This is the second meeting in Bristol to discuss opposition to David Cameron's 'truly national commemoration' of WW1 stressing our 'national spirit'. Nationally there are plans to ensure that attention is given to the real causes and effects of the war, rather than an opportunity for our government to re-habilitate this war in particular or war in general. Bristol has long radical traditions and we know there are groups and individuals across the city who will want to ensure that there are […]
Justice, liberties and popular petitioning in 1648-49 The regicide of 1649 has often been presented by books, articles and TV dons as the result of religious beliefs related to the King's role as a 'Man of Blood', whose own blood must be shed to deliver England from the taint of killing and the fear of God's vengeance. However the evidence suggests a far more sophisticated political response rooted in the concepts of 'Justice and Liberties' displayed in both public and military petitions. […]
Game of Drones: The President and the White House Fly (Handsome Dog Productions, 2013). Investigative poem on topical issue of ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’. Written by Heathcote Williams; Narration and Montage by Alan Cox; produced by Margaret Cox. Screening will be introduced by anti-Drone campaigner John from Bath Activist Network. About Heathcote Williams: "I'd say the overwhelming feature of these poems and perhaps of Williams' whole oeuvre is a sense of the development of an argument, either […]
Karl Marx remarked that the only way to write about the origins of capitalism is in the letters of blood and fire used to drive workers from the common lands, forests, and waters in the sixteenth century. In this collection of essays, George Caffentzis argues that the same is true for the annals of twenty-first-century capitalism. Information technology, immaterial production, financialization, and globalization have been trumpeted as inaugurating a new phase of capitalism that puts it beyond […]
On 16 November 1913, the Bristol Trades Council held a public meeting at the Empire Music Hall in support of the workers locked out by their employers in Dublin. Some 2,000 people turned up to hear William Partridge of the Dublin Trades Council condemn the attempt to destroy the militant Irish Transport and General Workers Union and starve 25,000 workers, men and women into surrender. The Dublin employers had the full backing of the Liberal government with Bristol MP, Augustine Birrell, Chief […]
With Mat Callahan, Clayton Blizzard and Commander McNeil. Singer/songwriter Matt Callahan performs Songs of Freedom, a celebration of the life and work of James Connolly, the Irish revolutionary socialist who participated in the Dublin Lockout of 1913 and was martyred by the British government for his role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Connolly's role in both events was of crucial importance making it especially important that his collection Songs of Freedom, originally published in 1907 and […]
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a network of artists from the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has been producing print and design work reflecting radical social, environmental and political movements or more than fifteen years. You may have come across one project of theirs at BRHG events the excellent ‘Celebrate People’s History’ poster series, which popularises hidden histories and figures of radical social movements. Interference Archive organizer and member of the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, […]
To celebrate the recent release of Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 2 (PM Press) George Katsiaficas and Geronimo will be speaking at several events in the UK. They will discuss the Asian Wave from 1986-1992 which overthrew 8 dictatorships in 6 years, the 1980's German autonomous scene and discuss what links can be made to current uprisings, rebellions and revolutions. About Asia's Unknown Uprising – Vol. 2 Ten years in the making, this magisterial work provides a unique perspective on uprisings […]
On Wednesday the 16th October, Bristol will be hosting Jonina Abron-Ervin and Lorenzo Ervin as they give talks on their involvement in the US Black Power Movement and struggles that continue to this day. Jonina is the author of Driven by the Movement: Activists of the Black Power Era and will speak about her interviews with some 20 Black Power Activists as well as her own activity in the Black Panthers, where she became editor of the Black Panther Newspaper. She will detail the experiences of […]
Next year is the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. The British government plans to spend £55 million marking this occasion (and the centenary of other stages of the war). Comments from David Cameron calling for a 'truly national commemoration' stressing our 'national spirit' suggest what he has in mind. He has even compared the government's plans with last year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. For the majority of people in Europe, whether directly involved or not, the war was […]
