The Black Plume

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.

For the past few months we have been working on putting together a publication that is aimed at the Norwich and Norfolk vegan scene, one that would introduce what seems to be an important but missing discourse from the community.

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Here is a Government-mandated list of local bastards, taken from an 11th August 2016 press release, that can’t even be bothered to pay their staff minimum wage.

• 53. Mr Snippers Ltd, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, owed £1,867.54 to 1 worker
• 60. AA Dispatch (UK) Ltd, Thetford, Norfolk, owed £1,669.41 to 1 worker
• 116. Mr Alex Okolidoh & Mrs Victoria Okolidoh, trading as Elite Property Solutions, Norwich, owed £511.20 to 1 worker (note: now trading as Century 21 UK.)
• 155. The Personnel People Ltd, Norwich, owed £298.58 to 15 workers
• 197. Silenster Building Services Ltd, Thetford, Norfolk, owed £103.48 to 1 worker

Title: Bijî Rojava
Location: Space Studios, 5 Swan Lane, Norwich, NR2 1HZ
Link out: Click here
Description: Rojava is the autonomous Kurdish cantons of northern Syria, who since 2011 have been implementing a system of horizontal direct democracy they call “Democratic Confederalism”. Influenced by the works of the late Murray Bookchin, as well as autonomous struggles such as Revolutionary Catalonia and Zapatista Chiapas, the people of Rojava are implementing one of the most inspiring and successful anarchic societies the world has yet seen – and it is happening RIGHT NOW. All this whilst also being just about the most successful force of resistance against the spread of ISIS in the region during the past few years.

For this evening we will take a slightly different approach to previous months. Rather than airing a single feature length documentary (of which there aren’t many out) we have decided instead to curate several short films that will hopefully show a number of different sides to Rojava and the revolutionary Kurdish peoples. We do not claim to be experts in the subject, and cannot claim the films shown are the best possible available, but we hope they will at least inform you and introduce you to what exactly is happening in northern Syria at the moment.

We hope to have some people with more experience than us coming along, to share their opinions and knowledge, but won’t guarantee it right now. Watch this space for updates though.

This will be on the third floor of Space Studios, 5 Swan Lane, Norwich on Sunday 4th September. Runs from 6pm to 9pm with the films running a total of approximately 80 minutes. There will be time after to discuss what’s been aired.

As ever, this is free entry. Bring your own food and drink.
Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2016-09-04
End Time: 21:00

Our August screening will be of the fun 70s BBC documentary about The Angry Brigade, who were the most fun gun-toting and bomb-wielding anarchist crew walking London’s streets during the late 60s and early 70s.

Please check out the Facebook event here.

This will be at yet another new venue: Space Studios. It is located on Swan Street, in Norwich, and the entrance is basically a gate between two shops. Because the venue is on a third floor it’s not friendly for people with difficulties climbing stairs this time around but if you are such a person and want to come along to the screenings then please let us know and we’ll try to make other arrangements for the future.

There’s no entrance fee and, as per usual, there will be space and time after the documentary itself to discuss the topics and issues that the film brings up.

See you there, compañerxs.

Our next discussion group is planed for Friday 22nd July at 6pm, when we will be discussing Heidegger’s “The Question Concerning Technology”. As ever, this is more about getting together than it is about showing off philosophical/political nous, so all are welcome. Having said that, Heidegger is also not the simplest writer to follow so we apologise in advance for any difficulties with this text.

Let us know if you’re interested in participating either by email or via Facebook and we’ll let you know where in Norwich you can find us.

The next screening we are hosting will be of “If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”, which looks at Daniel McGowan and the Oregon, USA, based ELF cell to which he belonged. It is a reflection on the limits of environmental direct action and the political repression that it faces.

The Facebook event page can be found here.

It will be at The Stage, 52 St Augustine’s Street, Norwich between 18:00 and 21:00. There is a kitchen with free tea and coffee available (we’ll bring soya milk), a couple of car parking spaces out the back, and an entrance friendly to people with disabilities. If you have any questions or need help then please send us an email or a message on FB.

Thank you to all that came and participated in our Zapatista documentary screening. It was small but hopefully everyone involved felt they gained something from the night. It seems likely we’ll do another screening in early July so keep your eyes open for more details regarding that. Furthermore, it’s likely this will not be the last time we look at the Zapatistas.

In other news, our next discussion group is during the evening of 23rd June, in Norwich, where a text regarding hunt sabotage and animal liberation written by one of the group will be looked at. There is no expertise or experience required to participate: getting together, socialising, and getting to know one another is as valuable as any political debate.

If you’d like to come along please email us or send us a message to our Facebook page.

We are well chuffed to announce our first attempt to screen a documentary focused on topics of interest to radicals. This one is called “Zapatistas: Chronicle of a Rebellion”, produced by the Mexican media outlets La Jornada and Canal Seis de Julio, and provides a linear timeline of the Zapatistas from their insurrection in 1994 until the date of production in 2007.

The Facebook event can be seen here.

It will be upstairs at The Owl Sanctuary on 2nd June, 7pm. The film contains some scenes of graphic violence.

Depending on how this works out, we hope there will be more and on a monthly basis, with an aim of building a community that is regularly engaged in conversation and action toward total liberation. There are so many more possibilities in this world that the society we live in cannot be how we end.

The next reading and discussion group is to be held on the evening of Thursday 26th May, during which we will get together in a public space to discuss the article “We Are All Very Anxious” by the Institute for Precarious Studies. If you are interested in attending, please contact us by email for further details.