Me (!) being interviewed with Roe Skyers by visionontv after speaking at the Rebellious Media Conference about the Riots with SHAKE, Platform London, Leeds Young Authors and JunkFoodFight
(an unfortunate moment to freeze frame my facial expression if ever there was one- press play, quick!)
The film Black Power Mixtape is a look back in history to the struggles of the US civil rights movement, with footage from 1967 to 1975. Retrieved from the depths of Swedish television archives, the film is a collection of interviews, images and commentary by Swedish journalists of the time. Directed by Göran Olsson, it pays fitting tribute to the power of documentary and, from a contemporary point of view, demonstrates the dividends of documentation in the midst of struggle and political activism.
Using footage shown in chronological order, the film gives an insight to the visions of different pivotal activists in the black power movement. Interviews and speeches with leading figures prove both touching and powerful. Activist Stokely Carmichael’s sharp turn of phrase, in the context Read More
I am by no means rich. And where I understand that actually, on a global scale I am rolling in it, on a day-to-day basis the local market will always prevail over the highbrow food court. I am more Tesco (forgive me) than Waitrose and I am not above the odd splurge at Poundland (for that I am not sorry). I try to be careful with my money and if you’d have spoken to me before Live Below the Line, I’d have told you with sincerity that I by no means take money for granted.
Live Below the Line is a new and challenging campaign that aims to raise awareness of the estimated 1.4 billion people who are trapped in the cycle of extreme poverty. The challenge is to live on £1 a day for five days, the same amount that someone living in abject poverty in the UK would have to survive on. The idea is to put yourself directly in the place of those living in extreme poverty in the UK so that it becomes something you can’t switch off and push aside at will, but a living reality. Read More
April saw the much debated burka ban come into effect in France. With reported acts of resistance already underway, the ban means that women seen wearing the burka and niqab (full Islamic veils) in public can receive a €150 fine or a French citizenship course.
Considered a violation of human rights and a slur against Muslims by many of its critics, the law in itself makes no explicit reference to the burka or niqab. In fact it’s the absurd elephant in the room as the law, labelled ‘prohibiting the concealing of the face in public’, oddly makes no direct mention of women or the veil in what can only be assumed as a misguided attempt to appear neutral.
However there is no doubt that the estimated 2000 Muslim women who wear the burka in France have been targeted here. Deemed a ‘sign of subservience’, by French president Sarkozy, the niqab and burka have been growing sources of contention in France for years. With many other European countries such as Belgium and Holland threatening to jump on the bandwagon, we have to ask ourselves; will this ban actually solve anything? Read More
Maeve McKeown is a PhD Political Theory student at UCL. She took part in the UCL Occupation and all of the major student protests. Her blog http://studenttheory.wordpress.com applies political theory to the student movement and she is also a contributing editor at the New Left Project. Maeve took time out to talk to me about those will be most affected by the rise in tuition fees and her involvement in the UCL Occupation.
What is the reality that students now face in light of the increase of tuition fees?
Young people going to university will face the choice of studying what they want to study for personal or intellectual fulfillment, and the subject that will get them a job that ensures they can pay back their debt. And the debt will be substantial – £27,000 in fees for a three-year course, plus living costs (say a further £15,000), plus interest! What eighteen-year-old from a working class background will study English or Classics now? Read More
26 March saw several thousands of people from all backgrounds protest on the streets of London. Organised by The Trades Union Congress (TUC), many came from near and far to voice their disdain over the government’s manhandling of UK public services. With protesters ranging from students to pensioners, 26 March exhibited the kind of unity last seen in the anti-Iraq war march of 2003. People from all kinds of professional and political persuasions stood shoulder to shoulder to voice their anger and to, ‘March for the Alternative’.
Deemed as an all-round success, no one can deny that the events in the day were mostly peaceful and paid tribute to the stella organisation skills of the TUC. However as the day moved on, a more aggressive form of ‘protest’ developed. We’ve all read about the backlash and many heard of the ammonia filled light bulbs that were thrown at the police.
As shocking as this was, this violent undertone of protest is unfortunately nothing new. Read More
Journalist John Pilger’s film, The War You Don’t See, is a fearless exploration of the media’s role in war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dating back from the First World War, Pilger examines the relationship between the government and the media and the origins of propaganda and government spin.
Much like the First and Second World Wars, on some level we’ve still been conditioned to associate war with heroism and a fight for a ‘greater good’ and the war in Iraq was no exception to this. Behind the tired rhetoric of threats of weapons of mass destruction was very little actual evidence and a growing and disproportionate level of the number of Iraqi war casualties. Pilger questions why the media, particularly in the UK and America, allowed itself to be manipulated by the government and become the mouth piece for its dishonest agenda.
