Please allow me a brief comment on this article (anonymously? published) or rather, gloss on it. Although the article is focused on Southall Black Sisters (SBS) and their book "From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers", some quotes I find enlightening and applicable to many other situations and groups. Like this one:

"So, how has SBS survived? How has it maintained the integrity of its politics along with the energy to campaign imaginatively and effectively? While the wider feminist movement has atomised, and most of what remains of the left is arguing among itself, SBS has developed a culture that genuinely combines the personal with the political. Members don't just meet up to distribute the work or discuss shared ideas: they know from experience that political struggle takes a toll on individuals and their organizations and that everyone involved needs support."

On SSF launch, yesterday Saturday, representatives of other ethnic communities were not abundant... everybody seemed to be white, blonde Anglo-Saxon... yet I was late (after 3 pm), so perhaps they were there early morning. They might have encouraged group discussions and workshops.

Myself (please allow me to be self-centered) am often put off by group discussions because they are usually externally oriented, as if a necessary jargon load was necessary to participate. (Yet again, this might be my biased view, since there are many gaps in my understanding of English, particularly when spoken with North Yorkshire accents!)

However, I also find that this quote from said article is applicable to yesterday's SSF launch:

"SBS events are welcoming: they are open and discursive; people really listen to each other; they laugh, they eat and they get to know one another. This is a startling contrast to, for example, (...)".

So... my thanks and best wishes to all organizers and participants, including physically absent ones.

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Amp