The following is the first text contributed to Freedom’s new Art & Anarchy column. It will run each third Sunday of a month. Artists from all fields are encouraged to contribute their artwork and texts. Get in touch: editor(at)freedompress.org.uk. (zb) The COVID-19 pandemic continues to change all our lives forever. “Social distancing” suggests that people
Tag: mutual aid
Don’t Despair, Organise! An introduction to the (yet-unnamed) confederation of Solidarity Funds
The following text was contributed to Freedom by a person involved in Goose Green Solidarity Fund: a newly formed organisation for people who live in SE22 and are struggling financially as a result of COVID-19. What is a solidarity fund? It’s a pot of money that in our case comes from the community and sometimes
Beet & Two Veg: Grow Your Own Emancipation
Looking at some of the mainstream vegan publications and some of the more high profile social media superstars, you would be forgiven for thinking that veganism was a trend invented by wealthy white hipsters in the noughties which is all about weight loss, quinoa and Faux Foie Gras. The more popular the V word becomes,
Lessons from COVID-19: How transformative justice and mutual aid can help to address harm in communities
This article was originally published on the Transforming Society blog. Download the guide ‘How to Address Harm: A Guide for COVID-19 Mutual Aid Groups’ for information, tools and practical tips to help individuals and mutual aid groups. When UK government policy swung to a police-enforced lockdown on 23 March we were told that if we
Solidarity against barbarism: The fight against coronavirus and the far-right in the USA
This interview was originally published by Brighton Antifascists. Like everyone else we’ve been in lockdown, spending a lot of time at home with our stockpile of beans in our Antifa™ bunker. But we’ve also stayed active playing our part in local organising initiatives in Brighton and further afield – food banks, food deliveries, mutual aid
Mutual Aid: It’s a class sabotage!
When I first saw this article from Freedom News about Labour sabotage of Mutual Aid groups I literally screamed “who from our group leaked this!”. I didn’t realise it was a London group who wrote it – that’s how common this issue is. For us locally, it’s awful. Sure, we have 550+ volunteers, do about
Contribute to the Mayday Rooms Pandemic Notes Archive
“We need to create the place we’ll meet again. But we need to remember what this was” The above quote is taken from some graffiti spotted on the streets and walls of Athens early on in the Covid-19 crisis. You might remember those days. Everyone seemed on the edge of a panic that was very
“Calling us heroes just makes it ok when we die”: why we took to the streets for our keyworkers
On Wednesday, it was Workers’ Memorial Day. Today, it is International Workers’ Day. This year, we are particularly aware of the sacrifices keyworkers are making. Thousands held a minute’s silence to remember those who have died because of COVID-19. It is right to remember the dead – but a minute’s silence, and a clap on
Food, poverty, mutual aid: Reflections from Birmingham solidarity kitchen
According to a recent report by The Food Foundation, 1.5 million people have reported going an entire day without food due to poverty during the coronavirus crisis. This is as sickening as it is unsurprising. Ten years of brutal austerity had already left millions living pay-check to pay-check before the shuttering of the economy. Now,
Tug of class war: Agamben vs Zizek on the impact of Covid-19
Panos Theodoropoulos analyses a war of words which has broken out between two well-known political philosophers over the nature of State reactions to Covid-19 and the possibilities for liberatory politics, while trying to find a constructive synthesis of their key points. Turning Marx on his head, I want to focus on interpreting the recent conjuncture in terms