As part of Lewisham Live, the Albany Young Creatives are going to be presenting We Didn’t Start the Fire? an evening of music and dance with acts which raise burning questions of the youth of today. We’ve been talking to the Albany Young Creatives to find out more about themselves and their opinions on identity, today…
Name: Gelsica Da Gloria
Age: 24
Fun fact about you: In 2014 on my second year at university, I walked for Student Cross, on a student pilgrimage for Easter. From Oxford to Walsingham, Norfolk, it was 7 days of pure joy and companionship. It was one of the best experiences of my academic life without a doubt.
What is your role on the Young Creatives team?
I am the Marketing Manager and I also assist in the Finance department.
What is your favourite part about it?
My favourite part of AYC I believe is the sharing of ideas and concepts as well as getting to learn so much from each other directly and indirectly. The diversity in our team enables a very fertile exchange of knowledge which makes the process very interesting. As everyone has their own identity and brings different perspectives to the table.
Let’s talk about the topic of the event now,
What is identity to you?
Identity to me means much more than your skin colour, your religion or gender. To me identity means, who you are regardless of what society, expects you to be. Fundamentally what are your values? I am the type of person that really is observant of other people’s behaviours, especially morally speaking.
If you could choose a destination to best describe your identity what destination would be and why?
The destination that best describes my identity, it has to be where I came from, Lisbon. It is Lisbon because of the people, the weather, and food it represents who I am. To be fair if Manchester was a bit sunnier I would say Manchester too but oh well.
Do you think identity is defined by the country you were born in?
Yes, to some extent. I believe that the country that you were born, definitely impacts your perception of identity. That being said, I don’t think it restricts you to be who you were always meant to be. However, it has some kind of influence.
How important is identity to you?
To me identity is very important, because to me identity means values, morals and above all principles. It is what you stand for, and what you don’t stand for, when no one is seeing you. I think that without identity you don’t know who you are, therefore you are going to accept everything that you shouldn’t such as a bad relationship for instance. Also if you don’t have an identity you are probably going to changing your identity whenever you feel like in order to accommodate a particular situation or other people’s needs. When you are certain of your identity you won’t tolerate anything that might put your integrity in cause, or accept the unacceptable. You have control. It is a tricky situation because I think identity is something that is always changing, depending very much on age and life experiences. However, if you have the basics of your identity clear, then you are halfway through it. Overall, yes, it is important to me.
If you could, would you change your identity and why?
No I wouldn’t. My identity is my essence, it makes who I am, and I am comfortable with who I am, and what I stand for which is equality, diversity, integrity and compassion.
Lewisham Live! We Didn’t Start the Fire?
Saturday 24th March at 7.30pm. Ages 16+.
To book tickets and find out more, click here.
The Albany, Deptford 