Natasha gets recognition for writing and activism

Natasha gets recognition for writing and activism

17 March 2021

A KILLYLEAGH teenager has been making her views known and her voice heard more than usual during lockdown.

Natasha Manganaro, an A-Level student at Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, has just been shortlisted for publication in the Irish Times Fighting Words Supplement 2021.

Natasha has just completed a storytelling course for performance with Word of Mouth and  will be representing the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) at the Stormont Bill of Rights Committee next Wednesday.

Nat, as she prefers to be called, is also a rising playwright and in January, her radio drama was performed by the Derry Players.

In the midst of all this, she is also completing her A-Levels and has won herself an unconditional offer to study Creative Writing and Drama at the University of Bath.

Throughout her time at Shimna, Nat has been a youth activist and said her first steps into the world of campaigning was by joining her school’s Amnesty group.

“I wasn’t as tuned into activism and different movements as I should have been, but after joining Amnesty my eyes were completely opened. After that I just kept getting involved in everything I could; NICCY Youth Panel, UK Youth parliament, anything,” she said.

“Whenever you’re different, like for me growing up half Italian, having a wacky sense of style, and generally just not fitting with the norm, almost adds a driving force to activism.”

She recalled that one of her first campaign in school was to gather petition signings at school assemblies on behalf of a Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes.

Nat also organised the ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign with the UK Youth Parliament at her school and took part in making the school’s Religious Voices and Refugee Voices documentaries.

She also got a taste of politics at close quarters by going to Prime Minister’s Question Time and visiting the Houses of Parliament with her Politics class last year. Nat has also appeared twice on BBC’s Spotlight programme discussing young people’s issues.

She explained further: “I am a member of the NICCY youth panel, campaigning for children and young people’s rights across Northern Ireland and the UK Youth parliament. I did make a back bench speech on the impact of bullying on a young person’s mental health.

“I hosted a ‘Writing to your MP/local politician workshop’ over lockdown, with ONE Campaign and  attended climate change strikes and a Black Lives Matter protests and have sent out emails to local politicians campaigning for a ban on conversion therapy.”

Nat sees a long link between her writing creativity and her activism.

“Within my writing I always try and include some topics of activism. I’m currently developing a which mentions the death of journalist Lyra McKee (shot dead as she watched a riot in 1919),” she said.

“I wrote another one which focuses heavily on The Stonewall Riots. Activism is quite literally at the core of every creative thing I do.

“My radio play, Undercover punks, was professionally produced by the Derry Players through the Fighting Words Right Twig programme

“Creativity is, for me, the best form of self-expression. The arts tell things in another language that allows everyone to understand; sometimes it can be an even more powerful form of activism than all else.”

Some of the most pressing issues for Nat now is campaigning for young people to get the vote at the age of 16, banning conversion therapy, and how CCEA tackles the A Level and GCSE grading for this year after the lockdown.

While her future will be taken up with university over the next few years, Nat intends to still pursue her activism.

“I hope to promote different issues, topics, and movements through my writing. I will also keep attending protests, gatherings, any of the organisations I am currently involved with, and more in the future. I will campaign while there is still a fight.”