Bev Watson. Photo credit: Sylvia Aston Race Unity Speech Awards organiser Bev Watson has received a Queen’s Birthday Honour recognising over 20 years of service to race relations and youth. “I feel incredibly honoured,” said Ms Watson. “The .
Brya Ingram
In its 20-year history, no one had ever used sign language at the Race Unity Speech Awards. That is, until Tamara Livingstone took to the stage.
A Year 11 student from Marlborough Girls College stood out at the recent Race Unity Speech Awards, as being the only student in the awards’ 20-year history to use sign language in her speech. Tamara Livingstone performed her speech at the Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland alongside students from around the country, to be named one of six finalists in the national final of the awards. “I think the fact that I was the first they ve ever had use sign language is quite interesting, because it is one of our official languages, and they do advertise that you should use Māori and English,” Tamara said.
”I’m in talks with Multicultural Aoraki. I want to bring rangatahi [young people] together and work through it.” She hopes to have the inaugural meeting in the next few months and engage people in conversation about race relations. Nora said her race unity speech came from a different angle to the other contestants. “I had a different take because I was an Irish immigrant when we moved here when I was seven. “I looked like a New Zealander and was accepted. I am seen to be more Kiwi than that of a third generation Pakistani-New Zealander who was born in, and grew up in Wellington, paid taxes for years and never left the country. ”