticed.”
Bystanders who overhear prejudiced statements and remain mute only serve to deepen the hurt, causing the affected to feel completely isolated. This recurring experience left Hamblin drained. “There was a time when I’d lost my trust in people of a different ethnic background.”
Racial unrest in various Northern Irish towns and cities during recent times might have extinguished her final hopes, but contrarily, Hamblin, a native of Kenya, found a new sense of hope.
She joined an project named the Circle for Change, which connects strangers from contrasting backgrounds – wealthy and impoverished, black and white, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual – and engages them in a subversive activity: taking the time to understand one another.
“It renewed my faith. It made us all see our shared humanity.” – Maureen Hamblin
Every twelve months, a different cohort of about a dozen strong assembles and meets at scheduled sessions in various Belfast locations to share personal stories and generate donations for charities that advocate for tolerance and reconciliation.
Hamblin recounted experiences with racist abuse with her circle – its members reacted with shock – and heard their own often difficult stories. Certain members came from privilege, whereas others had endured hardship and marginalisation. All recognised a fundamental shared truth: Belfast was their home, and it ought to be a welcoming one.
The Creation of a Grassroots Trust
The aforementioned initiative is the innovation of a community trust located in the historically divided community of north Belfast, an border area of Catholic and Protestant housing estates that suffered through sustained conflict during the Troubles. Housed within a repurposed place of worship, it supplies essential aid and assistance to the disadvantaged and acts as a hub for creative talents.
The charity initiated the inaugural group in 2018 with the express aim of combating societal splits, noted its chief executive. “We try to create a microcosm of Belfast in each group. We want to challenge stereotypes.”
Transformative Encounters
One founding member discovered she was meeting fellow members in locations, such as an east Belfast food shelter, far removed from her middle class, Catholic upbringing. “Many places I’d never set foot in. The less familiar the setting, the happier they [the organisers] were,” she remembers, laughing.
Another member, from a working-class Protestant background, gained a new perspective on homelessness after hearing from a fellow participant who had experienced rough sleeping to escape a household with addiction issues. “It made me realise how fortunate I had been to have a reliable family that I could depend on.”
She also describes her shock when another member, from Africa, explained how white youths often threw dog excrement at her children. “Her tone wasn't overly upset, her tone was detached. The story was deeply distressing.”
The initial 2018 circle managed to raise £50,000 for after-school care for African and Caribbean youth – an feat that seems even more significant given the troubling rise of community divisions. “There is a tradition here of ‘say nothing’,” the CEO observed, alluding to a poetic reference. “No one realised at that time how deeply racist society could be. But when the riots came they were less of a surprise to us because of what we had heard.”
Finding Hope Through Shared Arts
When Maureen Hamblin became part of the 2024 cohort, she was disheartened by the pervasive “onlooker apathy”. Even in her local church, which was ostensibly progressive, insensitive statements went unchallenged. “In moments of silence it’s like being invalidated twice over.”
She managed to build a meaningful relationship with fellow members, especially with a author who told a story about confronting prejudice – potentially inviting a physical confrontation – in a fast-food outlet. Hamblin, who loves to sing, and her fellow circle member, an writer of a celebrated memoir, collaborated to record audio vignettes for online platforms.
“We used to think that the Troubles would never end, that peace would never come. But it did come. Things can improve dramatically.” – A Circle of Change Participant
The most recent group directed its fundraising efforts to support a innovative program called Music Translated, which offers weekly classes in folk music from Ireland to regular sessions split between foreigners – immigrants and refugees and long-term inhabitants.
“Artistic expression can overcome communication hurdles and gives a shared identity and community,” said the scheme's coordinator. “A participant confided he’d not previously known that Muslims could be great company.”
Although this initiative are bucking a troubling trend – with reports of racial hatred in Northern Ireland hitting the third highest on record – that is all the more reason to continue the work, the coordinator asserts. “That is the reason such programs matter.”
The underlying message from these community efforts is one of optimism via engagement. Thousands of ordinary people played a part in the end of political violence through personal gestures, a key figure reflected. “That inspires optimism. I can’t do anything about what happens at an international level, but I have the power to participate in my community and contribute positively at a individual level. I genuinely believe that’s how real progress begins.”
