[NetBehaviour] Finsbury Park attacks..
helen varley jamieson
helen at creative-catalyst.com
Tue Jun 20 09:38:56 CEST 2017
thanks for this michael. i was also thinking that it's important not to
feel helpless & disempowered in these times, & to acknowledge that we
all (or at least most of us!) are already doing a lot through our work &
in our daily lives & interactions in our communities, taking/making
positive action in many different ways. "they" want us to feel impotent
& disconnected, so one of the strongest things we can do is insist on &
celebrate the lively ongoing power of our communities. furtherfield
being of course one of the brightest, shiniest examples of that!!
h : )
On 19.06.2017 18:34, Ann Light wrote:
> Hi Michael,
>
> I hadn't heard of the organisation SUTR, but I've now joined... Thanks
> for your bit in making this country decent - your work in Harlow
> sounds really important.
>
> Thanks Furtherfield for enduring and caring and being a focus for so
> much good work and many good people.
>
> In sorrow,
> Ann
>
> On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 5:19 PM, Michael Szpakowski
> <m at michaelszpakowski.org <mailto:m at michaelszpakowski.org>> wrote:
>
> There clearly has been a rise in Islamophobia recently , fuelled
> in no small measure by the government's attempt to scapegoat all
> Muslims with the despicable Prevent strategy. We also saw the
> beginning of an attempt by May to ratchet this up with her 'Enough
> is enough' speech towards the end of the election campaign.
> I wanted to say, though, that it's important not to sink into despair.
> I've been very active around Stand up to Racism over the last year
> and I've experience some interesting and often counter intuitive
> things.
> When Arek Jozwik was killed in Harlow last year the vigil we
> organised a couple of nights after was attended by significant
> numbers of the white working class poor who live in the area.
> These will statistically have been 'leave' voters...
> We've campaigned pretty much every week since then, largely around
> opposition to racism ,in the town centre on Saturday mornings. It
> was certainly not always easy going but there was always a
> minority of people willing to engage. ( especially the young, in a
> prefiguring of the huge pro Corbyn upswell)
> We also held a 60 strong rally against racism in early March
> -again very much dominated by the under twenties.
> What changed the atmosphere completely was the Labour manifesto -
> all of a sudden people had hope, focussed on improving the lives
> of all not 'competing for resources' ( a myth of course - stop
> spending millions on Trident, on wars of intervention and tax the
> rich and resources would be no problem, but a potent myth
> especially in the absence of hope that things might change). Even
> after the two horrendous attacks in Manchester then London this
> enthusiasm and this change of atmosphere was maintained -we heard
> very little overt racism and experienced next to no hostility.
> This has continued since the election with the humiliation of both
> May and UKIP - what was interesting last week though was that
> although the racists were in a small minority they were coming out
> with all sorts of filth around Grenfell ( but once again large
> numbers of people were signing the May must go, people not profit,
> working class lives matter ,petition ).
> In short I'd put forward three propositions.
> (1) Racism and Islamophobia are clearly a major problem and one
> encouraged by this weak and nasty government
> (2) We are not, though, powerless bystanders -whether it's
> directly combatting the racists through SUTR or offering hope
> through agitating for this government to go and for us to have the
> very real chance of one committed to a real improvement in the
> lives of ordinary people there is lots of very concrete, very
> practical work to do.
> (3) Although there will be some ways in which artists can bring
> their specific talents to bear in this ( I have got very good for
> example at making large banners each week:
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/35212704985/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/35212704985/>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34239170983/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34239170983/>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34159735663/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34159735663/>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34929717326/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34929717326/>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34062471264/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34062471264/>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34223234740/
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/34223234740/>
> )
>
> we should participate along with as many and diverse people as we
> can in organising, protesting, demonstrating... This is not a time
> for any sort of guild mentality but for getting stuck in.
>
> I particular urge anyone in the UK not a member of Stand Up To
> Racism to join today.
>
> http://www.standuptoracism.org.uk/
> <http://www.standuptoracism.org.uk/>
>
>
> best wishes to all
> Michael
>
>
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--
helen varley jamieson
helen at creative-catalyst.com <mailto:helen at creative-catalyst.com>
http://www.creative-catalyst.com
http://www.upstage.org.nz
*We have a situation, Coventry! <http://www.wehaveasituation.net/?p=1402>*
24 November 2016
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