pics4peace Workshop for more Justice
70 young people had something to say!

Würzburg. In a five-hour pics4peace workshop, organized by the Leonhard Frank Society in the large hall of the Matthias-Grünewald-Gymnasium, about 70 young people, with successful author Jürgen Jankofsky, worked out what needs to be done to make things fairer in our society.

Leonhard Frank and the question for more justice

"Where is something going wrong in our society? How can it be changed? What can I do? What all of us? What politics?" About 70 young adults dealt with these and similar questions in a five-hour workshop held at the Matthias-Grünewald High School. Principal Dr. Sachse-Weinert welcomed the numerous participants from his school and from outside.
The Leonhard Frank Society (LFG) offered this workshop as part of the "pics4peace - Young Adults for Peace and Democracy" campaign: "Leonhard Frank repeatedly raised the question of greater justice in his work. The "disciples of Jesus" from post-war Würzburg did not accept the suffering of many in the city, but took concrete action and remedial action," said Michael Henke, chairman of the LFG, in conversation. That's why it made sense to invite the successful author Jürgen Jankofsky, whose short story "Anna Hood" is a companion piece set in modern times.

No matter where someone comes from, the same needs apply everywhere.

To start off, the P-Seminar of Dr. Astrid Eitschberger & Friends sang about the solidarity of people with each other. They underpinned the musical message with a film they had made together with the theater pedagogy at the W-Café in the Mainfrankentheater and the guests there. People from a wide variety of backgrounds were asked about everyday topics and were asked to answer in pantomime. There were many funny scenes and long-lasting applause. The message of the film was clear: No matter where someone comes from, his needs in daily life, his longings are the same everywhere in the world.

Author and Rock Musician Jankofsky about his life and "Anna Hood".

This was taken up by the author Jürgen Jankofsky, a member of the board of PEN Germany, who first told about himself: having grown up in the GDR, a "revolutionary" who loved to make rock music, write songs, had already founded his first band at the age of 12, was on the road as a professional musician for many years before studying literature once again, and after writing song lyrics, finally devoted himself entirely to writing. He brought his story "Anna Hood", which is bundled in the book in 20 different languages. So he asked students who knew one more language to help him read. The cultural diversity at MGG was great: the young people spoke English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, Arabic and Russian in addition to German.

Touching song of two refugees

With a touching song by Hadi & Dante, in which the two young Syrians told about their fleeing, their gratitude and their wishes, the young people went into small groups with freely chosen concrete topics: "Things are often hard, but unfair, we all have to intervene," said the first ones and referred to violence and exclusion, which we encounter more and more openly.

More political education in schools!

"Do something!" was also the appeal of the second group: there is a lot of discussion and regulation, but consistent action is lacking, as one student pointed out using the example of climate conferences.Other topics included the exploitation of positions of power leading to quick and unjust actions, as illustrated by a school example, but also the Syrian conflict and the irrational actions of the presidents of Russia and the U.S., which concerned the young people: "What can be done about it?"
"We need more political education in school!", "We would have to talk more in history or sociology lessons about what is happening today!" "After school and studying, there's not much time to deal with politics if you also want to have some free time and pursue your hobbies."

The role of the Police

The new Police Tasks Act was also an upset for many: "Why do you restrict our basic rights like this? Why do you allow police officers to use hand grenades in dangerous situations? Who defines what a "dangerous situation" is? This is how fear of the police is created. Yet they want and should be our friend and helper." Engaged, the young people presented their topics in plenary and discussed them.

Young people are motivated, responsible and political

"This workshop showed how interested, motivated, responsible and ultimately political young people are. You just have to give them the opportunity to do so," said Pia Beckmann, organizer of the event and initiator of pics4peace at the end. The pictures and videos from the workshops, which were created during the event, will be completed afterwards and successively published via www.pics4peace.de or the Instagram account _pics4peace_. Thus, politicians and decision-makers can also find out what moves young adults.