The Duke of York first met George The Poet in Spring 2014 when HRH asked George to work with the iDEA Initiative. The Duke asked George to write and perform a poem, “All Existence is Contribution” at the launch of the iDEA Pilot at Buckingham Palace on 31st March, 2014. Since then George The Poet has collaborated with BOSH at Mother London to make a video of the poem for the National iDEA Launch which took place on 15th October, 2014.
Young people from across the country were asked to submit videos spelling out a word or phrase from the poem. The best submissions were selected and collated by BOSH Productions. They created the final edit on a smartphone, which they then recorded with the continuous movement of a hand swiping the screen to move between clips.
George The Poet is a spoken word poet and lyricist from North-West London. George studied Politics, Psychology and Sociology at Cambridge University. He realised that the spoken word was one of the most powerful tools for social change. Through his rap talent, George brings social issues to a younger audience.
The Duke founded iDEA (inspiring Digital Enterprise Award) in Partnership with Nominet Trust to help inspire young people to develop their digital enterprise skills. iDEA supports participants in developing a digital business venture, enabling them to build prototypes and test the viability of their business idea with real customers in the market.
Read the full poem:
“Knowledge” is a journal of insight.
“Knowledge” is a record of discovery. You may have
Had no “knowledge” of me prior to this moment but I ex-
isted before you “discovered” me.
Knowledge is information that we get to admire. But
What about that which we have yet to acquire? The
Bits you neglect, the bits you forget. I-
magine all the knowledge that slips through the net.
Pearls of wisdom that haven’t been given that polish,
Understanding you can’t access at college
Simply because it’s not accredited according to academia
– it’s not knowledge until it’s acknowledged.
I believe we have a duty to act on it, to
Analyse phenomena and extricate fact from it. When we
Take from the world, we don’t have to subtract from it
– using what we extract from it, we can impact on it, because
All existence is contribution.
Ignore the twists and convolution. There’s
Seven billion people in the world…
And not one of them has the same fingerprints as you.
Everyone brings something to the table, but
Not everyone gets a seat. And
When people don’t get a seat,
Then people don’t get to eat. But
That’s only half of the tragedy. The
Other half is equally sad to see. Re-
Member that knowledge I was talking about? The
One protected by elusion?
Those same people are walking about with that
Uncollected contribution.
Untapped potential could be unlocked ability
Hidden wisdom, unsung possibility. We
Live in a world that celebrates our young for
Being more professional than clever. As a re-
Sult, we miss out on a lot of knowledge at a
Time when it’s more accessible than ever.
“Time” and “Place” have passed the physical stage;
We now live in the digital age. And
We have much more to contribute than
Unfulfilling jobs for minimal wage, we want
Self-determination. Through self-determination we can
Help to serve the nation. It’s not
Just about success, it’s about discovery.
“Growth” means more than economic recovery…
“Growth” is more than earning some paper…
“Growth” is exploring and learning from failure.
Through that process we tend to rise. And
What better teacher than Enterprise? The a-
Rena in which ideas centralise and we
Truly find out where potential lies.
It’s
Been a technological world for a long time but
We’re the generation that came of age online. So
There’s no way we could all be amateurs. We
Form our thoughts in 140 characters.
We share jokes through gifs and memes and we’ve found a
Brand new home for myths and dreams.
Progress occurs by many different means. We
Owe it to ourselves to listen. I’m not
Just the guy that sells the vision. I’m
Testament to the fact that with a little help and wisdom
Young people can be self-sufficient.
Knowledge is information on which we step to get higher into
Rarefied atmospheres with thin air. But
What about that which we have yet to acquire? It’s not just
Out there…it’s in here.
With Thanks to all schools and organisations involved in creating “All Existence is Contribution”:
Accelerate Cambridge, Barclays Digital Eagles, Hackney Community College, Hull Youth Enterprise Partnership, Malet Lambert School, NCB Studio School, Park House School, Parkside Studio College, Prospect Training, Streatham & Clapham High School, Sevenoaks School, Shireland Collegiate Academy, Teen Tech, University Of Huddersfield, Whitgift School
To learn more about the iDEA programme visit: www.onemillionyoungideas.org.uk