Alana Daly Mulligan is a spoken word artist, a filmmaker, an activist, an actress, a student, a Shona Ambassador and an all round legend. Today, she has shared her latest work, “Hands”, a spoken word film and coming out story. She says: 

So in the spirit of new year, new me, I am very excited (if not a tad nervous) to release my newest poem “Hands”. This film only took a day to make, but if I’m being honest with myself, talking about this issue has been a work in progress for longer than I care to admit.

When you watch this piece, there might be some conclusions you choose to jump to, and I can understand why. it’s a rather audacious personal announcement which I have not really spoken about outside my close friends and family out of fear. Coming to terms with who I am and the person I want to be has been, and continues to be a challenge.

This piece is about love, made with love, to make a point.

In a sense, this is a film deals with my coming out but, it stands for a lot more than that: it is a wish for myself, a manifesto for other young people who might feel the same way as I do, it is a love letter to those I care about, and a social commentary on the continued inadequate treatment of LGBT+ people in this country today.

To finish on a little anecdote, I was in a history lecture lately and one of my lecturers said “we should not be prisoners of our labels”. Despite the fact that he made this statement with regards to World War 1, (stay with me) it jumped out at me on a few different levels. It made me think about how we define people by one soul characteristic or trait because, it’s easier to push ourselves and other people into one box than realise the fluidity in humanity. If you take anything from this film, understand that we should blatantly defy the labels that are attached to us-you are much more than a word and phrase that society gives you.

Thanks for reading & watching, please like & share my post-homophobia is still a very real issue in this country whether we want to admit it or not. Ireland has far to go in the fight for equal rights, but as long as we have means to shout against the void of injustice, we’ll eventually get there.

Love,

Alana x