The Black Plume

Talk can be found at our Archive.org page

A couple of weeks ago we gave a talk at the Norwich Vegan Festival about anarchism and anti-authoritarian politics within veganism. Given the explosion of vegan consumerism in the UK today – and especially in Norwich, where there seems to be a new vegan joint opening every couple of months right now – it is important to remember that veganism has grown from fertile radical soil, where it strengthened and was strengthened by radical anti-authoritarianism. In this talk we look at some of the ways that veganism connects with other radical politics such as ecology, feminism, and class struggle.

Last weekend we gave a talk at the Cambridge Radical Bookfair about veganism and animal liberation and what it can bring to individuals involved in anarchist or other anti-authoritarian politics. You can listen to it at our archive.org page.

At next weekend’s Cambridge Radical Bookfair we’ll be launching part two of the Veganism – A Different Approach series. Titled “The State Is Not The Answer”, this edition takes a look at the effectiveness of trying to use State power to achieve a better world for non-human animals. In particular, it focuses on two key pieces of UK legislation: the banning of battery cages, and the Hunting Act 2004. Using these two 21st Century examples the text attempts to illustrate why the pursuit of animal liberation through legal means can only lead to dead ends.

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We just uploaded a talk from Movement for Justice that was given at the UEA last week. Listen to find out more about what they do, how they help women caged in Yarl’s Wood detention centre (including a personal account from Aisha, who had spent time inside the place), and what can be done to support their actions.

Apologies for the low quality of the audio. We’ll try and get better at recording these things!

A link to the recording can be found at our Audio Archive page.

Even during the so-called “golden age” of hunting during the 19th Century, the sport was no more popular amongst people of the countryside than it is today. This letter by William Skinner Phillippo to the Norfolk News in 1856 illustrates how the problems of fox and other game hunting – including how it hides behind the machinations of Law – haven’t changed in more than 150 years.

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We recorded the talk given by Mike Huskisson at this year’s Norwich Anarchist Bookfair and have uploaded it for you. Whether you were there and want to re-listen, weren’t there and would like to check out what happened, or would like to use it for samples/reference/fun, the recording below is yours to do with as you please. A slightly edited version will be appearing soon on Which Side Podcast as part of their lectures series.

Mike talks about hunt sabotage and his experiences with undercover work. This is followed by crowd discussion involving Mike about various animal liberation topics.

Our original version can be found here.

Thanks to Mike for his permission to put this up online. For more on his current activities check out the Animal Cruelty Investigation Group.  Thanks also to the Bookfair organisers for letting us make this recording.

In the early hours of 17th May 1913, a fire broke out in a house on Storey Way, Cambridge. As it raged, the flames spread to the adjoining building – a laboratory belonging to Cambridge University – causing further damage that left it in great need for repair. Once the fires were kept under control and eventually extinguished, the police moved in looking for evidence of its cause. They found a watch and remnants of a ladder that had been wrapped in paraffin-soaked cloth and set alight. It was arson, and the watch belonged to a woman from Norwich.

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We are looking to start regular group discussions centering on topics including anarchy, animal liberation, non-TERFy radical feminism, decolonialisation, etc. Our first one will be next week but we hope to hold something roughly once a month after that.

If you are interested in participating either next week or in the future, please send us an email or send us a message on everyone’s favourite self-administered panopticon, Facebook.

We would like to present the Norwich CamWatch Project, an initiative to map out the multitude of public-facing CCTV cameras around the city.

Norwich CamWatch Project

Directly inspired by both the Olympia Counter-Surveillance Network and the decade-old Norwich Police/Norwich City Council CCTV Cameras map, Norwich CamWatch Project aims to be a collaboratively created resource for anyone wanting information about the outdoor security cameras in Norwich.

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