SYRIAN REFUGEES - Scotland

"The small Scottish island where Syrian refugees found peace" PBS NewsHour 3/28/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Once a flourishing vacation destination, the population of Scotland's Isle of Bute has shrunk and its economy withered.  But the arrival of 24 Syrian families is contributing to an atmosphere of regeneration.  Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports on how they’re faring.

POETRY - Scotland's Bard aka Scotland’s Makar

"Scotland's national poet writes for those who've been asked 'where are you from?'" PBS NewsHour 9/8/2016

Love her Scottish accent.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Jackie Kay is Scotland's first black national poet.  Adopted as a child, much of her poetry and prose speaks to her own experience of not feeling entirely welcome in her own country.  “I wrote the poems that I wanted to read and I wrote about the experiences that I wanted to find,” she says.  Jeffrey Brown reports.

JACKIE KAY, Scottish Poet & Novelist:  “And this is my country, says the fisherwoman from Jura.  Mine, too, says the child from Canna and Iona.  Mine, too, says the Brain family.  And mine, says the man from the Polish deli.”

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  Jackie Kay wrote her poem “Threshold” for the Scottish Parliament and a special guest, Queen Elizabeth.

JACKIE KAY:  Let's blether some more about doors, revolving doors and sliding doors.

JEFFREY BROWN:  In the wake to of the recent Brexit vote to leave the European Union, it was a plea to keep doors and the country open to the outside world.  As Scotland's new national poet, Kay made it personal.

JACKIE KAY:  Scotland's changing faces — look at me!

I like the idea of trying to change the face of Scotland.  But, traditionally, when somebody thinks of somebody Scottish, they see a white man with red hair in a kilt and a — and they don't see me.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Jackie is the adopted daughter of John and Helen Kay.  Her birth mother Scottish.  Her father was then a Nigerian student studying in Scotland.

JACKIE KAY:  I was an illegitimate child.  And being picked to be a national poet is probably a pretty legitimate thing.

(LAUGHTER)

JEFFREY BROWN:  I will say.

She grew up in Glasgow in a loving home, but very unaware of her difference in the outside society.  She told her story in a bestselling memoir, “Red Dust Road.”

JACKIE KAY:  There weren't many positive stories about adoption.  And when I was growing up, we just saw negative stories about adoption.  Every story that you heard was horrendous.  And I wanted to try and tell a positive story about adoption.

So, I felt a bit like one of my favorite writers, Toni Morrison.  She said she wrote the story she wanted to read.  And I did that, too.  I wrote the poems I wanted to read and I wrote about the experiences I wanted to find.

SCOTLAND - Vote's In, Will Remain Part of British United Kingdom

"Scotland says ‘no thanks’ to independence" PBS NewsHour 9/19/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Well, the votes are in and the no’s have it.  Polls had flip-flopped in recent weeks, but in the end, Scotland’s residents decided to stay in their 307-year-old union with the United Kingdom.

A dreary mist shrouded the Scottish capital of Edinburgh this morning, matching the moods of 1.6 million people who’d voted for independence, only to see it lose.

CHERYL BURGAR, Yes Scotland supporter:  It shows that still there are a lot of people in Scotland that didn’t want that.  It’s not like — it’s not a landslide vote.  So we think that’s a good thing overall, even if it is still no, because it’s going to show that we’re not — we’re not all happy with the way things are.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The official announcement came in the early morning hours.

MARY PITCAITHLY, Chief Consulting Officer, Scotland:  The majority of valid votes cast yesterday by the people of Scotland in response to the referendum question, should Scotland be an independent country, were in favor of no.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)