UK UK Newswire Archive
Baker’s Dirty Half-Dozen by Sean Cregan
04-10-2011 13:13
september critical mass - pics and short report
04-10-2011 12:55
the balmy indian summer weather ensured a good turn-out for the critical mass bike ride last friday evening, and hundreds of cyclists enjoyed a joyous ride round london despite the occasional psychopathic motorist and a couple of crazy cops.
click on image for larger version. 'some rights reserved' - free for credited non-commercial use, otherwise contact author for permission
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the critical mass bicycle ride, now in in its 11th year, takes place on the last friday of each month throughout the year. cyclists meet from about 6pm on the south bank under waterloo bridge near the national film theatre, and normally set off on a ride by about 7.
the ride has no official organisers, and the route is never agreed in advance, relying instead on a 'critical mass' of front runners persuading the rest of the crowd to follow in any particular direction.
on friday, the convoy of four or five hundred cyclists (also including an increasing contingent of skateboarders) headed north over the bridge, and unusually took the underpass into kingsway before heading west and on to oxford street.
as the main purpose of the mass is to celebrate human propulsion over carbon, reclaim the streets, and show that cyclists have as many rights as drivers, it is sometimes a little contentious when the route includes oxford street so early in the evening, as it mostly disrupts public transport rather than general traffic (which isn't allowed onto oxford street until later in the evening). however, the mass kept up the pace and only stopped briefly at oxford circus before heading to marble arch and down park lane.
by this time, cyclists had spread out a little and so it was harder to take all four lanes of the road. so despite the neon sign at the start of park lane warning motorists 'delays possible', some of them were frustrated to find cyclists in their path (even though they were quite likely to get held up again at a traffic jam at the south end of the highway), and among these motorists there was a police car, whose driver recklessly kept changing lanes without signalling, and deliberately cut across cyclists forcing them to veer to the left, and seriously risking injury.
further down park lane, there had been some sort of altercation, and a woman claimed she had been assaulted and pushed over by a motorist. the police car had stopped and the officers got out, but instead of investigating the assault, one of them was making comments loudly that "you cyclists are pests". the young woman, along with witnesses to the assault, kept telling the police that she wanted to make a complaint and press charges, but the cops just ignored her, returning to their vehicle and winding their windows up. they also for a while refused to give any of their own details until several cyclists surrounding the car kept asking for their badge numbers, with which they eventually complied. they however refused to take any details of the alleged incident. the young woman is considering an official police complaint. if anyone witnessed the assault or took pics/video, please contact me and i'll put you in touch. i only have the clip of the police ignoring her requests.
sometimes after an incident like this, the mass gets stretched out or split, but this time, the front runners were cycling round and round the duke of wellington arch at hyde park corner, so everyone reconvened and hundreds of bicycles once again rode together east along piccadilly, completely trapping a red diplomatic police car at one point, and on into piccadilly circus, trafalgar square (where a couple of cyclists jumped into the fountains to cool off), and down whitehall to parliament square. there, one rider briefly hitched a lift on the back of a lorry before we all headed up to buckingham palace, back to hyde park corner and then down to sloane square.
two hours in, and although numbers were beginning to lessen, when i left the ride there were still at least a hundred riders heading west down the king's road.
the next ride will be 28th october.
website: http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/main.html
BigOil Bosses: Guilty of Ecocide, says (Mock)Trial
04-10-2011 12:55
Dateline: Court #1, Supreme Court, Parliament Square, London, UK, 09:00-18:00, Fri 30 Sep 11 – In a high profile exploration of an alternate history, in the UK's highest court in the land, two high-flying oil corporation CEOs face trial on three counts of Ecocide – the environmental equivalent of genocide – centred around a months-long deep water oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and the on-going Canadian tar sands climate crime atrocity. Although the jury’s verdicts could have gone either way (and on one count of the indictment, one of the defendants was found not guilty), nevertheless both ecocriminals were laid low by two unanimous “Guilty of Ecocide” verdicts – encouraging the organisers to redouble their efforts to win recognition for Ecocide as a 5th Crime Against Peace with the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and national legislatures.
Vidz at YouTube
• Ecocide vs. Living Planet – A (Mock)Trial
» LINKs to follow shortly once editing and uploading is complete
What If... ?
Borrowing from the literary and dramatic genre of alternative history, this campaigning event is predicated upon the fictional acceptance by the United Nations in 2010 of a 5th Crime Against Peace, namely Ecocide (alongside Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Agression, and War Crimes); and its ratification in law as an international criminal offence by the UK government. In this alternate timeline, the first prosecution of Big Oil bosses under the UK’s new Ecocide Act 2010 occurs on Friday 30 September 2011, when (fictional) CEOs Mr. Bannerman of Global Petroleum Company and Mr. Tench of Glamis Group (played by actors Nicholas Deal and Robert Hider respectively) face three indictments between them. But true to the genre’s recent UK TV incarnations, the trial judge, the prosecuting and defending barristers (three-per-side), the expert witnesses, and most importantly the jury are all the genuine article, volunteering their time, attention and expertise for free. And the lead silk prosecuting the ecocriminals is no less than radical lawyer Michael Mansfield QC, whose prior record includes representing The Angry Brigade, the Orgreave miners, the Bloody Sunday families, and the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, among many others too numerous to mention.
“There is a growing legal norm against the destruction of the environment, but a lack of formal mechanisms to enforce this. The mock trial is a vital step in building political momentum and legal mechanisms to protect the environment now and into the future.”
~ Alyn Ware, Councillor of the World Future Council
» from ‘A Law to Stop the Destruction of Nature’
Polly Put The Kettle On – Now The Pressure Is Rising
The imaginative progenitors of this excellent example of 'fake it till you make it' campaigning are Polly Higgins and Simon Hamilton.
Polly is a barrister (who has dedicated her life to one client – the Earth), and an international environmental lawyer/campaigner, who may be familiar to some from her previous initiatives Trees Have Rights Too, The Lazy Environmentalist blog and ‘Eradicating Ecocide’ (winner of the non-fiction ‘The People’s Book Prize’ for Spring 2011). In April 2010, in our actual real world timeline, Polly proposed to the UN that a law on Ecocide be classed as an international law alongside Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Aggression and War Crimes, as a 5th Crime Against Peace. Ecocide is defined in a nutshell as:
“The mass damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.”
See also:
• Ecocide Is A Crime — Proposal to the United Nations to make Ecocide a crime
» video playlist, 29:36 – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6634274AAB95C3DD
Simon is founder of The Hamilton Group, a not-for-profit meshwork encouraging businesses, organisations and communities to bring responsibility for the Earth to the forefront of their decision-making. The Hamilton Group provided the organisational infrastructure to mount such a high profile campaigning event in Court #1 of the UK’s Supreme Court building, opened in 2009 in a refurbishment of Scottish architect James Gibson’s art nouveau gothic Middlesex Guildhall on the west side of Parliament Square. The Hamilton Group lined up multiple event sponsors through crowdfunding on teh intertubz, and recruited the legal professionals – a judge and six barristers – plus twelve jurors and three expert witnesses, all contributing to the event pro bono publico.
“The ideal of limitless growth is leading to limitless violations of the rights of the Earth and of the rights of nature. This is Ecocide. We need to stop the destruction of the very basis of life on Earth and of human survival. The Trial on Ecocide is a very important step in waking us up to the violence which is the foundation of the current economy. We need another model that is non-violent, a model which makes peace with the Earth. Ecocide must stop.”
~ Vandana Shiva, philosopher, environmental activist, and ecofeminist
» from ‘A Law to Stop the Destruction of Nature’
Let Battle Commence
As far as we know, this may well be the first time that an alternate history legal trial of global significance has been staged as a political campaigning action, with the express purpose of galvanising people in our timeline to ensure it converges with the alternate history revealed in the trial. Of course, in reality the prosecution of ecocriminal CEOs of Big Oil corporations – such as BP for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill catastrophe, or Syncrude/ConocoPhillips/BP/Shell/RBS for the Canadian tar sands atrocity – would take months, with complex indictments and detailed testimony from scores of expert witnesses. But for dramatic impact and political concision, a one-day trial-in-miniature was designed to test the feasibility of a British jury convicting Big Oil bosses of crimes against our home world’s ecosystems.
Structured in accordance with UK Crown Court jury trial protocols, staffed by legal professionals, with a jury chosen to represent a typical UK demographic, and set in motion as an unscripted alt.history experiment, this could have backfired big time: the jury could have found the pair of Big Oil CEOs not guilty on all charges. The three-barrister team defending the oil-stained filthy ecocriminals...
• Christopher Parker QC, 3PB Chambers
• Adam Hiddleston, 3PB Chambers
• Noa Tu
...really did do their damnedest to get the scum off scot free, using the just the kind of despicable, weasel-worded, trickster-like, lawyer machinations that got me thoroughly despising the roles they were playing, while at the same time admiring their willingness to help advance the cause by advocating so astutely for the devils in the dock. And very persuasive they turned out to be: on Count #1 of the indictment (see picture C4 above), the jury found Bannerman to be not guilty, by a majority verdict of nine to three. Given that Bannerman an alt.history analogue of BP’s Tony “I'd Like My Life Back” Hayward, world-class pond scum of that ilk, I very much doubt that a real world jury in either the UK or the USA would be quite so lenient.
But when it came to the Canadian tar sands climate crime atrocity, it was the three-barrister prosecution team...
• Michael Mansfield QC, Tooks Chambers
• Steven Powles, Doughty Street Chambers
• Jane Russell, Tooks Chambers
...that secured a complete victory for people and planet: on Counts #2 and #3 of the indictment (see picture C4 above), Bannerman and Tench were found to be Guilty of Ecocide by the UNANIMOUS verdict of the jury. This came as great news to supporters of the UK Tar Sands Network (including myself), who are campaigning to expose the complicity of British banks like RBS and oil companies like BP and Shell in the biggest industrial climate crime on Earth – and one which is also having devastatingly catastrophic, local, detrimental environmental and health effects on the flora and fauna, and on our First Nations sisters and brothers, throughout the affected ecosystems of Alberta, Canada.
What is the Meaning of an Alt.History Victory?
No doubt this initiative will come in for criticism from both the left and the right. Pro-capitalist business-as-usual propagandists may well try to dismiss The Ecocide Trial as a fantasy cooked up by salaried environmentalists and champagne socialist lawyers for their own conscience-salving amusement, and point out that it has no effect whatsoever back in the real world. But it is precisely capitalist business-as-usual which is primarily responsible for the anthropogenic sixth great mass extinction event in the history of life on Earth – the Pleistocene-Holocene extinction, through which we are now living, and which our generation MUST take responsibility for ending as quickly as is humanly possible.
Anti-state direct action activists may well criticise The Ecocide Trial as petit-bourgeois nonsense, on the grounds that merely tinkering with the legalistic superstructure of capitalism is a pointless approach, since only by consigning the whole of capitalism to the dustbin of history can we hope to achieve a lasting, sustainable, and ecologically harmonious global human community. I posed this question in the press conference which followed the trial, and you can see and hear the answers given by Polly Higgins and Michael Mansfield in the accompanying video (once editing and uploading is complete), and read them below.
Law Reform or Revolution?
“I’m going to take a long geological view, and a devil’s advocate position. There have been five major mass extinction events in the history of life on Earth that were natural, the last one wiping out the dinosaurs, the flying reptiles and the marine reptiles. We are living through the sixth major mass extinction event in the history of life on Earth, and humanity’s impact on our biosphere is what’s causing it.
Will a simple change in law, merely tweaking the capitalist system, really stop that happening? Or is it going to take a much more major shift in humanity evolving into a better future?”
~ Tim Dalinian Jones
“This isn’t just about putting in a little bit of legislation, this is about changing the rules of the game. When we do that with legislation, what we do is we also shift consciousness and understanding, and that’s very important. We really do close the door to something, from being the norm, to becoming the exception, overnight. Now that’s not to say that damage and destruction will stop automatically, but it will actually vastly change the landscape, and the understanding, and what investment goes into the projects and the businesses that we need to see evolving in the opposite direction.
It is hugely, hugely important here that WE govern banks, investments, and finance. Finance and investment IS flowing into damaging structural activity – it IS actually acceptable to do that, because it ISN’T a crime. Make it a crime, and what you’ll find is that the insurance industry just won’t touch anything that’s criminal activity. But also what you do is you shift civilisation’s understanding of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. This is a law that really is a big game-changer right across the world, not just in a legal context, but also within people’s minds and attitudes as well.”
~ Polly Higgins
“I am a firm believer that you can make a difference, that you can change. There may be forces over which we have little or no control, but actually every incremental inch of our activity has an impact somewhere else. And therefore, as a trustee – we’re all trustees in a sense, of the planet, while we’re here – by the time we leave it, you want to be able to look back and say, “Well, I have played a part in maintaining the trust. If there are greater forces over which in the end I have little or no control, then at least I have played out my own responsibility.” Unless we all play out our responsibilities collectively, then the cataclysmic events that you’re talking about will undoubtedly be accelerated.
It is the desire of communities to ensure that exploitation, in all its forms, actually comes to an end. I know the Arab Spring is employed all the time, but actually that’s what that’s about: it’s about ending exploitation, ending oppression. It would be easy for them to say, “Oh, well, there’ll be another massacre here...” – no, no, they have taken their own future, some of them successfully, some not so successfully yet, but the struggle goes on. And that’s how I see this, as a struggle that goes on.”
~ Michael Mansfield
Many Paths to Utopia
“A Map of the World that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.”
~ Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891
There are many possible paths we can plan out for our future trajectories on Oscar’s Map of the World, all bound toward our collective goal of a sustainable, biodiverse and ecologically harmonious post-capitalist future for human civilisation and our biosphere. While many of us will justifiably stick to profoundly anti-capitalist routes, in the transition from decadent, decomposing and destructive capitalism to the form of civilisation which will transcend it, many major shifts in our civilisation’s understanding of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable needs must occur. One of those major shifts is necessarily adopting Ecocide as as grave an International Crime Against Peace as Genocide. It’s Polly’s path to ensure that humankind makes this shift as soon as possible – and if you are inspired by her infectious, enlightening and visionary enthusiasm to make Ecocide a world-round crime ASAP, you’ll be a welcome participant in helping to make our belovéd home planet a way safer place for non-human life forms on which to thrive.
Whatever Next?
I’d suggest we might like to find out more about Ecocide, and how we can help to make it the 5th International Crime Against Peace.
• Eradicating Ecocide — An Evocative Video Introduction, by Joe Hall
» video, 3:18 – http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=sY9VDotmQT4
• Ecocide Is A Crime — Proposal to the United Nations to make Ecocide a crime
» video playlist, 29:36 – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6634274AAB95C3DD
• Eradicating Ecocide — Laws and Governance to Prevent the Destruction of our Planet
» website – http://www.thisisecocide.com
» book – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eradicating-Ecocide-Polly-Higgins/dp/0856832758/
“Product Description
In Eradicating Ecocide, international environment lawyer and activist Polly Higgins sets out to demonstrate in no uncertain terms how our planet is fast being destroyed by the activities of corporations and governments, facilitated by 'compromise' laws that offer insufficient deterrence. She offers a solution that is radical but, as she explains with great competence and experience, absolutely necessary. The recent Mexican Gulf oil spill is a compelling reminder of the consequences of un-checked ecocide. Higgins advocates the introduction of a new international law against Ecocide. It would become the 5th Crime Against Peace and would hold to account heads of corporate bodies that are found guilty of perpetrating ecocide.
The opportunity to implement this law represents a crossroads in the fate of humanity; we can accept this one change and in doing so save our ecosystem for future generations, or we can continue to destroy it, risking future brutal war over disappearing natural resources. This is the first book to explain that we all have a commanding voice and the power to call upon all our governments to change the existing rules of the game. Higgins presents examples of laws in other countries which have succeeded in curtailing the power of governments, corporations and banks and made a sudden and effective change, demonstrating that her proposal is not impossible. Eradicating Ecocide is a crash course on what laws work, what doesn't and what else is needed to prevent the imminent disaster of global collapse. Eradicating Ecocide provides a comprehensive overview of what needs to be done in order to prevent ecocide. It is a book providing a template of a body of laws for all governments to implement, which applies equally to smaller communities and anyone who is involved in decision-making.
About the Author
Polly Higgins is a barrister, international environmental lawyer and activist whose exhaustive research lays bare why peace is unachievable whilst we have laws that protect the rights of corporations to destroy the planet. Advocating a new crime of Ecocide: 'to cause damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems' she launched a campaign in April 2010, thisisecocide.com. The Ecologist Magazine voted her one of the "Worlds Top 10 Visionary Thinkers," and she has been nominated "The Lawyer for Planet Earth" by the 2010 Performance Awards.”
~ from ‘Eradicating Ecocide: Laws and Governance to Stop the Destruction of the Planet: Amazon.co.uk’
History In The Making? Let’s Hope So!
“Was Yesterday the first chirping sounds of the future – springing forth again? (After Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ – published 49 years ago – 27 Sept 1962!) Huge immeasurable thanks to you Polly and the team you unite for Earth victory.”
~ Dave Hampton, on ‘The Ecocide Trial’, Facebook, Sat 01 Oct 11
“Well said, Dave, and what an astute analogy – I bet when 'Silent Spring' was published back in 1962, Rachel had little to no conception of just how remarkable a positive contribution she was making to human history, in igniting the struggle for environmental justice. Here's hoping that 'The Ecocide Trial' will be held in equal or greater esteem by those alive in 2060, as the turning point where the environmental justice movement grew strong lupine teeth, all the better to chew up and devour filthy ecocriminals, while rewarding ecological restitution and ecosphere harmonising initiatives. So here's a toast to the night, three cheers and a grunt, Hey! Hey! Hey! Oink! – for Rachel and Polly! (borrowed from David Rovics, 'Song For The ELF' – http://bit.ly/Song4ELF)”
~ Tim Dalinian Jones, on ‘The Ecocide Trial’, Facebook, Sun 02 Oct 11
Up the Revolution,
Tim Dalinian Jones
Footnotes
All these photos and video clips are 'CopyLeft'
This means you are free to copy and distribute any of my photos and videos you find here, under the following license:
• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
» Human-readable summary – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
» Attribution: tim.dalinian.jones@gmail.com
NB: The pix above are auto-downsized versions for onscreen webpage display. If you would like the free, edited, full-sized versions (up to 3072x2304px, 7.1Mpx, typically 1-2 MB) just click on an image: bingo! You can also right-click on an image and choose ‘Open Link in New Tab’ (or similar) to open a full-sized version alongside the report webpage. If you'd like to take a copy of the full-sized image version, right-click on it and choose ‘Save Image As...’ (or similar). Share and Enjoy!
antinuke banner drop - rotherham
04-10-2011 11:10
South West Food Sovereignty Skillshare
04-10-2011 10:55
700 Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge as Occupy Wall Street Enters Third Week
04-10-2011 08:16
Tory Conference Disrupted
03-10-2011 22:55
A Fringe Event at the Conservative Party Conference was disrupted today by a two hunt saboteurs (one protesting, one filming)
The Reception was held by the National Farmers Union was held at the Palace Hotel In Manchester. Peter Kendall (director of the NFU) was on the pannel aswell as James Paice MP, Lord Taylor, Richard Benyon, and Mark Spencer.
Ten minuites into the speeches Peter Kendall started to praise Defra on helping them in achieving a badger cull stating how 'necessary and scientifically based the cull was'
It was at this point a suited us hunt saboteur ran up and took centre stage, with a poster saying “STOP THE BADGER CULL, huntsabs.org.uk” and recited “shame on you Peter Kendall, the Badger cull is not based on science, its just another cruel bloodsport that does not help farmers”
At this Point the Protester was being dragged away whilst chanting “no more torture no more pain, Peter Kendall your to Blame!!” whilst being booed by the conference room full of torys and farmers, some of which shouted for the activist to be shot and shouts of “off with his head”
No arrests were made :)
(due to human error, we may have forgot to press the record button so we have no footage)
All nine antifascists acquitted after second trial
03-10-2011 22:55
Great news for antifascism in the UK - a long running attempt to fit up antifascist activists is over, with all defendants in a second trial being acquitted. In March 2009, antifascists protesting a neo-Nazi gig in Welling encountered some Blood & Honour fascists. Acting in self-defence they put one Nazi on his arse. The state used this as an excuse to crack down on antifascist activism and arrested 23 people in connection with the events, kicking in doors around the country. Without enough evidence to prosecute for common assault the trumped up charge of 'conspiracy to commit violent disorder' was brought against the defendants.
In the first trial, 7 antifascists were found guilty and 6 were sentenced to between 15 and 21 months prison. There have been many solidarity events in support of the prisoners around the country including several in Nottingham. The prisoners deserve our support so please send them a letter, donate to the campaign and do what you can to raise the profile of their struggle.
However, all of the other defendants have now either had their charges dropped or been acquitted. As Leeds ABC wrote "We hope that Indymedia readers will join us in raising a glass – to our comrades who triumphed over this judicial fit-up, to the antifascists down the ages who have been prepared to go out onto the streets to confront fascism, and to our six comrades who were fitted-up earlier this year and who deserve our fullest possible support."
Tory Conference Protest in Manchester
03-10-2011 20:55
Unions organised a rally of 35,000 protesters against government budget cuts on Sunday in Manchester.
Unions organised a rally of 35,000 protesters against government budget cuts on Sunday in Manchester where the Conservative Party opened its annual conference.
The TUC billed the protest as a rally for "the alternative -- jobs, growth, justice".
"The TUC is organised a protest to show opposition to the coalition government's disastrous policies of pay freezes, cuts and attacks on public services that are producing rising unemployment, cuts in living standards and stagnation," it said.
Police estimated the crowd at the rally at 35,000, including mainstream public sector workers and left-wing activists, carrying placards saying: "Unite and fight".
Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, told the crowd that the whole country would unite in a mass strike called by several trade unions for November 30.
"If you never fight you lose every time," he said. "Now's the time to fight, now's the time to defeat the government."
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, added: "The reality is civil disobedience is the oldest form of democracy and we should applaud it."
Police said the march had been peaceful with no arrests, although around 150 Occupy Manchester demonstrators staged an Occupation in front of the town hall at Albert Square.
All Images © Stillshooter 2011.
Further Images here: http://stillshooter.photoshelter.com
An Open Letter from Black Women to SlutWalk Organi
03-10-2011 16:55
We, the undersigned women of African descent and anti-violence advocates, activists, scholars, organizational and spiritual leaders wish to address the SlutWalk. First, we commend the organizers on their bold and vast mobilization to end the shaming and blaming of sexual assault victims for violence committed against them by other members of society. We are proud to be living in this moment in time where girls and boys have the opportunity to witness the acts of extraordinary women resisting oppression and challenging the myths that feed rape culture everywhere.
The police officer’s comments in Toronto that ignited the organizing of the first SlutWalk and served to trivialize, omit and dismiss women’s continuous experiences of sexual exploitation, assault, and oppression are an attack upon our collective spirits. Whether the dismissal of rape and other violations of a woman’s body be driven by her mode of dress, line of work, level of intoxication, her class, and in cases of Black and brown bodies - her race, we are in full agreement that no one deserves to be raped.
The Issue At Hand
We are deeply concerned. As Black women and girls we find no space in SlutWalk, no space for participation and to unequivocally denounce rape and sexual assault as we have experienced it. We are perplexed by the use of the term "slut" and by any implication that this word, much like the word "Ho" or the "N" word should be re-appropriated. The way in which we are perceived and what happens to us before, during and after sexual assault crosses the boundaries of our mode of dress. Much of this is tied to our particular history. In the United States, where slavery constructed Black female sexualities, Jim Crow kidnappings, rape and lynchings, gender misrepresentations, and more recently, where the Black female immigrant struggle combine, "slut" has different associations for Black women. We do not recognize ourselves nor do we see our lived experiences reflected within SlutWalk and especially not in its brand and its label.
As Black women, we do not have the privilege or the space to call ourselves "slut" without validating the already historically entrenched ideology and recurring messages about what and who the Black woman is. We don’t have the privilege to play on destructive representations burned in our collective minds, on our bodies and souls for generations. Although we understand the valid impetus behind the use of the word "slut" as language to frame and brand an anti-rape movement, we are gravely concerned. For us the trivialization of rape and the absence of justice are viciously intertwined with narratives of sexual surveillance, legal access and availability to our personhood. It is tied to institutionalized ideology about our bodies as sexualized objects of property, as spectacles of sexuality and deviant sexual desire. It is tied to notions about our clothed or unclothed bodies as unable to be raped whether on the auction block, in the fields or on living room television screens. The perception and wholesale acceptance of speculations about what the Black woman wants, what she needs and what she deserves has truly, long crossed the boundaries of her mode of dress.
Read full story: http://sisyphe.org/spip.php?article3992All Nine Antifascists Acquitted In Second Welling Trial!
03-10-2011 16:10
Nine anti-fascists not guilty!
03-10-2011 15:28
At 4.15 p.m today all nine defendants in the Welling Blood&Honour case were found not guilty of conspiracy to violent disorder.Solidarity with the comrades of Revolutionary Struggle (Greece)
03-10-2011 13:50
Solidarity statement from UK antifascist prisoner Thomas Blak.Enfield votes to occupy hospital!
03-10-2011 10:55
Over 100 people met at the North East London Council of Action Conference on Saturday 1st October 2011 and voted unanimously to occupy Chase Farm Hospital if planned closure goes ahead. Will TSG vans be commandered and turned into something useful, like ambulances??
The government plans to close many District General Hospitals around London, especially to scrap their A&E, Maternity and Paediatric units.
The meeting hall was near to Chase Farm hospital and speakers were frequently drowned out by the noise of blue-light ambulances taking patients to A&E.
I hadn't been involved in the Chase Farm campaign before and was really impressed by the group gathered there, young and old and and very friendly to newcomers. It was inspiring to see an elderly lady take the microphone and declare passionately how she was prepared to occupy the hospital, and how it belonged to them as residents of Enfield.
Visteon workers were also present to lend advice about occupations.
It was also striking to feel a real sense of community built around the presence of a local hospital, something that is often hard to find in England.
The group has been campaigning for the last 4 years against their hospital being closed. David Cameron and a local Tory MP had even made a shameless election pledge to reverse Labour's plan for closing Chase Farm. People at the meeting expressed a real sense of betrayal and dissolutionment with Parliamentary democracy. The meeting had an authoritarian socialist leaning, and there was no doubt that the State would support the Health Service if enough pressure was applied. One pensioner talked angrily about how all the political parties couln't be trusted. Then she asked what the alternative was - a few people muttered about a worker's government, but they didn't sound very convinced themselves. Still, people were certain that you had to have a government of sorts.
I want to know more about anarchist style alternatives to health care. If there is no National Health Service, supported by the Welfare State, how would an Autonomous Health Service work instead? If Enfield residents do occupy their hospital, it could be an interesting time to discuss anachist ideas about health care, in a situation where the local community have taken over a state-run hospital and are confronting the State. What will occupiers do if the State refuses to continue funding Chase Farm Hospital? How do you organise Social Welfare without the Welfare State?
The Council of Action are planning a large demonstration for December 10th. They reckon the government could try to close Chase Farm in January. They have been holding monthly pickets already and want a big picket on October 18th and another sometime in November. After the march in December they plan daily picketts to draw more attention and prepare for occupation.
Interview: Behind the Lines
03-10-2011 09:41
Hussein Al-Alak speaks with a Jordanian based activist involved in helping Iraqi refugees who have fled to Jordan.Ed Bauer bailed after 10 days in prison
03-10-2011 09:34
Speaking in support of his bail application in court John Hemming MP, a local Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Birmingham Yardley, said:
“Whilst I do not believe he should have put the banner there in the first place, the protest was peaceful and placid and I think it is dis-proportionate to keep him in prison any longer.”
Outside the court over 70 people attended a ‘solidarity’ demonstration. They chanted “free ed bauer” pretty loudly, which could be heard within the court room as the hearing started. Claire Lister, a student at Birmingham University attending the demonstration, said:
“I came here to show my support for Ed being granted bail today. I’m very happy that the magistrate has seen that he is not a danger to the public and there would be no reason to continue his imprisonment for what was basically peaceful protest against the government. He is an important member of the University community and has a lot of support amongst students and staff for the stand he has taken defending our education.”
Michael Chessum, a member of the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Students, commenting on the days events said:
“It is a farce that Ed Bauer has spent over a week in prison for a banner drop, and this can be seen as part of a broader attempt, along with kettles and political charges, to muzzle and intimidate student protest. We are determined not to allow this to stop us from fighting for the right to an education and for a better society.”
There is a press release here:
There are some great pictures of the solidarity demo here (thanks Jon!)
Blockaders begin mass protest outside Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station:
03-10-2011 09:17
Blockaders from all over the country converge outside gates of Hinkley Point nuclear power stationSheffield Free School Event - 15th October
03-10-2011 08:56
Call from France to all UK anti-nuclear Activists
03-10-2011 06:45
INVITATION FOR A BIG CAMP AND MASS ACTION AGAINST THE NUCLEAR TRANSPORT CASTOR IN VALOGNES (FRANCE) ON THE 24TH AND 25TH OF NOVEMBER 2011, JUST ACROSS THE CHANNELThe french and the english government have this common feature of being mad about nuclear power. Whereas Germany, Switzerland and Italy are stepping out of the nuclear energy, France and Great-Britain are doing as if Fukushima never happened. If we refuse to let Fukushima become, like Tchernobyl before, an accident without consequence, it is time to take action, NOW.
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Manchester Occupied
02-10-2011 23:28
