"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul." Emily Dickinson "I’m not an optimist. I’m a prisoner of hope." Desmond Tutu "So I’ve been hearing this phrase y’all got over here that I ain’t too crazy about. ‘It’s the hope that kills you.’ Y’all know that? I disagree, you know? I think it’s the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in belief.” Ted Lasso, Season 1 Episode 10 "Sometimes hope is all I have." Beki Hemingway Caged up and shackled To an unfledged Emaciated creature Unable to take flight. Hollowed out words with no tune to give them life, Endlessly burbling With no full stop in sight. Emotional fingernails Broken and bleeding From their very roots Through clinging on. Slope shouldered resignation Or caterwauling despair, Would be less agonising Than chronic hope deferred. Selah
Just over 20 years ago I was part of the newly formed “Good Relations Steering Panel” within Belfast City Council, made up of councillors and representatives from different parts of civic society. Early on one thing that was noted was the lack of representation of both women and nationalists in the artwork within and around City Hall. In response the group quickly settled on Mary Ann McCracken as a suitable person to honour who would “tick both boxes” and so the bust of her pictured here was commissioned and unveiled in late 2004 (the clay model for it is in Clifton House, the former Belfast Poorhouse, where she was actively involved for many years). But I confess I didn’t really know much about this woman at that time and, unwilling to reveal my ignorance, in those pre-easy access internet days, I had to draw on the resources of the Linen Hall Library across the road from City Hall. My only previous encounter with her was in Stewart Parker’s “Northern Star” staged by the Lyric 20 year