October 15th Solidarity screenprint

Haven't designed anything in a wee while, so when I was asked to design the poster for the upcoming October 15th Solidarity Exhibition and Auction I had to dust off the inner cobwebs, so to speak. Quite happy with the result, which I will hand screenprint this week at SRA2 size (640mm x 540mm). Trying to get the third colour from overprinting the red onto black, which I haven't done in that particular combo, so we'll see how it goes! Not sure if you can make it out, but the lovely gentleman featured is our very own Police Commissioner Howard Broad.

Make sure you try and get down to the exhibition, check out the full events on offer, and show you support for the arrestees of the October 15th 2007 state terror raids.

Radical Activism Visual Archive

I check in quite a bit at my friend Alexis' site, the Radical Activism Visual Archive — there's often new posters on there from around the world. Found these two which I simply had to share!

Surveillance of Activists in Auckland

"Whoever the nutcases behind this surveillance are the implications are worrying. This surveillance is obviously aimed at building a detailed database of active political activists in New Zealand. Whether police or private this information will no doubt be used to target political activists and hinder campaigns where possible. Auckland activists have seen a constant stream of arrests almost none of which are ever taken to trial. Thompson and Clark are still trying to infiltrate activist groups around New Zealand and are paid by companies to sabotage campaigns by whatever means they can."


From Indymedia.co.nz: Today Auckland animal rights activists held a protest against the fur trade. The protest outside the Norwegian consulate was in response to a recent expose of Norwegian fur farms. The protest had been widely advertised and was completely public. Around ten of us were holding placards and leafleting passers by. During the protest a photographer for the listener approached us and told us that a photographer was in a car across the road with a long lens taking photos of the demo.

Immediately I headed across the road with a camera. As I neared the car the driver took off at high speed. At the next intersection the driver got stuck in a red light. As pedestrians crossed the road I took a couple of photos of the car and driver. To avoid having his photo taken the driver pulled his shirt completely over his head. While people were still crossing in front of his car he accelerated suddenly and then had to break heavily, coming dangerously close to running the pedestrians over. When he accelerated there were three people directly in front of his car. He was obviously driving blind. After this rather than stopping he sped through a red light.

All of this took place in front of a police car on the opposite side of the intersection which immediately did a u turn and turned on its lights and siren. The driver continued driving for a block and went around the corner. By the time I had caught up the driver of the car was being talked to by a police officer. The driver still had his shirt pulled partially over his head. I explained to the second officer who I was and why I had been trying to take photos of this guy. The first officer came over and told the second officer “This guy was taking photos of this protest and didn’t want his photo taken”. The police did not arrest the driver and allowed him to leave. I do not know if he received a fine....

Walking back to the protest I came across two men with radios, tinted shades and an expensive camera. The men were standing near to where the driver had been parked whilst photographing the protest. I overheard them trying to find out where the driver had gone. After taking a few quick photos of these two I rejoined the protest which went on as planned.

The surveillance was either being carried out by the New Zealand police or by a private security company. The most obvious example of a private company is Thompson and Clark. This company specialises in infiltrating and monitoring protest organisations. Famously employed by SOE Solid Energy this company uses infiltrators to help big business quash protest campaigns.

Whoever the nutcases behind this surveillance are the implications are worrying. This surveillance is obviously aimed at building a detailed database of active political activists in New Zealand. Whether police or private this information will no doubt be used to target political activists and hinder campaigns where possible. Auckland activists have seen a constant stream of arrests almost none of which are ever taken to trial. Thompson and Clark are still trying to infiltrate activist groups around New Zealand and are paid by companies to sabotage campaigns by whatever means they can.

An example of how the kind of photographs taken today may be used is illustrated by a poster we came across a few years ago. The poster contained about 50 photos of animal rights activists and was being delivered to fashion shops across Auckland. Many of the photos on the poster had been taken covertly at protests. At the bottom of the poster is a caption reading “If you have any information on any of the mentioned Activists/Protesters, then forward all details through to Detective Mike Cartwright, Harlech House, 482 Great South Road … Michael.Cartwright@police.govt.nz”. Michael Cartwright was at the time a member of the “Threat Assesment Unit” Set up post 9/11 to monitor domestic threats to security. Despite being 16 at the time and having no convictions then or since I was included on the poster. Many of the other people on the poster had never been to an animal rights demo and were shocked to see themselves on it. Obviously this poster and similar activity is not aimed at solving any criminal activity but rather at long term profiling of Activists.

Neither is this surveillance limited to Auckland. In Wellington last month counter terrorist unit officer Richard Grover was caught hiding in a carpark photographing Foie Gras protesters. At the same time John Campbell of Provision security was also attempting to photograph the half dozen protesters. The full story at: http://www.indymedia.org.nz/article/77575/still-lying-still-spying-anti-terror-pol.

I don’t think surveillance should stop or even slow down the protest movement. We need to keep doing what we are doing openly and proudly, we have nothing to hide. However I think it is important to expose state and corporate surveillance where we can.

I don’t think Activists or the public should put up with this kind of activity. Attending a picket or holding a placard should not result in you being added to a data base.

Wahi and the Wobblies! Film night

"Fire Your Boss!"... "Abolish the wage system!"

With their revolutionary slogans, union cards, and a swag of 'silent agitators' (stickers, posters etc), the Industrial Workers of the World, aka the Wobblies, took to organizing the working class into the 'OBU' (one big union). In the process of challenging capitalism and fighting for workplace democracy, the Wobblies were one of the few unions to be racially and sexually integrated, and were often met with imprisonment, violence, and the privations of prolonged strikes. Their influence was worldwide, having an effect on New Zealand's militant labour unions of the early 20th century and Aotearoa struggles such as the 1912 Waihi Strike.

Beyond Resistance is proud to present The Wobblies, an award-winning film which takes a provocative look at the history of this radical union and the concepts of Revolutionary Unionsim, screening the unforgettable and still-fiery voices of Wobbly members — lumberjacks, migratory workers, and silk weavers —in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. Eerily echoing current times, The Wobblies boldly investigates a world torn by naked corporate greed and the red-hot rift between the industrial masters and the rabble-rousing workers in the field and factory. Replete with song and gorgeous archival footage, the film pays tribute to workers who took the ideals of equality and free speech seriously enough to die for them.

And as a special treat, we will also be screening the world premier of Black Tuesday, a short film on the Waihi Strike of 1912 — one of Aotearoa's most violent (and fatal) industrial struggles.

Watch the Wobblies trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5l7uwtqkqU

Food, drinks and childcare will be provided, so come on down and join your local anarchists as part of our monthly film nights at the WEA! Zines, books and more will also be available on the night thanks to the lovely folks at Katipo Books.

Thursday 24 September, 6.30pm.
WEA (59 Gloucester Street), Otautahi/Christchurch.

Entry by Koha/donation.

Film length: 86 minutes

For more information contact:
otautahianarchists (at )gmail.com
http://beyondresistance.wordpress.com/

See you then!

Anarchist posters: Spain 1936 and more

I recently stumbled upon a french site which has an amazing collection of anarchist graphic work, from the times of the Paris Commune and the Spanish Revolution, through to May 68 and today. Posters are heavily featured, but anarchist stamps, money (if you can call it that), broadsheets and publications are all there too. The collection of Mujeres Libres and anarchist CNT-FAI posters from the Spanish Revolution are simply dazzling; as a (sometimes) poster maker it's truly inspiring to see the quality of both the craft and content of theses works.

Use google to translate the site from French to English, or simply let the visuals do the talking.

NDU strike: boycott Pack n Save/New World

From NDU: Give support to 220 striking NDU Foodstuffs DC workers who are walking off the job across the South Island on Thursday afternoon (3rd September) in protest at the lack of any offer from Foodstuffs South Island to improve their wages and conditions.

After 6 months of fruitless negotiations NDU members will not only walk off the job, they intend to also protest outside the supermarkets owned by some of the Foodstuffs Board members.

Despite negotiations commencing in February the company has consistently refused to improve the wages and conditions of members at negotiations. By offering nothing – no wage increase, no improved conditions – it has made a mockery of a genuine bargaining process.

The Union believes the company is acting in bad faith and is using the recession rhetoric to prevent legitimate and well overdue pay rises. By contrast, Foodstuffs’ main competitor Progressive Enterprises (owners of Woolworths, Countdown and Foodtown) supermarkets pays $3-$4 more per hour for doing the same work.

Foodstuffs controls 57% of the NZ supermarket industry. All members are asking for is a fair decent living wage (sic).

The Union hopes to get the support from members of the public thru signing a Public petition (attached) calling on CEO Steve Anderson (who earns $18,000 per week) to share some.

In Christchurch, these places will be:

Halswell New World
Owned by Barry Gray.
Where: 346-360 Halswell Road, Christchurch
Time: 12.30 – 2.30pm

Northlands Pak n Save
Owned by Stephen Boock.
Where: Northlands Shopping Centre, Main North Road/Sissons Drive, Papanui
Time: 2.15 – 4.00pm

Make Your Own Tea!

I hadn't read this before, but I would recommend it to anyone (if they haven't already). Make Your Own Tea by Alice Nutter in the last issue of Class War, is a great text on radical feminism, anarchism and class struggle.

"This piece is written for all revolutionaries. This is not the token 'women's bit' that's stuck in for the sake of appearances. This is an attempt to look at how and why the Left, and Class War in particular, has not just failed to attract women, but alienated, patronised and looked upon them as a minority group. How can half the working class be treated as a minority? We're not claiming that we have solutions for the gender imbalance but we are saying that it's time to stop ignoring the problem. Any revolutionary movement which doesn't address why there are so few women in its ranks isn't a true revolutionary movement, just a complacent reflection of the status quo."

I liked these points in particular:

"The new right wants us in the traditional wifey mode, but it also wants our wage labour. The post-feminist line is that the modern women can have freedom through work, and still have the 'fulfilment' of running a home. Capitalism needs women to work. The far right's shift to economic 'rationalism' and the expansion of the low-paid service industries mean that cheap labour is always in demand. And as far as capital is concerned, nothing comes cheaper than women. Capitalism's motto is: if you want to shell out less money and make more profits, employ women - they're worth less.

Nine out of ten single parents are women, and even in two parent households many women are the main bread-winner; yet capitalism still pretends that women's wages are 'pin money.' Women don't need a living wage, because we don't actually have to live off it. Despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, men are still seen as the main 'providers'. Our wages pay for the little extras: food, shelter and warmth. And as we get older, in a society which judges women on appearance, we become worthless."

and:

"In 81 per cent of (two adult) homes where a woman works full-time, she's still responsible for the washing and ironing and the bulk of the domestic jobs. Maybe 'we've made it' means the beds. We're still acting as unpaid domestic servants; the only real change is that many men think they do more. There's a million excuses for why not, but men rarely take an equal share of cooking and household chores. Revolutionary groups seldom address the day-to-day inequalities in their own kitchens. Issues around housework are seen as trivial. Twenty years ago the expression for it was 'women's work'. Lefty 'man' may claim to be fighting for the freedom of mankind, but that doesn't mean he wants his girlfriend to stop doing his washing.

Part of the problem is that housework has been tagged 'personal politics'. 'Personal' like 'middle class' is just another way of saying irrelevant to the overall struggle. Class War has always understood that 'politics' is about improving the day-to-day realities of our lives. Unfortunately, that understanding doesn't seem to extend to women. Too often issues are prioritised on the grounds of whether or not they make men feel heroic. Rioting does; shopping doesn't. Washing up just doesn't get the adrenalin going: ask any woman."

final paragraphs:

"There's not much incentive for women to join revolutionary groups when the general ethos is: you can fight our battles but we're not interested in yours.

Women join revolutionary organisations because they want to change the whole of society not just the sexist bit. But to survive within them we end up having to 'put up and shut up'. Just because we've prioritised class and capitalism as major oppressions doesn't mean that we don't give a shit about gender.

The old chestnut about 'single issues' distracting the focus of the struggle has been dragged out too many times when women's struggles come up. The anti-JSA campaign or prisoner support are 'single issues'; race, class and gender aren't. We can't pick up and put down our class, our skin colour or our sex. Whatever comes after Class War needs to take a less one-dimensional approach. We don't know what will make a unified movement, but we do know what won't: ignorance.

No one is 'just' working class, 'just' a woman, 'just' black. Our politics are a mesh of different experiences, and half the time there's no cosy alliance between our different oppressions. A women's experiences under patriarchy help shape her perceptions of class. We've been guilty of pretending that working class men and women would all live happily ever after once we've banished capitalism. Not if we still have one half serving the other half. Life isn't simple. Those who are our comrades in one area may well turn out to be against us in another. When conflict comes up we're forced to say what matters most; sometimes it's our class and sometimes it isn't. We have to acknowledge difficulties before we can start to deal with them. We don't know if we can resolve these dilemmas but we're certainly willing to try."

Black Tuesday and the 1912 Waihi Strike

On 'Black Tuesday' November 12, 1914, Frederick George Evans became the first worker killed in an industrial dispute in New Zealand. This short film shows the strike and the struggle which lead up to his death, in a hope to share more of New Zealand's militant labour history.

My account of this part of our history doesn't pretend to be objective or unbiased — as they say, you can't be neutral on a moving train. Watch at full screen size to get a better view of the subtitles.

Beyond Resistance: a new collective of class struggle anarchists

After a few local events and discussions, a new anarchist group has formed in Otautahi.

Beyond Resistance is a collective of revolutionary class struggle anarchists in Otautahi/Christchurch, Aotearoa, who have come together in the hope of creating a coherent and organised anarchist presence in our area. Our name reflects our intended approach to struggle — a visible and constructive anarchism that goes beyond mere reaction, both in the workplace and the community.

We are a new collective which hopes to grow and develop over time — through good group process, regular events such as our monthly film nights and forums, our own paper, and most importantly, clear strategy and vision for constructive struggle. Feel free to check out our aims & principles for where we stand, or visit our (very new) website: Beyond Resistance.

Our group strategy will be coming soon (after our first strategy hui), but we recognse that an anarchist position should be that in order to have improvements, it is necessary to struggle. So if we are a fighting organisation, then strategy and tactics must be applied to advance our anarchist positions and in order to build dual power — to take concrete tactical steps which bring us closer to a position of breaking with and destroying the prevailing order. Without a program, we have nothing to offer those wanting to empower themselves through class struggle, and the potential of anarchist input in this struggle, as a result, becomes near to naught.

This is the task in front of us as a small collective wanting to punch above it’s weight. We look forward to this struggle, and hope to build strong relationships with other groups around Aotearoa with similar positions.

If you’re in Otautahi and would like to get involved then please get in touch, or to be informed of local upcoming events (such as the film screening of Lucio this Thursday at the WEA), sign on to the Otautahi anarchist announcement list. We meet every second Thursday at the WEA from 6.30pm, but if you can't make regular meetings and are keen to help out, then you can become a support member with the option of paying dues and being involved in other ways. Again, feel free to get in touch to find out more.

In solidarity!
Beyond Resistance

Email: otautahianarchists (at) gmail.com
Web: http://beyondresistance.wordpress.com/
List: http://lists.anarchism.org.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/otautahi

Emroy Douglas in New Zealand

The former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party will deliver a public lecture and mount a solo exhibition when he visits New Zealand as the Elam International Artist in Residence at The University of Auckland.

Emory Douglas created the striking graphic images that came to represent the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s. The group was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, and was one of the first organisations in US history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation.

Symbolising the civil unrest of the times, Emory Douglas’ images were used to illustrate the Black Panther, the party’s weekly newspaper. Over the years, the Black Panther’s “Revolutionary Artist” made countless artworks, illustrations, and cartoons, which were reproduced in the paper and distributed as prints, posters, cards and sculptures.

Thanks in large part to Emory Douglas’ powerful visuals the Black Panther Party delivered a forceful message to a community ravaged by poverty, police brutality, and poor living conditions. The organisation was discontinued in the early 1980s.

While in Auckland, Emory Douglas will deliver a public lecture, “Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution”, about the graphic art he created while Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. He will also give lectures in New Plymouth, Dunedin and Wellington, where he is being hosted as part of his visit to New Zealand.

He is also the subject of a solo exhibition, “Emory Douglas, Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party”. The show, on display at the Gus Fisher Gallery, will include newspapers, posters, memorabilia and a busy schedule of public programmes.

Emory will also accept a number of community and iwi-based invitations. He will travel to the Ureweras, Taranaki and parts of wider Auckland. As part of their welcome to Emory Douglas, the Polynesian Panthers will host a public concert in his honour. The event will comprise talks, music and other activities.

“What makes this artist residency so significant is the historical ties between the New Zealand Polynesian Panther Party and the American Black Panther Party. Their battles for civil and human rights reflect the fight that Māori today continue their struggle to achieve,” says Emory Douglas, who is making his first visit to New Zealand.

“Emory Douglas is a highly respected artist whose work reflects the power, politics and passion of the causes in which he believes. More than just a glimpse at past political conflicts, Emory Douglas’ art is compelling precisely because of its relevance today. We are delighted to host such a prestigious figure of yesterday’s radical politics and today’s art world,” says Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Head of Elam School of Fine Arts.

“Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution” will be delivered at 6.30pm on Monday 24 August in room 1.439, “Glass Box”, Engineering Building, (20 Symonds Street). The lecture and Power Point presentation is free and open to the public.

“Emory Douglas, Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party” will be mounted at the Gus Fisher Gallery (74 Shortland Street) from 21 August – 3 October. For details visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz

Telco workers strike against Telecom

From Indymedia.org.nz: More than a hundred telecommunications engineers in Auckland's North Shore have started lightning strike action to protest moves by Telecom to force them into becoming dependent contractors - a situation that would dramatically decrease their incomes.

The workers are responsible for the North Shore's phone, internet and eftpos provision and say they will strike until Telecom fronts up to them.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the strike action is part of an ongoing national campaign and Telecom can expect more over the next few weeks.

"Our members have had a gutsful of Telecom and its contractors attacking their terms and conditions and are determined to fight back with sporadic strike action around the country over the next few weeks.

"For members in Auckland and Northland the fight is particularly urgent because they've been told they'll be redundant by Telecom contractors Transfield and Downer EDI and picked up as dependent contractors by another Telecom contractor, Visionstream.

"The dependent contracting model represents a serious threat to our members' incomes and their income security and they are determined to refuse to transfer to Visionstream until they have a proper employment offer.

"It's time for Telecom to front up and work with union members to develop long-term and stable employment to ensure a stable future for the telco industry and the New Zealand network.

"We understand that this campaign may result in disruption for members of the public but we have committed to working with Telecom's contractors to ensure emergency services are not affected."

Wednesday's action follows a two-day strike by Downer EDI telco workers in Northland on Monday and Tuesday and national strike action by Transfield workers a week and a half ago.

Type rest of the post here

Quote of the Week

"So off we went to Atlanta. There was a curious object stuck by means of a suction cup to the glove compartment in front of me, I remember. Coming out of the cup and aimed at my breastbone was what looked like about a foot of green garden hose. At the end of the shaft was a white plastic wheel the size of a dinner plate. Once we got going, the wheel began to hypnotize me, bobbing up and down when we went over bumps, swaying this way and then that way as we went around curves.
So I asked about it. It was a toy steering wheel, it turned out. Lawes had a seven-year-old son he sometimes took with him on trips. The little boy could pretend to be driving the limousine with the plastic wheel. There had been no such toy when my own son was little. Then again, he wouldn't have enjoyed it much. Even at seven, young Walter hated to go anywhere with his mother and me.
I said it was a clever toy.
Lawes said it could be an exciting one too, especially of the person with the real steering wheel was drunk and having close shaves with oncoming trucks and sideswiping parked cars and so on. He said that the President of the United States ought to be given a wheel like that at his inauguration, to remind him and everybody else that all he could do was pretend to steer."

From Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut.

Free hardcore punk anyone?

Although the actual artifact of rare vinyl can never be replicated, thanks to the internet we can a least enjoy the music of those hard-to-find bands. And enjoying them I am! Stumbling upon Nation of Fire last week was simply the tip of the iceberg — there's more free download sites out there than I thought, and that's only in the realm of hardcore punk!

There's too many for me to list, but I thought I'd post links to the sites I found most fruitful:

Nation on Fire: mainly british anarch-punk and UK82 hardcore, with a good links page to other similar sites. Use the search bar top left to save time, or scroll through the recent posts section to find a band.

Punk As Fuck: a Polish blog with both British and international hardcore, punk, thrash and crust, which can be translated using google. Best thing about this site is all the bands are listed alphabetically down the right hand side! Here I found Crucifix, a band I've been looking for for ages, as well as a lot of other bands that I had heard but never had full EP's of. Check out Boston band Seige... fast and mean! The only downside of this site is the .rar host program only allows one download per 15 minutes unless you pay, so it's time consuming, but well worth the wait.

Budda Khan: haven't downloaded a lot here but the links page is huge, which means there's bound to be a lot more downloads via this site.

Bloodjunkies: this is a real gem. This morning I downloaded about 10 US hardcore bands that are quite hard to find on vinyl, including the classic 'This Is Boston Not LA' compilation and bands like MDC, Circle One, Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, Hated Youth, Necros and YDI. Mainly american bands, they're all listed in regions — but use the search bar to find what you're after. Also, the 'next page' button is in another language but often there's more than one page, so check that out too.

A lot of the downloads don't come as MP3's, so you'll need to convert them if you want to listen to them on itunes or your stereo (however if you have VLC Player or other programs you can listen to them on the computer). On Mac I use Switch, which converts .rar files to MP3, and it's free to download. There's a lot more out there though, so just google them.

I think it may be time to start another band while I'm inspired!

Aiding communism via free and rare punk downloads...

Just stumbled upon Nation on Fire, an amazing site which hosts free, downloadable punk from the UK 80's, anarcho and hardcore period (ie the best stuff). I just downloaded the 1985-90 discography of REVULSION! Hundreds more on there too. Check it out!

Images courtesy of New Humorist.

Quote of the Week

"Knowledge is power — but knowledge is useless without the social and economic power to acquire and apply it."

— Charles Weigl in the 2007 introduction to Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread.

Type rest of the post here