First Political Memory

What is your first political memory? We are collecting your memories in partnership with Operation Black Vote to create a fascinating and lively online memory bank – firstpoliticalmemory.org - of stories of when people became aware of a bigger world around them.

This project aims to reconnect people’s lives with politics and decision making institutions by encouraging us to think back through our own histories and consider how historical events are intertwined with our lives from an early age. The stories, anecdotes and recollections may recall major events – local, national or international – or something altogether more personal.

We hope that it will act as a tool to increase people’s interest in politics, but also open up new spaces to discover history, memory, and the ability to make a difference and become involved.

What we want to do

We hope to use the project in a variety of ways:

• As an opportunity to open up spaces for discussion and story telling, particularly in community groups and via the website
• To celebrate oral histories publicly through campaigns such as a Mix and Mash film remix competition with Creative Commons.
• This method could also be developed to provide a supplement for school curriculum, providing a fascinating way to learn more about the personal histories of other members of your class whilst raising awareness of how you play a key role as part of a ‘bigger world’
  

The connection of such personal experiences to political memories can help us situate our lives within the broader sweep of history. Furthermore, hearing other people’s stories, identifying with their anecdotes and becoming interested in the context in which their life is taking place can stimulate an exchange which promotes a deeper understanding of each other’s background.

Collecting your memories

So far we have collected many memories through different means intended to provide a representation of the broad sweep of British society:

• Visiting community groups and facilitating discussion
• Asking people on the street in short, on-the-spot interviews
• Contributions via our website
• Asking our friends, families and everyone we meet
  

Some people are taken back to their childhoods, others remember first political awakenings. Sometimes news events affect people personally, sometimes people are the news.

Please take a few moments to think back about what brought politics alive to you – and then please share your stories!

If you are a member of a community group, or could suggest a group who would enjoy participating in a fascinating discussion and learning more about each others backgrounds, please contact us.

Please contact Faizal Hakim for more information.

See also:
A Pickled Politics collection of First Political Memories inspired directly by our website.