An International Womens Day and Mothers Day Event
Saturday 13 March 2010
Mothers March & Speak Out
For recognition and support for all the work
we contribute to society
Come with your children, relatives and friends.
Bring your banners, placards and demands.
Assemble 2pm Trafalgar Sq
March to Parliament Sq
Westminster, London SW1 ALL WELCOME
mothering is hard work
The survival of the human race depends on the caring work of mothers.
But we get no recognition or support. Only blame when things go wrong.
And we're even expected to do more work to feed the family, often on
the lowest pay.
every mother is a working mother
Events also in: Guyana, Haiti, India, Mexico, Peru, US
MEN: Join the contingent of fathers & other male carers who support
mothers.
mothers, this march is for you who are raising children in cities, towns or villages...
Who are separated from your children or have lost children
Who are surviving war & environmental disaster
Who are seeking asylum
For you who are grandmothers, non-biological mothers, domestic workers & other women doing caring work
For you who have disabilities or have a child with disabilities
Who are fighting for justice for loved ones
Who have been raped
Who are students & mothers
Who are sex workers supporting families
Who have been criminalised by poverty
Who want to have children but havent been able to
For you mothers of every race, age, passport, income, sexuality & occupation
For all of us who are overworked & underpaid.
Our demand is: invest in caring not killing
Called by All African Womens Group Mothers Campaign (MoCa),
Global Womens Strike (GWS), and Single Mothers Self-Defence
Endorsed by: Kay Adshead (playwright/poet), Black Womens Rape
Action Project, English Collective of Prostitutes, Oliver James
(child psychologist/author), Jenny Jones (Green Party), Sheila
Kitzinger (natural childbirth campaigner/author), Payday mens
network, The Peace Strike at Parliament Square, Wages Due Lesbians,
Michelene Wandor (writer/broadcaster), Women with Visible and
Invisible Disabilities, Women Against Rape, Women of Colour in the
GWS
Sign MoCas petition for family reunion:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MumsKids/petition.html (
http://www.petitiononline.com/MumsKids/petition.html )
Youtube Clips on Why a Mothers' March
Selma James ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcCk9CmQD2A ), Global
Women's Strike
Isata Denton-Ceesay ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2orh7Gt4E ),
All African Women's Group
For info on disability access and facilities for children, to sponsor or
to make a donation: (020)7482 2496 voice/minicom
www.globalwomenstrike.net ( http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/ )
aawg02@googlemail.com womenstrike8m@server101.com
Monday, 8 March 2010
Saturday, 6 March 2010
London Events this weekend: International Womens Day plus more!
Its international womens day on monday and as such there are lots of
feminist events happening in london this weekend.
Million Women Rise - Saturday 6th of march from 12 - march and rally. 3rd
national women only march to celebrate International Women's Day and
demonstrate against violence against women.
From the million women rise website at http://www.millionwomenrise.com.
"Million Women Rise is a coalition of individual women and representatives
from the Women’s Voluntary and Community Sector who have come together to
organise an annual national demonstration against male violence which
coincides with International Women’s Day in March each year.
On the demonstration, we celebrate and honour women’s activism, courage
and achievements and continued struggle against global male violence in
all its forms. Million Women Rise is an expression of women’s continued
resistance and struggle against global male violence. The first
demonstration in 2008 saw 5000 women and children take to the streets of
London. It was the largest, recent demonstration of women in UK history
and the most diverse demonstration many of us had ever attended."
London anarcha feminist kolektiv will be on the march. if you would like
to march with us we will be meeting at the meeting point (park lane,
oppopsite speakers corner) from 12. We will converge near the back, look
for the black and pink banner).
Please note this a women only event, although the rally at trafalgar
square is all-genders.
Sunday 7th March
Reclaiming birth march and rally
This event is happening because AIMS, NCT, RCM, IMUK, Albany Mums and
Midwifery Practice, many parents and midwives are so concerned about the
state of maternity services and the lack of options available to women.
Matters were brought to a head by the sudden closure of the highly
successful and loved Albany Midwifery Practice in south London.
1pm Assemble in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park,
Lambeth Road, London SE1 4EQ
March to whitehall for rally.
For full details visit http://www.aims.org.uk/reclaimingbirth.htm. this is
an all genders event - please support
LAFK are suuporting this campaign and will be in attendance, please look
for our banner if you'd like to march with us.
London Freeschool, 195 Mare Street - all weekend. for full details visit
http://londonfreeschool.wordpress.com/
Friday 5th March
————————————————————————————————————
•19.30 – 21.00 : Safer Space Policy discussion
•21.00 onwards : food/social
————————————————————————————————————
Saturday 6th March
————————————————————————————————————
Bar / Chill out space
•12.00 – 12.30 : Discussion/presentation of the Safer Space Policy •All
day Free tutorials for humanities students (turn up and ask for the
facilitators)
Workshop Space 1
•12.30 – 14.30 : Direct Action/ Blockading
•14.30 – 16.00 : Spanish lesson
•16.00 – 19.00 : A DIY Radio Workshop
Workshop space 2
•12.30 – 14.30 : Sexual Consent
•14.30 – 16.00 : Charm Offensive: a group discussion on charisma and
authority.
•16.00 – 17.30 : What have feminism tendencies brought to autonomous
politics in the seventies? How the perspective of feminism transcends
marxist/anarchist perspectives?
•17.30 – 19.00 : What are Children For?
Workshop Space 3
•12.30 – 14.30 : Downloading Workshop
•14.30 – 16.00 : Free and Open Source Software
•16.00 – 17.30 : Free Art/Expression workshop
Workshop Space 4
•All day: Welding (just come round and ask the facilitator to show
you!)Movie space
•… schedule to be made
Welding will happen all day
19.30 : Daily general debrief
————————————————————————————————————
Sunday 7th March
————————————————————————————————————
Bar / Chill out space
•12.00 – 12.30 : Discussion/presentation of the Safer Space Policy •All
day Free tutorials for humanities students (turn up and ask for the
facilitators)
Workshop Space 1
•12.30 – 14.00 : Misogyny, Oppression and Gyoza
•14.00 – 15.30 : French lesson
•15.30 – 17.00 : Experiences and politics of the menstrual cycle (self
identified women only)
•17.00 – 18.30 : Feminist Self Defence (self identified women only) •20.00
– 21.30 : Making Beards & Homemade Stuffers (self identified women only)
Workshop Space 2
•12.30 – 14.00 : Surprisingly empowering “women’s” work
•14.00 – 15.30 : Gender & Mental Health: Dora’s Case
•15.30 – 17.00 : London Profeminist Mens Group presentation
•17.00 – 18.30 : Workshop of Nothing
Workshop Space 3
•12.30 – 16.30 : Costume / Underwear Making
Workshop Space 4
•All day: Welding
Movie Space
•12.30 – 16.00 : The Game of War
•16.00 – 17.30 : Nomadic Queer Movie night
19.00 : Daily general debrief
Followed by a social / dressing up party!
——-
Other Workshop happening but yet to be scheduled :
Puppet Making
Bike Repair
For full details of whats happening over the next few days and weeks to
celebrate international womens day visit, http://iwd2010.wordpress.com/.
for more information about international womens day and its history
(herstory) visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp
feminist events happening in london this weekend.
Million Women Rise - Saturday 6th of march from 12 - march and rally. 3rd
national women only march to celebrate International Women's Day and
demonstrate against violence against women.
From the million women rise website at http://www.millionwomenrise.com.
"Million Women Rise is a coalition of individual women and representatives
from the Women’s Voluntary and Community Sector who have come together to
organise an annual national demonstration against male violence which
coincides with International Women’s Day in March each year.
On the demonstration, we celebrate and honour women’s activism, courage
and achievements and continued struggle against global male violence in
all its forms. Million Women Rise is an expression of women’s continued
resistance and struggle against global male violence. The first
demonstration in 2008 saw 5000 women and children take to the streets of
London. It was the largest, recent demonstration of women in UK history
and the most diverse demonstration many of us had ever attended."
London anarcha feminist kolektiv will be on the march. if you would like
to march with us we will be meeting at the meeting point (park lane,
oppopsite speakers corner) from 12. We will converge near the back, look
for the black and pink banner).
Please note this a women only event, although the rally at trafalgar
square is all-genders.
Sunday 7th March
Reclaiming birth march and rally
This event is happening because AIMS, NCT, RCM, IMUK, Albany Mums and
Midwifery Practice, many parents and midwives are so concerned about the
state of maternity services and the lack of options available to women.
Matters were brought to a head by the sudden closure of the highly
successful and loved Albany Midwifery Practice in south London.
1pm Assemble in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park,
Lambeth Road, London SE1 4EQ
March to whitehall for rally.
For full details visit http://www.aims.org.uk/reclaimingbirth.htm. this is
an all genders event - please support
LAFK are suuporting this campaign and will be in attendance, please look
for our banner if you'd like to march with us.
London Freeschool, 195 Mare Street - all weekend. for full details visit
http://londonfreeschool.wordpress.com/
Friday 5th March
————————————————————————————————————
•19.30 – 21.00 : Safer Space Policy discussion
•21.00 onwards : food/social
————————————————————————————————————
Saturday 6th March
————————————————————————————————————
Bar / Chill out space
•12.00 – 12.30 : Discussion/presentation of the Safer Space Policy •All
day Free tutorials for humanities students (turn up and ask for the
facilitators)
Workshop Space 1
•12.30 – 14.30 : Direct Action/ Blockading
•14.30 – 16.00 : Spanish lesson
•16.00 – 19.00 : A DIY Radio Workshop
Workshop space 2
•12.30 – 14.30 : Sexual Consent
•14.30 – 16.00 : Charm Offensive: a group discussion on charisma and
authority.
•16.00 – 17.30 : What have feminism tendencies brought to autonomous
politics in the seventies? How the perspective of feminism transcends
marxist/anarchist perspectives?
•17.30 – 19.00 : What are Children For?
Workshop Space 3
•12.30 – 14.30 : Downloading Workshop
•14.30 – 16.00 : Free and Open Source Software
•16.00 – 17.30 : Free Art/Expression workshop
Workshop Space 4
•All day: Welding (just come round and ask the facilitator to show
you!)Movie space
•… schedule to be made
Welding will happen all day
19.30 : Daily general debrief
————————————————————————————————————
Sunday 7th March
————————————————————————————————————
Bar / Chill out space
•12.00 – 12.30 : Discussion/presentation of the Safer Space Policy •All
day Free tutorials for humanities students (turn up and ask for the
facilitators)
Workshop Space 1
•12.30 – 14.00 : Misogyny, Oppression and Gyoza
•14.00 – 15.30 : French lesson
•15.30 – 17.00 : Experiences and politics of the menstrual cycle (self
identified women only)
•17.00 – 18.30 : Feminist Self Defence (self identified women only) •20.00
– 21.30 : Making Beards & Homemade Stuffers (self identified women only)
Workshop Space 2
•12.30 – 14.00 : Surprisingly empowering “women’s” work
•14.00 – 15.30 : Gender & Mental Health: Dora’s Case
•15.30 – 17.00 : London Profeminist Mens Group presentation
•17.00 – 18.30 : Workshop of Nothing
Workshop Space 3
•12.30 – 16.30 : Costume / Underwear Making
Workshop Space 4
•All day: Welding
Movie Space
•12.30 – 16.00 : The Game of War
•16.00 – 17.30 : Nomadic Queer Movie night
19.00 : Daily general debrief
Followed by a social / dressing up party!
——-
Other Workshop happening but yet to be scheduled :
Puppet Making
Bike Repair
For full details of whats happening over the next few days and weeks to
celebrate international womens day visit, http://iwd2010.wordpress.com/.
for more information about international womens day and its history
(herstory) visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Anarcho-feminist Conference in Barcelona, Spain this weekend
Iberia - Anarchist Communist Event
Saturday March 06 2010
Start Time: 11:00 AM
Barcelona: Anarcho-Feminist Conference
This year - 2010 - the CNT celebrates 100 years since it was founded, in
a context very different from today's. For this reason, we want to
analyze and reflect on the path that this class-struggle union has
followed throughout its history and examine its role today. There is no
doubt that the people who have been members of the CNT have mostly been
women and men with a capacity for critical thought, sometimes well ahead
of their time, and there have been times when the CNT has played a vital
role, as in the social revolution of 1936. Today we ask ourselves how it
sees itself as a union that fights against every form of authority, and
especially against something as important as patriarchy which, along
with capitalism, inhibits the freedom of many living beings and is
destroying the planet.
So, this Feminist Conference arise from the need of various female
members of the CNT to visualize the vital role that women play in the
anarchist movement, to reflect on the connection between anarchism and
feminism, to challenge traditional gender roles, female and male, on
which patriarchy are based.
The Conference on Women and Anarchism will be an opportunity to get
closer to the realities of female militancy. We intend to analyze,
discuss and highlight the participation and organization of women who
identify with libertarian principles without giving up their gender
identity. We want to see the problems that affect us as women in the
various areas where we operate: labour, educational, organizational,
health, emotional, etc., and the problems arising from a patriarchal and
capitalist society such as ours that affects us and our comrades, male
and female alike.
To this end, we will try to deal with the subject on two levels: one
level is our own situation as female workers and union activists in a
class-struggle, revolutionary and libertarian union, covering the
historical perspective and the needs that we see today. The second level
is feminist women's participation in the various organizations that seek
to contribute to social change. We are interested in highlighting these
daily struggles, the projects that result from them, the difficulties
that exist and the contradictions that we encounter. We also wish to
work on these aspects by collecting multiple experiences from the past
and others that are in progress today all over the world.
To try to cover these objectives, we have organized five topics:
1. Women, work and the union
2. A historical reference: the Mujeres Libres
3. Anarcho-feminism: organized women
4. Women in the press and propaganda of The Idea
5. Sexual diversity and anarchism.
Everyone is invited to participate in these reflections on our/your part
so that we can try to get closer to achieving our/your utopian society.
Let our thoughts become action.
PROGRAMME:
- Saturday 6 March 11.00 a.m.
Women and Anarcho-syndicalism: with Ana Sigüenza (first Secretary
General of the CNT) and Laura Vicente (Doctor of Contemporary History at
the University of Alicante), author of "Teresa Claramunt. Pionera del
feminismo obrerista anarquista".
Venue: Centre Cívic Drassanes - Sala d'Actes. C/Nou de la Rambla 43. (
L-3: Liceu, Drassanes ó Paralel).
- Sunday 7 March 5.00 p.m.
Workshop - Self-managing our health (women-only event - prior
registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com)
Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)
- Wednesday 10 March 7.00 p.m.
Cine forum: "Adrift (by casual women workers)" Authors: precarias a la
deriva.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Friday 12 Marzo 7.00 p.m.
Anarcho-feminist Theory & Practice, with La Katino Anarkista (member of
the Red Anarcofeminista de Mujeres and creator of the publication
"Alejandra") and Vanessa Ortíz, from the Juana Julia Guzmán collective
(Bogota).
Venue: Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes - FELLA.
C/Joaquin Costa 34. ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).
- Saturday 13 March 5.00 p.m.
Anarchist women propagandizing The Idea, with María Ángeles García
Maroto, anarcho-feminist journalist and writer, member of the Alcoi SOV,
and Antonina Rodrigo, writer, author of the book "Amparo Poch y Gascón,
médica y anarquista".
Presentation of feminist publications. RAG (Ireland), Herstory
(Barcelona), Histeria (Barcelona), Mujeres Preokupando 8 (Barcelona) and
others...
Venue: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona. C/Regomir 3. ( L-3: Liceu ó L-4 Jaume I).
- Sunday 14 March 5.00 p.m.
Feminist self-defence workshop. Organized by a Barcelona self-defence
group (women-only event - prior registration required:
libertariascnt@hotmail.com).
Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)
- Friday 19 March 7.00 p.m.
Animal liberation, liberation of the land and liberation of women.
Natalia, Maria, Isabella and Clara.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Saturday 20 March 5.00 p.m.
Mujeres Libres, yesterday and today, with Martha Ackelsberg, professor
of Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies at Smith College,
Northampton, MA (USA) and author of "Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and
the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women", together with comrades from
the Mujeres Libres in Extremadura and Madrid.
Venue: CCCB -- Aula 2. C/ Montalegre, 5 ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2
Universitat).
- Friday 26 March 7.00 a.m.
Gender, race and class. Carla.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Saturday 27 March 11.00 a.m.
Sexual Diversity and anarchism: debate organized by D-género, a
pro-sexual liberation libertarian collective from Madrid, Karolina,
Filipo Brenda and Maricarmen.
Venue: Centre Cívic Barceloneta. C/Conreria 1 -- 9. ( L-4: Barceloneta).
* Workshops are for women only. Prior registration is required - write
to: libertariascnt@hotmail.com . Dates for the workshops are subject to
change, and in this case participants will be advised by email. Further
workshops may be organized if the maximum number of participants is
exceeded.
Organized by: Comisión del CeNTenario (Barcelona)
English translation by FdCA-International Relations Office
Related Link: http://www.cnt.es/centenario
Source http://www.anarkismo.net/article/15927
Saturday March 06 2010
Start Time: 11:00 AM
Barcelona: Anarcho-Feminist Conference
This year - 2010 - the CNT celebrates 100 years since it was founded, in
a context very different from today's. For this reason, we want to
analyze and reflect on the path that this class-struggle union has
followed throughout its history and examine its role today. There is no
doubt that the people who have been members of the CNT have mostly been
women and men with a capacity for critical thought, sometimes well ahead
of their time, and there have been times when the CNT has played a vital
role, as in the social revolution of 1936. Today we ask ourselves how it
sees itself as a union that fights against every form of authority, and
especially against something as important as patriarchy which, along
with capitalism, inhibits the freedom of many living beings and is
destroying the planet.
So, this Feminist Conference arise from the need of various female
members of the CNT to visualize the vital role that women play in the
anarchist movement, to reflect on the connection between anarchism and
feminism, to challenge traditional gender roles, female and male, on
which patriarchy are based.
The Conference on Women and Anarchism will be an opportunity to get
closer to the realities of female militancy. We intend to analyze,
discuss and highlight the participation and organization of women who
identify with libertarian principles without giving up their gender
identity. We want to see the problems that affect us as women in the
various areas where we operate: labour, educational, organizational,
health, emotional, etc., and the problems arising from a patriarchal and
capitalist society such as ours that affects us and our comrades, male
and female alike.
To this end, we will try to deal with the subject on two levels: one
level is our own situation as female workers and union activists in a
class-struggle, revolutionary and libertarian union, covering the
historical perspective and the needs that we see today. The second level
is feminist women's participation in the various organizations that seek
to contribute to social change. We are interested in highlighting these
daily struggles, the projects that result from them, the difficulties
that exist and the contradictions that we encounter. We also wish to
work on these aspects by collecting multiple experiences from the past
and others that are in progress today all over the world.
To try to cover these objectives, we have organized five topics:
1. Women, work and the union
2. A historical reference: the Mujeres Libres
3. Anarcho-feminism: organized women
4. Women in the press and propaganda of The Idea
5. Sexual diversity and anarchism.
Everyone is invited to participate in these reflections on our/your part
so that we can try to get closer to achieving our/your utopian society.
Let our thoughts become action.
PROGRAMME:
- Saturday 6 March 11.00 a.m.
Women and Anarcho-syndicalism: with Ana Sigüenza (first Secretary
General of the CNT) and Laura Vicente (Doctor of Contemporary History at
the University of Alicante), author of "Teresa Claramunt. Pionera del
feminismo obrerista anarquista".
Venue: Centre Cívic Drassanes - Sala d'Actes. C/Nou de la Rambla 43. (
L-3: Liceu, Drassanes ó Paralel).
- Sunday 7 March 5.00 p.m.
Workshop - Self-managing our health (women-only event - prior
registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com)
Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)
- Wednesday 10 March 7.00 p.m.
Cine forum: "Adrift (by casual women workers)" Authors: precarias a la
deriva.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Friday 12 Marzo 7.00 p.m.
Anarcho-feminist Theory & Practice, with La Katino Anarkista (member of
the Red Anarcofeminista de Mujeres and creator of the publication
"Alejandra") and Vanessa Ortíz, from the Juana Julia Guzmán collective
(Bogota).
Venue: Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes - FELLA.
C/Joaquin Costa 34. ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).
- Saturday 13 March 5.00 p.m.
Anarchist women propagandizing The Idea, with María Ángeles García
Maroto, anarcho-feminist journalist and writer, member of the Alcoi SOV,
and Antonina Rodrigo, writer, author of the book "Amparo Poch y Gascón,
médica y anarquista".
Presentation of feminist publications. RAG (Ireland), Herstory
(Barcelona), Histeria (Barcelona), Mujeres Preokupando 8 (Barcelona) and
others...
Venue: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona. C/Regomir 3. ( L-3: Liceu ó L-4 Jaume I).
- Sunday 14 March 5.00 p.m.
Feminist self-defence workshop. Organized by a Barcelona self-defence
group (women-only event - prior registration required:
libertariascnt@hotmail.com).
Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)
- Friday 19 March 7.00 p.m.
Animal liberation, liberation of the land and liberation of women.
Natalia, Maria, Isabella and Clara.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Saturday 20 March 5.00 p.m.
Mujeres Libres, yesterday and today, with Martha Ackelsberg, professor
of Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies at Smith College,
Northampton, MA (USA) and author of "Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and
the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women", together with comrades from
the Mujeres Libres in Extremadura and Madrid.
Venue: CCCB -- Aula 2. C/ Montalegre, 5 ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2
Universitat).
- Friday 26 March 7.00 a.m.
Gender, race and class. Carla.
Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)
- Saturday 27 March 11.00 a.m.
Sexual Diversity and anarchism: debate organized by D-género, a
pro-sexual liberation libertarian collective from Madrid, Karolina,
Filipo Brenda and Maricarmen.
Venue: Centre Cívic Barceloneta. C/Conreria 1 -- 9. ( L-4: Barceloneta).
* Workshops are for women only. Prior registration is required - write
to: libertariascnt@hotmail.com . Dates for the workshops are subject to
change, and in this case participants will be advised by email. Further
workshops may be organized if the maximum number of participants is
exceeded.
Organized by: Comisión del CeNTenario (Barcelona)
English translation by FdCA-International Relations Office
Related Link: http://www.cnt.es/centenario
Source http://www.anarkismo.net/article/15927
Monday, 15 February 2010
"Spratz - a feminist kidzine" available on-line now
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
This Saturday: Brighton Anarcha-Feminism Day!
This Saturday 30th Jan 2010 sees the new year welcoming...
A DAY OF ANARCHA-FEMINISM
a completely free day and night of super feminism for all ages and genders
@ the cowley club, 12 london road, brighton
this event supports a new brighton womens homeless shelter and the launch
of the new anarcha-feminist group 'Organise!'- come along and get involved
DAY EVENT:
10.30am-6.30pm
including:
workshops n discussions (what is anarchfeminism?, feminist squats,
feminist childrearing, privilige, self-defense, men and anarchafem plus
many many more!)
skillshares n distros (DIY herbalism, zines, stencilling, subvertising,
radical knitting, plus so much more!)
PLUS!
-creche all day with kids workshops on storytelling n zines
-film sessions from 6.30-8.30pm
-yummy vegan lunch, tea n cake
-open to all, if you are new to anarchafeminism or an old hat!
-most workshops are wheelchair accessible and if not they can be adapted,
so please do ask the organising group for any particular needs you may
have: brightonanarchafeminists@lists.aktivix.org
NIGHT EVENT:
Fundraising gig, comedy, djs
7.30pm-2am
ALL FUNDS FROM THE DAY N NIGHT EVENT GO TO LATITUDE SAFE SPACE- A NEW
INITIATIVE FOR A BRIGHTON WOMEN'S HOMELESS SHELTER.
please support Latitude and get involved in the new brighton
anarchafeminist group ' Organise!' by coming to this event,
see you there!
A DAY OF ANARCHA-FEMINISM
a completely free day and night of super feminism for all ages and genders
@ the cowley club, 12 london road, brighton
this event supports a new brighton womens homeless shelter and the launch
of the new anarcha-feminist group 'Organise!'- come along and get involved
DAY EVENT:
10.30am-6.30pm
including:
workshops n discussions (what is anarchfeminism?, feminist squats,
feminist childrearing, privilige, self-defense, men and anarchafem plus
many many more!)
skillshares n distros (DIY herbalism, zines, stencilling, subvertising,
radical knitting, plus so much more!)
PLUS!
-creche all day with kids workshops on storytelling n zines
-film sessions from 6.30-8.30pm
-yummy vegan lunch, tea n cake
-open to all, if you are new to anarchafeminism or an old hat!
-most workshops are wheelchair accessible and if not they can be adapted,
so please do ask the organising group for any particular needs you may
have: brightonanarchafeminists@lists.aktivix.org
NIGHT EVENT:
Fundraising gig, comedy, djs
7.30pm-2am
ALL FUNDS FROM THE DAY N NIGHT EVENT GO TO LATITUDE SAFE SPACE- A NEW
INITIATIVE FOR A BRIGHTON WOMEN'S HOMELESS SHELTER.
please support Latitude and get involved in the new brighton
anarchafeminist group ' Organise!' by coming to this event,
see you there!
Friday, 11 December 2009
Plotting and scheming for welfare not workfare
*please repost
On 12 November, it became legal to force unemployed people to work for their benefits – to do 40-hour-weeks for under a third of the minimum wage. The Government's Welfare Reform Act introduced 'Work for your Benefit' pilot schemes, which once completed can be rolled out without any further debate. It also attacked single parents – who face sanctions if they fail to prepare for work outside the home as soon as their child turns three – and people with impairments, disabilities or severe andenduring illnesses.
Two days later, members of twenty-three different groups from around theUK met to share information and plan resistance to these pernicious attacks, which will take their toll on working-class and low-income communities.
Groups present included Unemployed Workers Unions from six cities acrossthe UK, the Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind,WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities), SingleMothers' Self-Defence (part of Global Women's Strike) and members of the union in the Department of Work and Pensions – PCS. They were joined by feminist and other groups (all listed below).
The strength to be gained from meeting in solidarity with each other was immense and created a real sense that a movement is building: a movementwhich will not only fight the immediate attacks of the Welfare Abolition Act, but draw out the connections between our struggles and together challenge the ideology driving them.
The Act seeks to make our worth dependent on work; work defined in the really narrow terms of waged work for someone else's profit. By making us compete with those in waged work for non-existent jobs, it helps drive down wages and conditions. We all take the brunt as the rich make even more money out of us.
• We want solidarity with and from people in low-income, temporary and insecure work. These are the jobs that 'work-for-your-benefit' would replace.
• We want caring to be recognised as important work in society. Single parents are already working and benefits are their entitlement to a social wage.
• We want justice for people with severe or enduring illnesses. The drive to get people off incapacity benefits and Employment and Support Allowance and into work is making people more ill with stress. Only we know what we are capable of and it is wrong for conditions and sanctions to be imposed on us to force us into unsuitable work, unwanted “work-related activity”or “motivation sessions” which press us into their programmes of treatmentfor addictions and other conditions.
• We want the right not to work. People not in waged work contribute loads to their communities. We do not want to be forced into mind-numbing,insecure work that leaves us no better off, or worse off than on benefitsand definitely not at £1.27 an hour!
• We want free, high-quality, public services to support older people andpeople with impairments/disabilities. People should not have to become employers managing 'individual budgets' in order to access the care they need.
• We want to stand in solidarity with migrant workers. Just as unemployed people are pitted against people in work, so migrant workers are pittedagainst us. We believe that we must stand together and demand all of ourrights together.
• We want to fight privatisation of the Department for Work and Pensions.Attacks on DWP and Jobcentre Plus workers are attacks on our rights toaccess welfare. We will support the PCS' fight against cuts.
• We want an end to the apartheid system of benefits, healthcare and housing for asylum seekers. UK Border Agency support should be scrapped-- where people are forced to survive on incomes far below benefit levels– which are already set at subsistence level. No slum housing and dangerous and dirty hostels, dispersal, or vouchers.
After a day of info-sharing, outrage and scheming, we formed a few working groups. If you're able to help out with any of the projects, please email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
1. Media working group – monitor and respond to hostile articles in the media.
2. Our propaganda – creating posters, newsletters etc to get our messages out
3. Website – put together a website as a space to share resources, feedback and comment, get the word out about our campaign and publicise local and national action.
4. Our welfare rights – compiling information to help us access our rights now and creating 'Know your rights' leaflets.
5. Defeating the Work for your Benefits pilots – research to support the network to take action against the pilots.
If you want to stay in touch, please join our discussion list here:http://groups.google.com/group/no-to-welfare-abolition
If you agree with our demands above and would like to take part in ourcampaign, please ask your group to sign up to this statement and email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
And put the next national meeting in your diary now.... 17 April in Manchester!
The meeting had people in attendance from: South Manchester Community Union, London Anarcha-Feminist Kolektiv, London Coalition Against Poverty, Feminist Action, Defend Welfare Newcastle, Manchester Unemployed WorkersUnion, Cambridge Unemployed Workers' Union, PCS, Hackney UnemployedWorkers, Single Mothers' Self Defence, Winvisible, Alliance for Workers'Liberty, Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind, Women's Office Manchester Student Union, Riveters feminist group in Manchester,Feminist Fightback, Industrial Workers of the World, No Borders, StopDeportations, Anarchist Federation, Communist Students, SalfordUnemployed Workers' Union.
On 12 November, it became legal to force unemployed people to work for their benefits – to do 40-hour-weeks for under a third of the minimum wage. The Government's Welfare Reform Act introduced 'Work for your Benefit' pilot schemes, which once completed can be rolled out without any further debate. It also attacked single parents – who face sanctions if they fail to prepare for work outside the home as soon as their child turns three – and people with impairments, disabilities or severe andenduring illnesses.
Two days later, members of twenty-three different groups from around theUK met to share information and plan resistance to these pernicious attacks, which will take their toll on working-class and low-income communities.
Groups present included Unemployed Workers Unions from six cities acrossthe UK, the Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind,WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities), SingleMothers' Self-Defence (part of Global Women's Strike) and members of the union in the Department of Work and Pensions – PCS. They were joined by feminist and other groups (all listed below).
The strength to be gained from meeting in solidarity with each other was immense and created a real sense that a movement is building: a movementwhich will not only fight the immediate attacks of the Welfare Abolition Act, but draw out the connections between our struggles and together challenge the ideology driving them.
The Act seeks to make our worth dependent on work; work defined in the really narrow terms of waged work for someone else's profit. By making us compete with those in waged work for non-existent jobs, it helps drive down wages and conditions. We all take the brunt as the rich make even more money out of us.
• We want solidarity with and from people in low-income, temporary and insecure work. These are the jobs that 'work-for-your-benefit' would replace.
• We want caring to be recognised as important work in society. Single parents are already working and benefits are their entitlement to a social wage.
• We want justice for people with severe or enduring illnesses. The drive to get people off incapacity benefits and Employment and Support Allowance and into work is making people more ill with stress. Only we know what we are capable of and it is wrong for conditions and sanctions to be imposed on us to force us into unsuitable work, unwanted “work-related activity”or “motivation sessions” which press us into their programmes of treatmentfor addictions and other conditions.
• We want the right not to work. People not in waged work contribute loads to their communities. We do not want to be forced into mind-numbing,insecure work that leaves us no better off, or worse off than on benefitsand definitely not at £1.27 an hour!
• We want free, high-quality, public services to support older people andpeople with impairments/disabilities. People should not have to become employers managing 'individual budgets' in order to access the care they need.
• We want to stand in solidarity with migrant workers. Just as unemployed people are pitted against people in work, so migrant workers are pittedagainst us. We believe that we must stand together and demand all of ourrights together.
• We want to fight privatisation of the Department for Work and Pensions.Attacks on DWP and Jobcentre Plus workers are attacks on our rights toaccess welfare. We will support the PCS' fight against cuts.
• We want an end to the apartheid system of benefits, healthcare and housing for asylum seekers. UK Border Agency support should be scrapped-- where people are forced to survive on incomes far below benefit levels– which are already set at subsistence level. No slum housing and dangerous and dirty hostels, dispersal, or vouchers.
After a day of info-sharing, outrage and scheming, we formed a few working groups. If you're able to help out with any of the projects, please email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
1. Media working group – monitor and respond to hostile articles in the media.
2. Our propaganda – creating posters, newsletters etc to get our messages out
3. Website – put together a website as a space to share resources, feedback and comment, get the word out about our campaign and publicise local and national action.
4. Our welfare rights – compiling information to help us access our rights now and creating 'Know your rights' leaflets.
5. Defeating the Work for your Benefits pilots – research to support the network to take action against the pilots.
If you want to stay in touch, please join our discussion list here:http://groups.google.com/group/no-to-welfare-abolition
If you agree with our demands above and would like to take part in ourcampaign, please ask your group to sign up to this statement and email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
And put the next national meeting in your diary now.... 17 April in Manchester!
The meeting had people in attendance from: South Manchester Community Union, London Anarcha-Feminist Kolektiv, London Coalition Against Poverty, Feminist Action, Defend Welfare Newcastle, Manchester Unemployed WorkersUnion, Cambridge Unemployed Workers' Union, PCS, Hackney UnemployedWorkers, Single Mothers' Self Defence, Winvisible, Alliance for Workers'Liberty, Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind, Women's Office Manchester Student Union, Riveters feminist group in Manchester,Feminist Fightback, Industrial Workers of the World, No Borders, StopDeportations, Anarchist Federation, Communist Students, SalfordUnemployed Workers' Union.
UK Government's Welfare Reform: Comments
Dear friends
We wanted you to see the letter from Single Mothers' Self-Defence and
WinVisible in
today’s Guardian (UK Newspaper), together with other letters. Below is what we were
responding to.
Please circulate widely.
Many thanks
_________________
Letters
Crackdown on fraud – and the vulnerable
The Guardian, Wednesday 9 December 2009
Minister Helen Goodman claims she agrees "that the early years of a
child's life are
so important" (Letters, 3 December). Yet Labour, with almost 100 women
MPs, many
calling themselves feminists, voted on 10 November for benefit sanctions
against
single parents of children aged three upwards, if they refused "work-related
activity". The "family-friendly" provisions Ms Goodman takes credit for
were won in
a knock-down fight in the Lords spearheaded by carers, including
breastfeeding
mothers, and women with disabilities. Labour already had in place that
mothers with
newborns had to report for "work-focused interviews". We won exemption from
interviews until the child is one; exemption from work-related activity,
if there is
no childcare; and for mothers of disabled children receiving any care
benefits,
among other concessions.
Better-off families can choose for one parent to stay at home, but
children from
low-income families are denied their right to care from someone who loves
them. Few
employers allow flexible working when teenage children need and deserve
attention.
At a recent single parents' conference, minister Yvette Cooper heard the
profound
problems mothers have of job insecurity, as well as discrimination against
part-time
workers. On top of coping alone with debt, high rents, stress, children's
behavioural problems, the enforced double day is a recipe for family
breakdown.
Professionals at the conference showed they know these problems inside
out, but they
do not protest publicly.
Kim Sparrow Single Mothers' Self-Defence
Claire Glasman WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities)
• It's ironic that the day the government announced a blitz on benefit
fraud, our
39-year-old severely disabled daughter who has very high support needs
received a
summons for fraud, with a substantial penalty charge levied, in threatening
language, from our local NHS Fraud Office for a prescription from April. The
prescription was ticked in the appropriate box as free, as she has always
been in
receipt of free medication, as disabled from birth. She has lived at the same
address for 13 years, has not changed her GP and, unfortunately, is
reliant on
several medications that require constant repeat prescriptions that are
ongoing.
Fortunately we, as parents, are able to challenge this inexcusable action,
that was
seemingly made without any checks on who she was or her status. Now the
"blitz" is
being rolled out, how many other of our most vulnerable and poorest
citizens are
going to be treated in such a way, and traumatised in the run up to
Christmas?
Name and address supplied
• How will Tory plans to slash already inadequate benefits support people
suffering
from depression?
H Powell
Alvechurch, Worcestershire
Letters
Lone parents
The Guardian, Thursday 3 December 2009
Our policy towards parents is based on what's best for them and their
children –
putting family first (Time to grow emotionally, 2 December). We agree with
Sue
Gerhardt that the early years of a child's life are so important – that's
why we
won't require parents to go back to work before their child is seven. And
government
financial support for families during a child's first year, including
statutory
maternity pay, the Sure Start maternity grant, and the child tax credit is
now worth
over £9,000.
For lone parent mothers of children aged seven to 12 we are introducing new
family-friendly regulations which will make clear that parents can look for
part-time work or jobs that fit with school hours. Paid work is the best
and most
sustainable route out of poverty for families and also good for people's
health and
wellbeing, and their self-esteem. It's far too simplistic to say we're
forcing
people back to work – any expectations fit round childcare and
flexibilities that
help to protect the work-family life balance.
Helen Goodman MP
Parliamentary undersecretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Time to grow emotionally
Chasing parents back to work just when children need them most will be
costly in the
long run
Sue Gerhardt
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 22.00 GMT
Everywhere, cuts are on the agenda. And not even the youngest, it seems,
escape
their impact. With the pre-budget report looming, it is particularly
disturbing to
consider that the manifesto pledge to extend maternity leave was the first
big
casualty of the Treasury's spending squeeze – suggesting it is seen as
Labour's most
expendable commitment.
Yet other government departments have in recent years acknowledged how early
parenting is the key to laying down the foundations for emotional
wellbeing. The
first two or three years are the crucial window when various systems which
manage
emotions are put into place. In particular, it is when we learn to exercise
self-control and to be aware of other people's needs. Without these basic
emotional
skills children may not grow up emotionally competent.
But to achieve this basic emotional literacy, babies need to be with
people they are
attached to well beyond nine months. They need to be with people who are
safe and
familiar, who know them well, respond to them quickly and, above all, love
them. The
idea that their main caregiver should be forced by economic necessity to
take paid
employment – or encouraged to let someone else manage their baby's emotional
development – is ludicrous.
As "JH", a single parent opposing proposals in the new welfare reform act,
wrote: "I
have the love and the commitment – why is that not recognised? I don't see
how
paying a stranger to care for him, while I seek similarly underpaid
part-time work
(perhaps even caring for someone else's children) will benefit either of us,
financially or otherwise."
The evidence is that it is highly unlikely to benefit her child –
particularly if he
is put into low-quality nursery care – since the earlier babies are put into
nurseries, and the longer they are there, the more likely their emotional
distress
will result in them being aggressive and difficult at school. Recent
research by
Clancy Blair at Pennsylvania State University also suggests that
children's academic
achievement is highly dependent on the emotional foundations that are put
in place
in the first couple of years.
Yet instead of moving towards greater support for early parenting, the
government is
sending the message that this is a luxury we cannot afford. Mothers should
leave
their babies and get back to earning money. The worthy goal of lifting
children out
of poverty is invoked. Of course we don't want children to feel excluded from
society, to suffer from their parents' financial anxieties, or to live in
communities of workless, frustrated adults. Yet it is simple-minded of the
government to conclude that forcing parents into work is the most
effective way to
end child poverty. Many chronic welfare dependents have themselves
experienced
economic deprivation, social exclusion and emotional trauma as children
and, as a
result, have become the teenage parents, the substance abusers, the
aggressive,
unreliable, under-qualified, psychosomatically ill, emotionally unskilled,
unemployable people who are such a financial burden to us all. Their own
emotional
difficulties often make it hard for them to offer their children the
loving, firm
parenting that is so essential for psychological wellbeing. But where is
the support
for such parents in the form of psychotherapy and parent-skills training
so that we
can stop the cycle of disadvantage?
The men in the Treasury are casting around for easy targets to balance
their books
and meet their child poverty targets. But they have lost sight of what really
matters. Children's wellbeing starts with positive early relationships
from birth.
This is one investment we must make, however expensive it is. In the long
run, we
will even save money.
Sue Gerhardt is a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author of Why
Love
Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain
We wanted you to see the letter from Single Mothers' Self-Defence and
WinVisible in
today’s Guardian (UK Newspaper), together with other letters. Below is what we were
responding to.
Please circulate widely.
Many thanks
_________________
Letters
Crackdown on fraud – and the vulnerable
The Guardian, Wednesday 9 December 2009
Minister Helen Goodman claims she agrees "that the early years of a
child's life are
so important" (Letters, 3 December). Yet Labour, with almost 100 women
MPs, many
calling themselves feminists, voted on 10 November for benefit sanctions
against
single parents of children aged three upwards, if they refused "work-related
activity". The "family-friendly" provisions Ms Goodman takes credit for
were won in
a knock-down fight in the Lords spearheaded by carers, including
breastfeeding
mothers, and women with disabilities. Labour already had in place that
mothers with
newborns had to report for "work-focused interviews". We won exemption from
interviews until the child is one; exemption from work-related activity,
if there is
no childcare; and for mothers of disabled children receiving any care
benefits,
among other concessions.
Better-off families can choose for one parent to stay at home, but
children from
low-income families are denied their right to care from someone who loves
them. Few
employers allow flexible working when teenage children need and deserve
attention.
At a recent single parents' conference, minister Yvette Cooper heard the
profound
problems mothers have of job insecurity, as well as discrimination against
part-time
workers. On top of coping alone with debt, high rents, stress, children's
behavioural problems, the enforced double day is a recipe for family
breakdown.
Professionals at the conference showed they know these problems inside
out, but they
do not protest publicly.
Kim Sparrow Single Mothers' Self-Defence
Claire Glasman WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities)
• It's ironic that the day the government announced a blitz on benefit
fraud, our
39-year-old severely disabled daughter who has very high support needs
received a
summons for fraud, with a substantial penalty charge levied, in threatening
language, from our local NHS Fraud Office for a prescription from April. The
prescription was ticked in the appropriate box as free, as she has always
been in
receipt of free medication, as disabled from birth. She has lived at the same
address for 13 years, has not changed her GP and, unfortunately, is
reliant on
several medications that require constant repeat prescriptions that are
ongoing.
Fortunately we, as parents, are able to challenge this inexcusable action,
that was
seemingly made without any checks on who she was or her status. Now the
"blitz" is
being rolled out, how many other of our most vulnerable and poorest
citizens are
going to be treated in such a way, and traumatised in the run up to
Christmas?
Name and address supplied
• How will Tory plans to slash already inadequate benefits support people
suffering
from depression?
H Powell
Alvechurch, Worcestershire
Letters
Lone parents
The Guardian, Thursday 3 December 2009
Our policy towards parents is based on what's best for them and their
children –
putting family first (Time to grow emotionally, 2 December). We agree with
Sue
Gerhardt that the early years of a child's life are so important – that's
why we
won't require parents to go back to work before their child is seven. And
government
financial support for families during a child's first year, including
statutory
maternity pay, the Sure Start maternity grant, and the child tax credit is
now worth
over £9,000.
For lone parent mothers of children aged seven to 12 we are introducing new
family-friendly regulations which will make clear that parents can look for
part-time work or jobs that fit with school hours. Paid work is the best
and most
sustainable route out of poverty for families and also good for people's
health and
wellbeing, and their self-esteem. It's far too simplistic to say we're
forcing
people back to work – any expectations fit round childcare and
flexibilities that
help to protect the work-family life balance.
Helen Goodman MP
Parliamentary undersecretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Time to grow emotionally
Chasing parents back to work just when children need them most will be
costly in the
long run
Sue Gerhardt
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 22.00 GMT
Everywhere, cuts are on the agenda. And not even the youngest, it seems,
escape
their impact. With the pre-budget report looming, it is particularly
disturbing to
consider that the manifesto pledge to extend maternity leave was the first
big
casualty of the Treasury's spending squeeze – suggesting it is seen as
Labour's most
expendable commitment.
Yet other government departments have in recent years acknowledged how early
parenting is the key to laying down the foundations for emotional
wellbeing. The
first two or three years are the crucial window when various systems which
manage
emotions are put into place. In particular, it is when we learn to exercise
self-control and to be aware of other people's needs. Without these basic
emotional
skills children may not grow up emotionally competent.
But to achieve this basic emotional literacy, babies need to be with
people they are
attached to well beyond nine months. They need to be with people who are
safe and
familiar, who know them well, respond to them quickly and, above all, love
them. The
idea that their main caregiver should be forced by economic necessity to
take paid
employment – or encouraged to let someone else manage their baby's emotional
development – is ludicrous.
As "JH", a single parent opposing proposals in the new welfare reform act,
wrote: "I
have the love and the commitment – why is that not recognised? I don't see
how
paying a stranger to care for him, while I seek similarly underpaid
part-time work
(perhaps even caring for someone else's children) will benefit either of us,
financially or otherwise."
The evidence is that it is highly unlikely to benefit her child –
particularly if he
is put into low-quality nursery care – since the earlier babies are put into
nurseries, and the longer they are there, the more likely their emotional
distress
will result in them being aggressive and difficult at school. Recent
research by
Clancy Blair at Pennsylvania State University also suggests that
children's academic
achievement is highly dependent on the emotional foundations that are put
in place
in the first couple of years.
Yet instead of moving towards greater support for early parenting, the
government is
sending the message that this is a luxury we cannot afford. Mothers should
leave
their babies and get back to earning money. The worthy goal of lifting
children out
of poverty is invoked. Of course we don't want children to feel excluded from
society, to suffer from their parents' financial anxieties, or to live in
communities of workless, frustrated adults. Yet it is simple-minded of the
government to conclude that forcing parents into work is the most
effective way to
end child poverty. Many chronic welfare dependents have themselves
experienced
economic deprivation, social exclusion and emotional trauma as children
and, as a
result, have become the teenage parents, the substance abusers, the
aggressive,
unreliable, under-qualified, psychosomatically ill, emotionally unskilled,
unemployable people who are such a financial burden to us all. Their own
emotional
difficulties often make it hard for them to offer their children the
loving, firm
parenting that is so essential for psychological wellbeing. But where is
the support
for such parents in the form of psychotherapy and parent-skills training
so that we
can stop the cycle of disadvantage?
The men in the Treasury are casting around for easy targets to balance
their books
and meet their child poverty targets. But they have lost sight of what really
matters. Children's wellbeing starts with positive early relationships
from birth.
This is one investment we must make, however expensive it is. In the long
run, we
will even save money.
Sue Gerhardt is a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author of Why
Love
Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain
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