Why we should celebrate the power of the quiet message - Christa Ackroyd

It comes in gently with quiet words, often with wit and humour and a message that instead of focussing on differences we are all human beings with the power to make our own choices rather than be led blindly by those who insist it is my way or the high way.

And it works. Screaming, shouting and name calling just means the listener shuts off. The real power comes in a commitment to telling a story with truth, a well set moral compass and a message that resonates without demands.

It can be political. It can be cultural. It can be amusing. It can be serious. But it is always worth listening to.

We don’t have to agree with all of it. We can accept it might not be something for us. But when it resonates, a strong quiet message changes hearts and minds far more deeply than demanding we should think like this or behave like that.

It allows us to make our own minds up, allows us to debate and disagree if necessary but it always starts the conversation and allows others to join in.

I am going to give you three examples about the power of the quiet message. One is frivolous, another is creative and the final one is deep and well researched yet all the more powerful for its simplicity.

Let me start with the frivolous. Michael Jackson is part of our shared history.

The man in the mirror had more god given talent in one little finger than a room full of wannabes and wannahaves.

The film about his life was always going to fascinate those of us lucky enough to witness him perform live, in my case at Rounday Park in a series of concerts promoted by my then radio station and Leeds City Council.

Embarrassingly, some might say, my friend and I decided to really go for it.

We had the trilbies the sequinned jackets and in my case even the arm band made out a bit of decorators masking tape as well as the moccasins and leg warmers as we set off to see a film the critics hated.

They may have a point that there was no mention of the allegations made against the singer, all of them unproven in a court of law may I add.

I understand there was a plan to include the claims made by Jordan Chandler and the subsequent pay out.

Then they discovered an agreement not to publish anything about the matter and the scenes were cut. The critics went for the jugular crying whitewash.

The public ignored them making the film the biggest grossing biopic on release. They loved it and so did I proving we should never be sheep led by donkeys if we are to have autonomy over our minds.

And we have the power to prove others wrong.

Then there are those times when someone else’s words, or in this case art, makes us think. Take the mysterious Banksy statue which appeared overnight in London.

It is genius literally in motion. And boy does it hit hard.

It’s construction is flimsy - made from fibreglass - I think deliberately to show so is the lie that to hide behind a nation’s flag and march forward blindly into the abyss is somehow patriotic. Well, that’s my interpretation.

You see that is the beauty of art. It doesn’t tell you what to think. It provokes thoughts and discussion .. and there has certainly been much of that since in appeared in the dead of night last week. What do you see?

The man is tall, well fed and wearing a suit. He is teetering with one foot off the plinth as though he is about to fall.

He is carrying a huge flag which is blowing across his face so he cannot see where he is going, and more importantly, that he is about to fall from a great height.

Is it about the wars that are raging? Is it about America’s MAGA movement?

Is it about the period of madness which seems to have quietened now where the flag of St George appeared on every roundabout every street corner ironically more so than actually around St George’s Day and appeared in a thousand memes some subtle others downright racist? Who knows?

But it has got us talking, maybe reflecting, that to follow the flag blindly risks us falling into the void.

It is easy to carry a flag on a march or hoist one up on a lamppost, it is far harder to serve king and country by being a good citizen.

Which leads me nicely onto the hero of the hour for me, the living proof that you can tackle disagreements with such wit and powerful research that your detractors melt like butter or, in Donald Trump’s case, are totally unaware they have been blindsided.

I knew King Charles would be interesting in his speeches to the great and good of America. I didn’t think he would smash it out of the ball park to use an America sporting phrase.

Even someone who describes themselves if not anti royal then certainly not a supporter messaged me to say it was genius, wrapped up in a smile and a twinkle, the very example of killing ‘em with kindness.

And before you say he didn’t write it, he is not a man to allow words to be put into his mouth for political expediency. And what words they were.

He managed to completely destroy any suggestion that we, as a country, didn’t stand tall with our allies, that NATO, whatever Trump might say, is valuable, that a shared history is worth preserving and the bit about being there to celebrate America’s 250 years ‘or as we say in the United Kingdom just the other day’ had me cheering at the TV and flying the metaphorical flag for all the right reasons.

If there was ever an example of killing with kindness his speeches had both sides of the political spectrum standing in admiration and Trump none the wiser he had just got the biggest ticking off in his life, done the British way.

Over the years I have met many good people who have used their voices to make a change.

They have campaigned for new laws, they have raised funds for good causes and they have quietly without the need for noise gone about their lives making sure the lives of others are improved along the way too.

Those kind of people see both sides of the story and come down on the side of good.

They do not follow like sheep, they do not hide behind a flag or follow political leaders or movements blindly because to do otherwise requires thinking like an individual on behalf of other individuals.

And that is people power.

Or as Michael Jackson once put it: ‘If you want to make the world a better place take a look in the mirror and make that change.’

But above all decide for yourself, refuse to be blindsided by the bullies or swept along by peer pressure to accept without question what others tell you you should.

Make your own mind up and agree to disagree with the knowledge that we should all walk our own path as long as we don’t trample over others along the way.