Mind Labs

I looked at Sheffield on a map and realised that its shape is nestled in the countryside. It looks like it is supported by or relaxed on the big green area. This large area of green even looks a little ‘motherly’, supporting Sheffield on the map. This threshold between the city and the countryside brings me to the one of the most western borders of Sheffield. I have decided to begin my journey here, in an open area used by the community for recreational purposes: the ‘Bole Hill Recreation Ground’.

This week’s first program in our occasional ‘Mind Labs’ series is a new original music and comedy sketch show from Boona Wallace & Anxious Andrews. It’s called the “Steam Powered Radio Show” and if you press play; you can have a listen! (ain’t modern technology wonderful?)

This week ‘Mind Labs’ presents a report called ‘Martin Luther King - Auburn Avenue’ by Steve Buckley, the Treasurer for Sheffield Live! and President of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. The Programme was made last year, with recordings made during Steve’s visit to Atlanta, ahead of the 40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. The 4th of April, is the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, the American civil rights leader. King was born and brought up in Atlanta, Georgia. He rose to prominence in the civil rights movement when he led the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, in 1955. He returned to Atlanta in 1960 to work as Pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and it remained his home base until his death in 1968.

On this week last year, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, held its annual conference in Atlanta. Steve Buckley of Sheffield Live, was invited to take part. He took the opportunity to bring us this report from Auburn Avenue.

In June 2007 the River Don over topped its banks causing widespread flooding in the Don Valley area of our city. During this time a 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen River Sheaf and a 68 year old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre. The Meadowhall shopping centre also had close due to flooding and the Sheffield Wednesday football ground, Hillsborough was under 6 feet of water.

This week’s feature in our ‘Mind Labs’ slot is a programme about the, importance of media literacy. The programme was made possible with a grant from the Community Media Association and the UK Media Regulator Ofcom. Ofcom has a duty to promote media literacy and community media is seen as an important partner in this process. The programme follows on from a media literacy workshop at Sheffield Live! and is a collaborative work with contributions from Irini Apostolidou, Fabian Beckett, Alan Fransman, Paul Gregory and Harry Stevens. In this programme we examine the idea of media literacy and look at its importance to citizens.