Events
so far - keep checking as there are some changes of time & venue, and
still more events being added. All
events are FREE
unless otherwise stated.
Mayday Social Centre - Temporary Autonomous Zone for Mayday 2002
A building has been liberated & the social centre is now open at:
'Speedy's cafe', 10 Great Eastern St, EC2. Nearest tubes: Liverpool St,
Old St. Buses: 8, 26, 47, 67, 149, 242, 243.
Friday 26th April
Daytime:
Picket for Paul Robinson - 2pm, University College of London, Gower
St, WC1.
Paul Robinson was imprisoned in Sweden for 8 months following the EU protests
in Gothenberg, in June 2001. His job as a library attendant at UCL was kept
open for him during his absence. 2 days after returning to the UK, he was
sacked following a disciplinary hearing, for 'gross misconduct'. This decision
is thought to be entirely political. Paul's appeal takes place at 2pm -
please come along and support him.
Evening:
London-wide Critical
Mass bike ride, themed around No Borders, meeting at Waterloo at 6pm.
After: Balkan/Roma gig featuring Tragic Roundabout, ROMANI
RAD, Empty Hat Orchestra & Tarot Magik DJs. The starting extravaganza
of the Mayday Festival of Alternatives with food, visuals and dancers. Speakers
and stalls by refugee support groups welcome (contact nlmaydayfestival@lycos.co.uk).
From 7.30pm till 1pm at Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby's Walk, Homerton, E8.
Nearest train station: Homerton on Silverlink line (change at Highbury Islington)
Entry: 5 quid/3.50 quid cons (3 quid for Critical Mass peeps)
London Anarchist Forum meeting - 8pm, Conway
Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1.
Saturday 27th April
Daytime:
Day of workshops and discussions on the theme of social centres, squats
& how to set them up. The aim of the day is to transform a disused building
into a vibrant social centre, and to learn & share new skills.
Workshops on plumbing, electricity, finding a good building & legal
advice. Speakers from London Social Centres Network & Advisory Service
for Squatters. There will also be talks from collectives who have set up
both permanent & reclaimed social centres. Cleaning & decorating
will go on all day, so please come down and lend a hand.
Squat electronics - 10.30am
Get the electricity connected without frying yourself.
Practical Plumbing - 12pm
Hands-on session covering elementary fix-it skills relating to whatever
needs doing in the particular reclaimed space we'll be working in.
Lock-changing, securing a building & fire escapes - 1pm
Carpentry - 2pm
Learn to make your own bookshelves, tables etc.
Advisory Service for Squatters talk - 3pm
Help and legal advice for squatters.
London Social Centres Network talk - 5.30pm
The dutch experience of squatting - 7pm
Differences in law, police repression, defence, activist community mobilisation
and cultural representation of the scene.
Venue for all of the above social centre workshops: Temporary social
centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details.
Other workshops:
Women's Football Skills workshop - (please note change of date)
- meet 12pm Clissold Park, Stoke Newington. (bottom side of park,
near lake, behind tennis courts. A chance to brush up on tackling, headers
etc for the Looney Left footie tournament on Sunday 5th May.
Anarchy, Anarchism and the Anarchists - 2pm
An informal talk on history, anthropology, psychology and ideology with
special reference to the movements of the working class and disinherited,
plus reflections on the anti-capitalist movement and the future. (Followed
by open ended discussion, if so desired).
Venue: Temporary social centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details.
Stalls in Wood Green/leafletting for 'Vote
Nobody' anti-election campaign (Haringey Solidarity Group).
Find out more about 'Vote nobody'>>>
Find out more about
'Mayweek in Haringey'>>>
radicalyoga - free yoga classes with opportunities for discussion,
practice and meditation. You will be very welcome to participate
wearing
loose clothing, bring a happy heart, an empty stomach and an open mind.
3pm-6pm Diorama One (Movement Room 1st floor), 34 Osnaburgh Street,
NW1
Evening:
The Mayfest Village Fayre!
The Fayre for Queers of all Sexualities - 7.30 - 1am
Venue: Chat's Palace, Brooksby's Walk, Homerton E9
Flaming Queers bring you the Mayfest Village Fayre - May Queens, fertility
rites and sexy spring abandon! Join us for maypole dancing, apple bobbing,
panata smashing, DJs, bawdy Mayfest cabaret and all the fun of the fayre.
Fancy Dress: lusty wenches, willing farm hands, virgins and fair
maidens, Green men, village idiots, mayflies, shepherds and other country
folk, or just dazzle us with your glamour and escape the small no-costume
surcharge!
DJs confirmed: Megabitch, Offshore and SexyRubberSoles
Dancing: join in with maypole dancing, learn to dance the gay gordon.
Can you be a caller?
Stalls: apple bobbing, cakes, kissing booth, brantub.
A Benefit to support future LaDiDah productions:
Free before 8pm, £4 concessions, £5 full price, with
a £1 surcharge for anyone not making at least a gesture towards fancy
dress. Attitude's more important than attire, of course.
For info./to offer a cabaret act: 07949 976 016
Sunday 28th April
Daytime:
Haringey Critical Mass Bike Ride - Meeting 12 Noon at Manor House.
A festive ride reclaiming the streets of Haringey from traffic
and pollution, showing how much safer and pleasanter our streets can be.
We will be highlighting local road safety campaigns and protesting in support
of cycle lanes, bus lanes, free public transport and eco-friendly transport
solutions. The ride ends in Chestnuts Park (Black Boy Lane, N15) at 3pm with
a picnic and party.
Find out more about
'Mayweek in Haringey'>>>
All welcome - bikes, wheelchairs, pedestrians, skateboards, rollerskates;
and anything with wheels and no engine.
Bring music, food, drink, costumes, games, balloons and come and enjoy the
ride...
Indymedia Event - 12-3pm - (Please note time changes)
Venue: Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High St, Dalston, E8. Tel 0207 241
9410
featuring: (times are approximate)
12pm Globalisation and the Media - Undercurrents 2001 - 40 mins -
This documentary explores the role of the media in this corporate led take
over of the Planets natural resources. It explores how the media is involved
in shaping public opinion during the War on Terrorism - and
offers a wide range of viewpoints from broadcasters, journalists, computer
hackers, media activists, and news editors. It also investigate the bias
of Television news during the protest blockades of the IMF and the G8 summits.
From Nigeria to Britain the film reports on the violent suppression of alternative
media and how new technology, such as the internet and camcorders, is challenging
the role of the traditional news gatherer.
Includes Interviews with:
Chris Cramer- President CNN International news
George Monbiot- Investigative reporter
Katharine Ainger- Editor New Internationalist
Mark Covell + others - Indymedia network
Sonali Fernadez- Media Workers against the War
Danny Schecter- Director Mediachannel.org
Emmanuel Goldstein Editor of 2600 The Hackers Quarterly
Amy Goodman- Producer Democracy Now in Exile
1pm Genoa Zona Rossa - IMC Global Mix - World Premiere - indymedia 2001
- 80 mins -
The 2001 G8 protests in Genoa Italy flashed across television screens worldwide
- 300,000 people taking to the streets, the shooting dead of protestor Carlo
Guiliani, the unseen levels of violence and police brutality culminating
in the bloody attack of sleeping protestors at the Diaz school during the
midnight raids on the Genoa Social Forum and Indymedia Italia. This film
pulls together over 200 hours of footage shot by around 50 alternative media
camera crews (individuals and collectives), to put the shocking events into
their true context.
At the same time inspirational and shocking, the film deals with the background
and preparations for the protests from the repressive security arrangements
to the opening of alternative spaces, through the several days of demonstrations
where various themes are explored, from the political issues to street tactics.
Over 20 films have now been made about the protests, but no single portrayal
can do justice to the complexity and confusion that reigned in Italy during
the 'genoa days'. This film will give the viewer a taste of the joy and
sorrow experienced during those days, but it is also an ongoing story -
and includes the struggle for justice in Italy as enquiries and prosecutions
continue to send shockwaves throughout the political spectrum - while across
the world, following the September 11th attacks in America, social movements
and anti-globalisation protestors face an increasing level of repression
as governments seek to criminalise dissent and widen the definitions of
'terrorism'.
3pm IMC Argentina Film - about the recent crisis - from the
start - subtitled eng - - 30 mins
With time for discussion between each film.
£5 entry
New Cross & Deptford Radical History Walk from the peasants
revolt to punk rock!
Meet New Cross Gate tube 3.00pm.
This corner of south-east London has a rich revolutionary history. Home
turf of pioneering punk band Alternative TV, its past spans the peasants
revolt, anti-fascist riots and the New Cross fire campaign that signalled
the uprisings of 1981. And "The Red Flag" - originally written
to honour the Haymarket martyrs - was written in New Cross Gate!
Peasants revolt 1381 -
Cornish uprising 1487-
Christopher Marlowe 1593 -
demonic possession in Deptford 1684 -
Deptford Bread Riot 1867 -
New Cross 'bomb outrage' 1884 -
Gas workers strike 1889 -
General Strike 1926 -
V2 attack 1944 -
Malcolm McClaren and the Goldsmiths Free Festival 1969 -
Jah Shaka and the Moonlight Club 1970s -
anti-National Front march 1977 -
Alternative TV and Deptford punk 1977 -
New Cross Fire 1981 - Slavery, Slaughteryard and Shipbuilding and more...
London Reclaim the Streets will host a 'Free Market' - 10am to 4pm
Running up to Mayday, it will be a practical alternative to the apparently
never-ending, sad story of our throwaway society. The idea is simple: we
can create a thriving market without money! Come and have a look for something
you want and then take it for free. And you are most welcome to donate and
bring along anything that's cluttering up your closet, whether its books,
clothes, music, board games. Just leave your wallet at home! 'Free Markets'
are common for example in Argentina where the current crisis has deprived
so many who through the collective and cooperative exchange markets have
found new ways of getting their basic needs: even hair dressers or tailors
are common on such exchange markets!
London Reclaim the Streets: 020 7281 4621; email: rts@gn.apc.org;
http://www.reclaimthestreets.net
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St.,
London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
LARC Tel: 020 7377 9088
LARC Email: fieldgate@gn.apc.org
Workshops - A series of workshops with a focus on useful skills for mass
actions:
Legal workshop on 'dealing with public order situations', including
'Section 60'. Essential if you're going to Mayday. (2 1-hour workshops from
2-3pm and 5-6pm).
Medical Workshops: First Aid on Demonstrations (3 one-hour basic first
aid sessions from 2-3pm, 3-4pm, 4-5pm).
These workshops will provide an introduction to medical support for demonstrators.
They will be interactive, with hands-on workshops, and focus on the how
to deal with simple trauma (physical, mental and spiritual) as well as the
recognition of serious injury.
There will be more detailed information available about medical care and
medical support from the London Street Medics. For further information,
contact: londonmedics@bigfoot.com
or come along on the day!
London Street Medics
The London Street Medics are a group of activist first-aiders who will be
providing medical support on May Day. There will be Street Medics on all
of the actions who will be able to give support or advice or, in a worst-case
scenario, summon further help. Look out for them!!
Banner-making workshop - 12pm onwards
Circus skills workshops - come along & join the 'Anarchist Travelling
Circus'
Juggling & juggling-ball making - 11am - make your own juggling
balls & learn to use them.
Poi Spinning & poi-making - 1pm
Marching band - 3pm - bring a drum, tambourine, flute, trumpet, rice
shaker or other portable instrument.
'Gender & women-only spaces' - all genders are welcome. 4pm.
Why do radical groups sometimes become Boyz clubz? How can we acknowledge
and address stuff like sexism, patriarchy, male female differences in our
movement without it being divisive?
'The War on Terrorism' - discussion hosted by Anarchist Youth Network-
6pm
Discussion hosted by Pere Manel from the Campaign Against the Europe
of Capital, Barcelona - CANCELLED.
Venue for all of the above workshops: Social Centre - phone: 07786
716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue.
Evening:
Café in Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue.
To celebrate the affliation to the GMB, the International Union of Sex
Workers presents:
Bands, performers, DJ's & visuals.
Dress code: Fetish, body paint, carnival, masquerade or any pagan godess.
Venue: The Fringe, 330 Kennington Lane, London SE11, 9pm til late.
Entry £5.
Monday 29th April
Daytime:
Beginning of week-long WOMBLES
Trial, Horseferry Road - demo outside with 'We are all Wombles'
theme. Wear a white overall.
Why are the Wombles
on trial?>>>
Margaret Jones completes her sponsored walk for peace at 10 Downing Street,
11am, where she arrives with 'a letter addressed to Blair, Bradshaw, Straw,
and all the other Blur Blah Blah bullshit quisling sellouts'.
On April 21, Margaret Jones begins a sponsored walk from Bristol to london
to raise money for two Palestinian clinics - Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza, and
the Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, in Ramallah.
The 120-mile walk concludes on April 29th at 10 Downing Street, to mark
the vote of the British War Cabinet in 1917 that supported Foreign Minister
Arthur Balfour in his colonialist move to give away Arab lands in Palestine
to Jewish settlers, without the consent of the people already living there.
'Successive British governments, in their support for US policies uncritical
of Israel's human rights violations, are directly responsible for the horrors
currently endured by the Palestinian people.' she says.
Banner-making workshop - 12pm onwards.
Costume-making - 3pm onwards. Make a carnival costume for Mayday
- bring material, sequins, ribbons, glitter etc.
Direct Action Workshop - 5pm
A participatory discussion on direct action. What is it? Why use it? Why
is it important. A run-down of different direct forms of resisting, blocking,
stopping, defending, reclaiming & occupying, and views on how we can be
more effective and sustainable in the future. Everyone's ideas and experiences
are welcome.
followed by:
Information for Action! - Investigating and understanding state activity.
This workshop shows you how to navigate your way through the complicated
but interconnected web that is corporate and state activity. From genocidal,
ecocidal corporations, and the institutions promoting them to policy forming
thinktanks, government divisions, public hearings and legislation formation.
Also includes guide to UK-based free market-championing, arms, police, international
capital and repressive technology summits. This workshop aims to lend practical
insight into how to stay on top of new state and corporate developments,
agendas and strategies. Knowledge is power! Know your enemy!
Venue for above workshops: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on
Friday 26th April for details of venue.
Evening:
Palestine - a talk from women who have been to Palestine as part
of a 'human shield' international peace mission. - 7pm
Going on the International Solidarity Delegations to Palestine this past
year changed our lives, 100s of us. We saw the torture and humiliation first
hand, we (some of us) were human shields, we were shot at, and participated
first hand, if only briefly, in the struggle. This workshop will be a report-back
from Palestine, an update (though things are changing all the time) and
a discussion of how we can most effectively participate in the struggle.
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue.
Film: 'La Bisagra de la Historia' - 8pm
Argentina hit the news spectacularly in December last year, when its people
took to the streets in fury after a state of emergency had been declared
by the president: the next day the cabinet had resigned, the president had
fled and thirty were dead, killed during rioting and food looting.
Since then, Argentina continues to live through a transitional time; protests,
road-blockings, and almost daily 'cacerolazos' (pot-banging protests) at
the Supreme Court, Congress and at city centre banks have become a fact
of life. As President Duhalde struggles to control a bankrupt economy and
furious savers attack the banks in which their savings have been frozen,
questions are being asked in Argentina and all over the world about the
country's economic model and its heavy reliance on the IMF and overseas
investors.
The film, 'La Bisagra de la Historia' (The Hinge of History) was shot on
the streets of Buenos Aires during the protests of the 19th and 20th December
- protests which turned to rioting as the police carried out a brutal repression.
Made by a group called venteveovideo as part of 'Argentina Arde', a group
of independent film-makers, photographers and journalists, the film will
be followed by a short talk about Argentina, and open discussion.
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue.
Choke On It! Action organised by M'AM (movement Against the Monarchy),
against dinner by the 5 living Prime Ministers and the Queen. Downing
Street - 6pm.
followed by:
M'AM film showing of: "an anti royal documentary that was screened
on Channel 4 two years ago that we helped to make. The producer will be
there to talk/answer questions and talk about the forthcoming anti Jubilee
film we're making."
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue. 9.30pm.
Tuesday 30th April
Daytime:
Making Websites Easy-Peasy - 11am - 2 hours
How to guide to making a website for campaigns, protests or just news and
comment. You don't need your own computer, expensive software or years
of computer training. This will help you make a site, publicity, images,
domain names, email and all the other stuff you need to know. Recomended
for beginners to the internet as well as those who know a little more.
A Hand-out with all the info provided.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St.,
London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel & Aldgate East)
Run by media activists group Pop Star Liberation Front: http://www.popstarliberationfront.org.uk
/
Workshop: Outlaw Women - 1pm
From the Chinese straits, Mediterranian, Atlantic and Caribbean, to the
streets of Philly, Bonn, Delhi and London, this workshop charts the rise
and fall of gender-bending pirates, radical black eco-warriors, gun slinging
bandit queens, freedom fighters and beatnik bomb girls - critically.
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue.
Marching band workshop - 3pm
Join the Anarchist travelling circus marching band. All musicians (even
bad ones) welcome. Especially trumpeteers.
followed by:
Samba Dance workshop - 5pm
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April
for details of venue.
Post-revolution and post-capitalist visions - 4pm
An brief history of counter-revolution and insurrectionary failures;
including 1930s Spain, France 1968, English Civil war and beyond, followed
by group discussion amd simulated scenario outlines, focusing on post-capitalist
social organisation, culture, and the shape and scope of counter-revolutionary
elements; How could we be recuperated?What will we do about police, paedophilia,
politicians with secret weapon stockpiles, us with weapons stockpiles?,
food production, industry, work, religion. Could it happen here? And what
would it look like if it did? If we cannot make it here, where will it smoulder
first? What about the concept of an anarchist Permanent Revolution?
Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for
details of venue.
London Reclaim the Streets will host a 'Free Market' - 4 to 8pm
Running up to Mayday, it will be a practical alternative to the apparently
never-ending, sad story of our throwaway society. The idea is simple: we
can create a thriving market without money! Come and have a look for something
you want and then take it for free. And you are most welcome to donate and
bring along anything that's cluttering up your closet, whether its books,
clothes, music, board games. Just leave your wallet at home! 'Free Markets'
are common for example in Argentina where the current crisis has deprived
so many who through the collective and cooperative exchange markets have
found new ways of getting their basic needs: even hair dressers or tailors
are common on such exchange markets!
London Reclaim the Streets: 020 7281 4621; email: rts@gn.apc.org;
http://www.reclaimthestreets.net
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St.,
London E1.
LARC Tel: 020 7377 9088
LARC Email: fieldgate@gn.apc.org
Evening:
Why is Hackney up for Sale?
Come to an open meeting of the Hackney NOT 4 Sale group for a discussion
on how Hackney got into the mess it is in and what alternatives there are
for the future.
7pm at The Old Firestation, Corner of Brooke Road and Leswin Road,
Stoke Newington, N16
Talk from Ex-Black Panther, Robert King Wilkerson. 6pm.
Robert King Wilkerson was held in solitary confinement in Angola maximum
security prison, Louisiana, for 27 years for a crime he didn't commit. He
was framed because of his political organising at the prison as a member
of the Black Panther party. Released in February 2001 after a long campaign,
he's now spending his time doing speaking tours around the world to raise
awareness of the brutality, corruption, racism and injustice of the Louisiana
criminal justice system. His co-accused, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace,
are still in prison and entering their thirtieth year of solitary confinement.
Venue: The Union Tavern, Camberwell New Road. Nearest tube Oval,
Buses 36 or 185.
Protest against Channel Four's censorship of 'Injustice' - 9.00pm
Injustice is a radical feature length film about the struggles for justice
by the families of people that have died in police custody. On its release
a year ago the police tried to censor the film by threatening cinemas. Months
of fighting, by the film makers & families in the film, ended in victory
with the police backing off and the film on release in cinemas across the
UK & internationally. But Channel Four still refuse to broadcast the
film because they won't take on the Police Federation. C4 are not only banning
the film they are telling the police 'It's ok to kill, we won't turn our
cameras on you'. Protest against the ban - since C4 won't screen Injustice
then we are going to screen it on C4!
Organised by 'Friends of Injustice' as part of the Mayday Festival of Alternatives.
Venue: Channel Four Television, 124 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P.
Tube:
St. James Park.
For full details see: http://www.injusticefilm.org.uk
Wednesday 1st May - Mayday
Daytime:
7.30am - Critical Mass
South Ride - Camberwell Green
North Ride - Camden Town Tube
Ride For Your Life!
Calling all bikes, skates, boards, wheelchairs, and anything on wheels with
no engine
see critical
mass page for more details>>>
9am - B.A.R.F. (Breakfast Against Routine Fit-ups): W.O.M.B.L.E.S.
Protest
A demonstration of solidarity outside the trial of the
Womble 7. Wear white overalls.
Don't let the Wombles fight alone.
Horseferry Road Magistrates Court, London SW1. (nearest tubes: Victoria,
Westminter).
see
Autonomous Actions page for more details>>>
see Womble 7 page to find out
about the trial>>>
9am - NUJ Protest against The Guardian Newspaper Group
10am - International Socialist Resistance (ISR) organised demo
against the international arms trade, outside British Aerospace, 6 Carlton
Gardens, SW1 Contact details: againstcapitalism@hotmail.com
12pm - Mayday Mayhem Against The Fur Trade.
London Animal Action protest against Phillip Hockley Furs, 20 Conduit Street,
W1 (off Regent Street).
see
Autonomous Actions page for more details>>>
12pm - Trade Unions March
Held every year, this traditional march starts from Clerkenwell Green.
See: http://www.glatuc.org.uk/MayDay.html
for details.
1pm - Mass Action: Mayday in Mayfair
Mayday in Mayfair will be a fluid, spontaneous and exciting return to the
Mayfayre, happening everywhere at once, without a fixed starting point or
finish. Four separate but intertwined elements of Ye Olde May Day will take
place. These are: The Travelling Circus, Carniball, Wake for Capitalism
and Critical Mass.
see 'Mayday in Mayfair'
page for more details>>>
5pm - Soho Carnival Parade - Mayday Event called by Sex Workers Pride
Supported by International Union of Sex Workers and GMB London No.1
Region.
Assemble: 5pm Old Compton St., London W1
see
Autonomous Actions page for more details>>>
Go to 'Mayday in Mayfair'
page>>>
Go to 'Mayday Autonomous
Actions' page>>>
Evening:
Comedy and Magic night.
featuring; Rob Newman, Ian Cognito, Smile & Subvert and Tony Allen (compere).
a mad bad bunch of anarchist comix to help relieve the stress of the day!
With Vegan food available from the Emmaz cafe crew.
Venue: Chats Palace, 42 Brooksby's Walk, Homerton, E8. Nearest train
station: Homerton on Silverlink line.
£3.99 / £2.99 concs entry. (A benefit for Our Mayday)
The Documentary Filmmakers Group is hosting a special event for Mayday.
The evening will include screenings of activist video shot earlier in the
day as well as completed Direct Action documentaries. This will all be followed
by a panel discussion with speakers from Media Workers Against War, Undercurrents
and Indymedia.
£3 on the door
7:00pm - Late
Arrive early for seats (120 seater cinema)
Venue: London Film School, 24 Shelton Street (nearest tube Covent
Garden)
more details at: http://www.dfglondon.com
Mayday Madness: Save Spitalfields Market.
Spitalfields Market Under Threat (SMUT) & the 333 Club present:
A benefit night hosted by The Pineapple Boys, with suave surf sounds
of The Bikini Beach Band, latin inuendo of Cuban funkistadors Y-ya, &
retro latino tonemeister DJ Bakan, while Budgie & guests bring on the
funk & break beats.
9.30 - 2am, Entry £8.
333 Club, 333 Old Street, EC1
Thursday 2nd May
Daytime:
Council Elections - 'Vote For
Nobody' campaign.
Find out more about
'Vote nobody>>>
'Health & healing' day
Central to Anarchism is the belief in self-empowerment and the notion that
we, the community, should control our lives as much as we possibly can.
One way we can do this is through looking after both our own health and
that of the wider community. We are holding an alternative health and healing
day in order to learn more about how our bodies work, their relationship
with the earth, and how we can help one another in the community to cut
out the state (doctors) and capital (pharmaceuticals) as much as we can.
Contrary to popular belief, revolution can be good for our health!
Stress, contamination of food air and water supply, global warming, alienation,
not to mention the police batons .... capitalism is bad for us in lots of
different ways, and it is the end result of several millennia of patriarchy,
with its drive to enslave the body and stifle desire. Come and celebrate
the innate human instinct to heal ourselves and others, often persecuted
and hindered, but never crushed. There will be a variety of workshops and
therapies on offer, including shiatsu, aromatherapy, massage, ear acupuncture,
radical yoga, herbal medicine, women's health, the politics of madness,
and more, in a chilled out atmosphere and beautiful venue, and yes it's
all free. Open at about 11 am; hopefully there will be some food, but bring
your own or to share if you can.
If we can heal ourselves we can help others heal themselves, and together
we can heal our society and our planet.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
Some times/details below (further details tba):
Sports massage - 5pm
radicalyoga - free yoga classes with opportunities for discussion,
practice and meditation. You will be very welcome to participate
wearing
loose clothing, bring a happy heart, an empty stomach and an open mind.
4:30pm-7pm London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1
Evening:
Film: 'Injustice' - 6pm
Injustice is a radical feature length film about the struggles for justice
by the families of people that have died in police custody. On its release
a year ago the police tried to censor the film by threatening cinemas. Months
of fighting, by the film makers & families in the film, ended in victory
with the police backing off and the film on release in cinemas across the
UK & internationally.
Venue: London School of Economics
Films: Showing of a documentary film (Spanish, no subtitles) of
the SINTRAEMCALI trade union occupation of the Emcali tower in
Cali, Columbia. On Christmas Day last year, 800 workers occupied
the nerve-centre of the state-owned municapal company which runs
water, electricity and telecoms, for over three weeks,and won their fight
to stop essential resources being privatised. A talk by Carlos Gonzales,
member of Sintraemcali and participant in the occupation plus a member of
the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, follows.
followed by:
The destruction of Tabaco: This Spanish language film
is made up of simple and shocking footage of the destruction of a small
farming village in Colombia by employees of Intercor, a coal mining company
then owned 100% by Exxon, the largest energy company on Earth.
The residents of Tabaco - mostly of African and Indigenous descent - were
facing relocation so that the coal strip mine of El Cerrejon Norte in the
northern Colombian province of La Guajira could expand. They demanded a
decent resettlement arrangement so that the whole community could stay together,
move to a new site and carry on farming.
Intercor claimed it couldn't afford to meet the community's demands and
told the people to leave. They stayed. So Intercor employees came to the
village on August 9th last year with bulldozers, accompanied by 200 armed
police and 500 soldiers, to confront 100 unarmed villagers and destroy their
homes. The film shows the preparations for destruction, the efforts of the
community's lawyer, Armando Perez, to get a local judge to call off the
operations, and the aftermath of the demolitions. There are interviews with
some of the residents.
It is a roughly produced film and won't make the cinema. It never made the
news either. Even some progressive publications in Britain refused to cover
it because there were not enough victims to make it newsworthy. So the campesinos
and their Indigenous cousins in this forgotten corner of a forgotten country
can be shafted by the world's leading energy company because their injuries
weren't bad enough and none of them got killed that day - despite houses
being demolished with people still in them.
Now the mine has been bought out by companies based in London. Come and
see
what they are profiting from. Afterwards you might wish to be in touch with
them....
Venue: The Union Tavern, Camberwell New Rd, nearest
tube Oval or BR Vauxhall, in the luvly back room called The Latin Palace.
Friday 3rd May
Daytime:
Campaign Against The Arms Trade: Protest ouside BAE Systems AGM
Venue: QE2 Conference Centre, SW1
Morning: time tba
BAE Systems, the world's largest arms company are holding their AGM on 3rd
May. BAE are notorious in
their disregard of human rights and regularly sell arms and equipment that
is used in repression and
conflict around the world. Come and disrupt the people who fuel and profit
from conflict around the world.
contact for protest: action@caat.demon.co.uk
http://www.caat.org.uk
http://www.baesystems.com
Prisoner Resistance! - 11am.
Introduction to the UK prison system, reform, revolt and how life has changed
for prisoners over the years. The Parkhurst riots (1969), Grisley Risley
victory (1989) and Strangeways uprising (1990) plus the shape of future
resistance (i.e Detention centre uprisings Yarl's Wood,UK and Woomera, Australia)
are all explored and their origins and impact on prison life evaluated.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
MILLION MIND MARCH
Serving Notice to Quit - St Pauls Cathedral, London - 12pm
Meet at Monument to proceed via the London Stone to the Stone circle atop
Ludgate Hill whereupon Notice to Quit will be served on the
Bishop of London to vacate the carbuncle known as St Pauls Cathedral
by June 3rd to enable its demolition in accordance with good healthy and
safety practice.
Reclaim The Stones.
We invite u to join us in an experiment to use our collective psychic powers
to take the cathedral back in time to that of the Fire of London. All the
while, simultaneosly, taking it forward into the future. Then the ancient
Stone Circle atop Ludgate Hill will reappear, where we will issue a Decleration
of Independence from Great Britain.
To help us we shall be resurrecting the dead to raise generations of rebels
- from Sylvia Pankhurst to Boadicca, from Watt Tyler to Paul Cuffee - and,
of course, thousands and thousands of unknown rebels whose names were never
recorded in the history books of the bourgeoisie.
Join us and BRING YOUR ANCESTORS - YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE
Rising Tide: Workshop on Climate Change - 2pm
We know climate change is happening, so its time to take action
for climate justice!
Rising Tide UK is a new rapidly growing grassroots network. It supports
community initiatives and local protest against climate change, and for
climate justice. Its also a part of the international Rising Tide
network.
For more info see: http://www.risingtide.org.uk
Venue: London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1
Workshop/discussion: Feminism 101 - 4pm.
Challenging the (capitalist lie that) we live in a post feminist world,
so don't need to talk about: Sexism, male power and patriarchy as political
issues! How can men taking women-related issues (like feminisation of poverty,
work, childcare, domestic violence, rape...) seriously? Should men be involved
in those struggles and, if so, how? Most of us have some privilege/s and
can be oppressors as well as oppressed. How can we--men, women, white/black,
class divides, etc etc.-- acknowledge our privilege/oppressor behaviour
without it being a big/divisive deal?
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
European Social Consulta: discussion - 7pm
The ESC is a product of the ideas and visions of social movements that are
struggling against capitalist globalisation and its neo-liberal policies.
Our mobilizations have created spaces of convergence where we have become
aware of the importance and complementary nature of our social struggles.
Given our growing capacity for mass mobilization, the system is creating
the conditions necessary to control us: police impunity, restriction of
basic liberties, intimidation and manipulation of information. Because of
this, we believe it is important to deepen our contact and communication,
strengthen our networks, connect to the rest of society and decentralize
our struggles.The ESC will allow our social movements to take the initiative,
to build a precess complementary to mobilizations around international summits
and forums and to support the cohesion of European social movements. The
ESC is therefore meant to be a project that will reinforce the efforts of
local groups and networks and to connect local and global struggles.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
Evening:
West London Anarchist & Radical History Walk in Hammersmith
William Morris's connections with Hammersmith are well known, but but there
is much more to our radical history than just Morris. Join us for
a tour through the past finishing with a drink at one (or more) of Hammersmith's
finest pubs. Children welcome.
Meet at Hammersmith Tube, Hammersmith & City Line, 6.15pm.
Late night films at the Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High St, Dalston.
E8 Tel 0207 241 9410
11.15 pm - Black Box BRD (Black Box Germany) Dir Andres Veiel - 2001
Black Box Germany is a powerful documentary film by the award-winning director
Andres Veiel. It steps back into German history and portrays the Federal
Republic of Germany during the 70s and 80s. The country is polarized due
to the power struggle of the German state and the "Red Army Faction",
and thus on a constant brink of civil war. Society is torn; the fronts are
irreconcilable.
The life stories of both Wolfgang Grams and Alfred Herrhausen are linked
to this era, though in a tragic way. Grams is the one who takes up arms
for moral rigor; Herrhausen however seizes power and dies in power. Their
curricula vitae lead through the enemy camps of the Federal Republic, through
opposing worlds that have had no dialogue and incomprehensible to each other
until now. The fight is over, but the wounds are still open.
The film, reconstruction of a true story, has won acclaim in Germany since
its release this summer.
followed by:
Asurot (Detained) - Dir Anat Even and Ada Ushpiz - 2001.
Three Palestinian widows, live with their 11 children in a house in Hebron
that lies on the border; the front is under Israeli occupation, the Palestinian
authority controls the back. At the entrance to the house a military post,
on the roof the Israeli army has placed a watch point over Palestinian Hebron.
Three women, trapped in the middle, constantly surrounded by Israeli soldiers,
carry on their difficult lives in a perverse situation: the occupation becomes
a routine. This is the story of an occupation that extends to the house.
This is an internal prison, the external one is the ongoing occupation.
As Israeli Women directors, tired of the cumulative effects of oppression
in the occupied territories in our own society, we wished to present the
arbitrariness of the occupation as seen via the barred windows of an occupied
house, in order to show the thin line between a smile and a gun shot.
Saturday 4th May
Daytime:
"Jayday" Legalise Cannabis day in Brockwell Park - visit
the Schnews marquee, Indymedia marquee, and Mayday marquee for infostalls,
vegan food, music & movie projections.
Films will include:
Britain's Black Legacy (1991/ 45minutes) A thirty year history of
the black communities resistance to racist murders and uprisings against
police violence.
Sweet France (1992 / 52 minutes) The young Arab and immigrant struggles
against racist murders and for equality in France.
Tasting Freedom (1994 / 52 minutes) Resistance to deportation and
detention by Arabs and African asylum seekers in the UK.
Urban redecoration - details tba.
Evening:
A political punk rock event
featuring; Seein Red (legendary Dutch Hard core lefties of the DIY scene),
Whizzwood (Singalong angry punk stuff with humour from Hull), Shakari (Noisey
kids of Holland), Freaks Union (more Hull based punk rock that rips and
swings!), Scalplock (Londons grindcoredoomnoisemerchants).
£4 in 4 all!
An Active Event, Benefit for Emmaz Social Centre.
With Vegan food available from the Emmaz cafe crew.
Venue: Chats Palace, 44 Brooksby's Walk, Homerton, E5 Tel 0208 533
0227
Sunday 5th May
Daytime:
Looney Left Mayday Footie Tournament & 'Hackney Not 4 Sale' Picnic
2002:
'Hackney Not 4 Sale' Picnic
This years Radical Picnic is to take place in Clissold park, Stoke
Newington, Hackney, from 12 noon onwards.
Hackney NOT 4 Sale are putting out a big shout for people to bring along;
loads of food to share, theirs and other peoples kids, friends and parents,
so that we can all take part in a big radical picnic alongside the Looney
Left Football tournament that is taking place there on the same day as part
of the Mayday Festival of Alternatives.
Who are Hackney NOT 4 Sale?
HN4S are a small group of people who live and/or work in Hackney. Many of
us have been involved in grassroots politics and community campaigns in
Hackney for many years, though we have no political party affiliations.
The group formed last summer after squatting a council owned shop and turning
it into a spoof Nelson Bakewell estate agent selling off community
property to the rich and powerful. Over 50 buildings were shown to
be in danger of having funding cut or being sold off by Hackney council.
We have since called for protests both inside and outside auctions, as well
as joining with striking council workers and worked with other community
groups resisting the cuts and sell offs in Hackney. We also produce a free
newsletter as well as an email information list in order to get information
out to as many people as possible around Hackney and beyond.
So back to the picnic...
Clissold Park has been on the receiving end of various attacks including
the recent closure of its café, bowling green and the childrens
paddling pool. In the past year park workers borough-wide have also suffered
cuts in pay and conditions. As if that was not enough, Clissold Parks
much needed and much loved 1 oclock club, used by parents, carers
and children, is now fighting closure (along with all the other 1 oclock
clubs) in the borough, and there are still threats to the popular deer enclosure.
Clissold Park is an example of what is happening to community resources
all over Hackney and in many cases beyond.
It is for these reasons that Hackney NOT 4 Sale will be at the picnic on
5th May with more information about the closure and selling off of other
community resources and other threats such as privatisation and gentrification
in and around Hackney. We will also have ideas for what people can do to
resist these threats both here and elsewhere. Why not bring along
campaign stalls or displays that you might have, as well as any practical
information and creative ideas for social centres, workers co-ops, community
gardens etc
We are also hoping to encourage the local 'talent' (that hopefully includes
you!); comedians, musicians, magicians, jugglers, hip-hop, poets
to
come along and entertain us and each other. There will also be workshops
and games for kids including samba instrument workshops and puppet making.
This as well as a seed give away and an alternative health area with information
on alternative therapies such as herbal medicine, homeopathy etc.
For more info, ideas and offers of entertainment please email: hackneyNOT4sale@yahoo.com
or call: 07950 539 254
Looney Left Mayday Footie Tournament - 2002
Calling all footie Loons. Great footballing events do not rely on great
footballers, this is the Looney Left ethos. In fact the Loonier you are
the more we reclaim the game from the corporations who dominate what has
now become a multi-million pound industry. We want to make this event a
class act where we organise our own games, which are inclusive and fun,
on a day of historical significance. We want to create an autonomous football
space where we are uncontainable, uncheckable and uncontrollable. So if
you agree with most of the above put in a team, or just turn up for a game,
also kids game and if youd rather try a non-competitive version of
the game dreamt up by some other Looney, then join in the 3 sided footie
event and put it to the test. With enough people a mass game is planned,
so bring your own football. There will be other festivities at the
venue including music and picnic, but bring along your own contributions,
food, music, games etc.
Venue: Clissold Park, Stoke Newington.
Kick off for main tournament: 12pm
3 sided event: whenever we feel like it!
Kids game: before tounament final
Very few women have participated in the tournament in recent years, this
year we are trying to put in a women's team, it doesnt matter if you
dont play regularly, get involved and experience playing with other
women!
There will also be the Looney Left World Cup / Jubilee Tournament in early
June. Date yet to be confirmed.
Mayday Tournament teams need to send £20 to Looney Left Collective
c/o PO Box 32, 136 Kingsland High St., Dalston, E8. Cheques payable to Between
the Lines, or send £30 to enter both the May and June tournaments.
Money goes to covering costs, goals, printing etc. You should also send
in team names, shirt colours and team contact no.
For queries & futher info. Email: looneyleftcollective@hotmail.com
or ring 07786 720 146
to read about the radical
history of football, go to the Carniball page>>>
Evening:
Introduction to D10 and anti-Militarist direct action - 7pm
D10 is a anti militarist group made up of a diverse collection of autonomous
activists from many different backgrounds. We have chosen to define ourselves
by our actions. Recent actions have included blockades at Northwood
and throwing paint bombs at a military presentation. This workshop explains
the philosophy behind D10, lends insight into anti-militarist action in
the UK and offers people a chance to get involved.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
Bass-heavy punky reggae bash with the Restarts, Nomadix Roots, One
Style + DJ Dave (Zion Train). The return of the local punk & roots warriors.
8pm till 2am at Arsenal Tavern, 175 Blackstock Road, N4 (Arsenal, Finsbury
Park tubes.)
Entry: 5 quid/3.50 quid
Contact for gig: nlmaydayfestival@lycos.co.uk
Monday 6th May
Daytime:
Anarchist Bookfair - 10am to 5pm
with stalls from Active Distribution, Ak Press, Anarchist Federation,
Haven Distribution, Freedom Press, London Animal Action., H.S.G., Stair,
and many more.
Get the latest books, magazines, leaflts, t-shirts, badges, videos, posters
etc.
With Vegan food available from the Emmaz cafe crew.
Venue: The Exchange Community Centre, Sebbon Street, Islington, N1.
(off Upper Street, behind Islington Town Hall). Nearest tube: Highbury &
Islington.
If you would like a stall at the bookfair please email: festivalofalternatives@yahoo.com
Film: The Coconut Revolution, 55 mins Director: Dom Rotheroe A Stampede
production - 2pm
'The first successful eco-revolution in the world'
In 1987 the people of the South Pacific island of Bougainville began an
armed rebellion against a susidiary of the British based multinational Rio
Tinto Zinc. Conzinc Riotinto Australia (CRA), with the approval of the Papa
New Guinean government, had sliced off the top of a hill hitherto known
to the locals as a rich traditional hunting ground, and had turned it into
the biggest open cast copper mine in the world.
The Panguna mine started production in 1974, and the untreated tailings
from it caused devastating environmental damage. When talks about compensation
broke down, the PNG governement sent in first the riot police and then the
Papa New Guinean Defence Force (PNGDF)- assisted and trained by Australian
military personnel. But starting with crossbows and home-made guns, Bougainvilleans
fought back. An illegal military blockade of the island was imposed, depriving
the local population access to medicines, food and any contact with the
outside world. Hence this conflict went largely unreported for many years.
The Coconut Revolution tells the amazing and uplifting story of how the
islanders re-discovered and developed a self-sufficient and ecologically
sound way of life, in order to survive their 10 year long isolation from
the rest of the world.
Under the threat of extradition to Port Moresby, with the possibility of
being shot at by Australian piloted helicopters and hidden in a precarious
boat in shark infested waters, the film-makers were the first European based
TV crew to be smuggled into the island. One of them will be available for
a Q & A session after the screening.
Winner of the Cora Coralina at the Brazil Environmental Film Festival 2001,
The Richard Keefe Award at The International Broadcasting Awards, London
2001, and Best Documentary in Video at the First International Film Festival
for Children and Youth, Argentina 2001. Shortlisted (1 of 3) for Amnesty
International Media Awards 2001.
For any queries please contact ocproduc@gpo.sonnet.co.uk
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
£2 donation on the door
Workshop: Food Autonomy - 4pm.
A one to one-and-a-half hour talk plus gorgeous slide show featuring images
of diverse agriculture and grass roots resistance to corporate control of
the food chain. Workshop also includes updates from the Resistance is Fertile
(www.resistanceisfertile.com/english/) actions in Den Haag April 8 - 19
against the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (phew! - aka Cop6) which looks at the commodification
and privatisation of 'genetic resources'- plants, ecosystems, land, agriculture,
and knowledge.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (corner
of Fieldgate St & Parfett St). Nearest tube: Aldgate East or Whitechapel.
No Borders - 6pm
A participatory discussion about the current strengthening of nation state
borders and the proliferation of immigration controls. Come and join in
a discussion about recent struggles against these controls and how the resistance
can spread in the future until everyone can enjoy freedom of movement.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
Haringay: Mayday at the Markfield: A celebration of independence
and interdependence of our communities, (Speak outs, festive stuff, discussions,
videos, displays) at the Markfield Project, Tottenham.
Find out more about
'Mayweek in Haringey'>>>
Evening:
Film: Incitement to riot - 6pm; followed by a followed by a discussion
about how police tactics during public order situations have changed over
the past few decades.
"Incitement To Riot" is an hour long video that does just what
it says on the box! Packed with footage from all the best riots of the past,
and a hard hitting soundtrack, from Gil Scott Heron to Conflict!
followed by:
Film: New Kids on the Black Block.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (corner
of Fieldgate St & Parfett St). Nearest tube: Aldgate East or Whitechapel.
Simon Jones Campaign: talk & film - 8pm.
Film charting the struggle of Simon Jones' family and friends to secure
justice for their loved-one's death. Simon was killed on his first day of
work four years ago when the grab of a crane virtually decapitated him.
He was sent to work at Shoreham Docks for Euromin by Personnel Selection
– a Brighton employment agency. He had had no health and safety training
whatsoever and had never worked at a dockyard before.
Film is followed by a talk describing how the campaign was set up, gained
momentum, succeeded in prosecuting Euromin - the company responsible for
the health and safety breaches which caused Simon's death - the political
issues behind corporate killing - casualisation, flexible labour, unscrupulous
employment agencies, the use of direct action, and and the future tactics.
Venue: London Action Resource Centre: 62 Fieldgate St., corner of
Parfett St., London E1. (nearest tubes: Whitechapel, Aldgate East)
Throughout the Week
Vote For Nobody Campaign
Leafleting and campaigning using the Vote For Nobody idea, against the Council
Elections on Thursday 2nd May.
more about 'Vote
nobody'>>>
WOMBLES on trial - the Womble 7 are on trial from Monday 29th April
- Friday 3rd May, at Horseferry Rd Magistrates Court, SW1. There will be
demos outside the court all week. Please come down and show your support
for their fight against political repression.
more about the Wombles
trial>>>
A temporary week-long Social Centre, with Infoshop, workshops, discussions,
vegan cafe, art exhibition, film showings. Phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday
26th April for details of venue.
more about Social
Centres>>>
Mayweek in Haringey
People associated with Haringey Solidarity Group are organising local events
around the time of Mayday - from Friday April 26th to Tuesday May 7th -
to communicate the fact that there is a radical and realistic anti-capitalist/anti-authoritarian
alternative to the current system.
more about 'Mayweek
in Haringey'>>>
More workshops and events are planned for the Mayday Festival of Alternatives.
Keep checking this timetable for updates.