|
Ali Dale looks at the
current state of agitprop and talks to those who believe
direct action is still the best way to get justice.
Star Wars style police with
pump action teargas guns in Seattle, Winston Churchill with a
mohican makeover in London. The global anti-capitalism
movement and mischievous mayhem are portrayed as synonymous by
the world's press, yet legitimate protest is a British
institution of which we are justifiably proud. Without direct
action in our democracy, the Suffragettes would never have won
women the vote. The true aims of much protest in our community
is wildly different from the picture painted by the world's
media.
If you are among the 25,000
people who had spoof newspaper, Brighton and Hove No Leaders
through your door a week or so before May Day, you will
already be aware that you are living in a community where
people from all walks of life are prepared to stand up for
what they believe is right. But it's not all pitch battles
with riot police. The protester in your midst is not just the
stereotypical rabid anarchist portrayed in the tabloid press.
It's more likely to be your teacher, or the local vicar, or
the single mum next door: grassroots protesters who want the
opportunity to influence 'the place you want Brighton to be'.
Brighton has a healthy
tradition of protest. Back in the late 18th century, before
Brighthelmstone had changed its name to Brighton, this was
still a fishing town. Rich people had started to appropriate
the town as a pleasure zone, but the fisher folk still used
the Steine to spread and mend their nets. It was their ancient
right, according to a medieval charter. In 1821 the
fashionable people fenced off the Steine, claiming it as their
own to parade on of an afternoon. So, in September 1827 the
fishermen decided to stand up for their rights, and rioted.
The seeds of rebellion had been sown in Brighton.
The spirit of the flickering
candle of protest must have been handed down from generation
to generation as Brighton today is widely regarded as a
leading centre for protest and direct action. Massive,
internationally co-ordinated events, such as the march which
shut down the World Trade Organisation's conference in Seattle
last November, the colourful 'Carnival against Capital' in the
City of London last June and this year's controversial May Day
action by Reclaim the Streets in which part of Parliament
Square was temporarily turned into an allotment have recently
hit the headlines. Flamboyant public protest like this
attracts media interest but others quietly wage an ongoing
battle in other ways. So who are they and what are they
fighting for?
John Carden has a good reason
for caring about the status of the South Downs. Back in the
1920s his relative, Sir Herbert Carden, passed on downland he
owned to the council to protect it from being developed for
inappropriate purposes. There has been a call for this area to
be made into a National Park since the 1940s, but the
Government's announcement last year that it was finally to
happen provoked protests from local councils who want to
retain full local planning powers and now West Sussex County
Council is using £15,000 of public money raised from county
and district councils bordering the South Downs, to fund a
campaign against the wishes of many of its own taxpayers.
John Carden's dedication to the
Downs is an instinctive response. "I'm proud of the fact
that my family have lived in this area for 400 years. Some
worked on the Downs, some were fishermen. It's in my blood,
it's my love for the Downs that spurs me on." John, a
painter and decorator by trade, has spent many months and
sacrificed many working hours to confront the people in power.
"Many of the people that control the South Downs are not
local and don't have the same concern for the area; it's just
a job to them. When the Council first threatened to sell some
of the Downland for development I had to get involved. I
believe that this land belongs to the people and someone had
to stand up for their interests. I'm constantly talking to
councillors and politicians, and if talking isn't any good,
I'll shout at them. It's good to see that Friends of the Earth
has taken up the cause on a local and national level."
Another group of Brighton
people prepared to stand up and be counted are Brighton Urban
Design and Development (BUDD) which came into being in 1997 to
provide a voice for local people on development issues. Ben
Messr, a founder member, believes any community issues need
input from the community they affect.
"I spent nine years in
Sudan and Sri Lanka working on community development projects.
These were relief projects, forestry initiatives and land use
issues. I became disenchanted with the work because I felt I
was always on the outside, working to improve someone else's
community. When I came back to Brighton I wanted to get more
involved in my community. BUDD gave me the opportunity."
"At the moment we're
dealing with the site adjacent to the railway station. It's
owned by Railtrack who are keen to sell it to the highest
bidder for development. They have been negotiating with
Sainsburys for years now. Brighton and Hove Council are very
keen, in theory to involve local people, I think this is a
classic example of local people being prevented from getting
involved in decisions being made which affect the development
of their community."
"Railtrack wants to sell
the land but we think the council's role should be to ensure
that such a strategic site is utilised to the benefit of the
whole community. But after rejecting Sainsburys twice, and
having had these decisions corroborated by the Department of
the Environment, the council now seems to be allowing
Sainsburys another opportunity to submit yet another
development proposal."
This proposal did not go down
well at a highly charged public meeting organised by BUDD,
where Brighton residents embarrassed a local councillor by
repeatedly demanding to know why a supermarket was still under
discussion. To make their point abundantly clear, they staged
an impromptu referendum where, by show of hands, they
established that not one person was interested in having a
supermarket on the site. It seems the council have been
seduced by a thin veneer of greenwashing which seeks to dress
up the same old proposal as something funky and eco-friendly.
BUDD's self-appointed role is to act as a channel for the
local people, yet as a development group, they would like to
be more pro-actively involved and have submitted their own
proposal for the site. Ben, it seems, was disappointed to find
that bureaucracy could be as much an enemy of the people at
home as in some less developed countries. There it's drought
and famine, here it's traffic congestion and a loss of
diversity in our amenities. "Abroad, I was helping people
to get a voice, and mobilising communities. BUDD has given me
the opportunity to do that here."
An entirely different Brighton
issue is the campaign for Justice for Simon Jones. Their
website reads: "People like Simon Jones get killed at
work all the time and nothing gets done about it. Not this
time." This sets the tone of the campaign: a relentless
and highly organised assault on the people who are responsible
for the circumstances which led to Simon's death.
Simon's girlfriend, Emma
Aynsley, 27, moved to Brighton six years ago. as a library
assistant at Sussex University. Direct action was a closed
book to Emma until the day she got a phone call to tell her
that her lover had been killed at Shoreham dock. He was
employed as a casual labourer, which enables companies to save
money. Casuals are often paid low wages, with little or no
training, no job security and no sick pay.
Simon got the job through an
employment agency, which campaigners say should, by law, have
checked that the site was safe. Within two hours of starting
work, Simon's head was almost severed by the grab of a crane.
He died instantly. Sean, a co-worker explained, "Suddenly
I heard Simon make a grunting noise. When I looked up, his
head was trapped in the grab. I knew he was dead when I saw
his eyes... I remember being asked to clean up bags of stones
that still had Simon's blood on, so they could be sold. I
wouldn't do that, so I was sent home - I've worked as a docker
for years but I'm still casual labour." Emma explained
how the campaign started, "I was interviewed about the
death, and it all came out. The writer pinpointed many
confusing
Continued after NI-2
issues and, after weeks of shock and trauma, my grief began to
consolidate into outrage. Here was a focus for my anger in my
bereavement." Simon often wrote for SchNEWS, the direct
action movement's weekly newsletter based in Brighton, and was
involved in supporting the Liverpool dockers' strike against
the casualisation of their port. He felt that if he sat back
and waited for politicians to put things right he'd have a
long wait. "I'm not driven just by anger, but by a sense
of duty to Simon and everything he believed in, and a need to
prevent this injustice from continuing."
Last year only one in 20
serious injuries at work (that's things like being blinded or
losing a limb) were even investigated, leaving 48,000
uninvestigated. The campaign has had considerable success,
contributing to recent Government moves to tighten the law on
Corporate Manslaughter.
Activists have made a video
about Simon and the campaigning work that is being done in his
name which is being used in educational establishments to
highlight these issues.
Another sign that the protest
movement potentially has 'something for everyone', I came
across the Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project. It
points out: "If you're going to protest and be against
things then you should also be for things. Moulsecoomb Forest
Garden Project is providing a solution, we're growing organic
food, protecting wildlife and safeguarding old varieties and
also experimenting with new weird and wonderful food
crops."
Project member Sheila Groom
told me: "I've always been interested in wildlife and
concerned about the effects of pesticides on the environment.
My dad had an allotment where the Hollingdean estate is now.
He was an organic gardener before anyone had even thought of
it. I'd just retired when I saw a leaflet for the project and
it seemed a perfect opportunity to put into practice
principles I've believed in all my life." There are kids'
parties in the garden for locals and they're planning a
herbalist walk and a moth night As Sheila pointed out,
"My own grandson can't tell a primrose from a bluebell.
If children don't understand nature they're not going to value
it are they?" Eventually the project wants to provide the
estate with cheap organic vegetables so that people on low
incomes can afford to have that choice.
Protest doesn't necessarily
have to be confrontational, it can be an ongoing positive
process of change. The people involved in the Moulsecoomb
Forest Garden Project are pro-actively campaigning against
monoculture and the destruction of wildlife and forests. But
protest in all its many forms may be equally valid. The cry of
many groups is: If you're not part of the solution then you're
part of the problem; if you care about the evolution of the
town you live in, then perhaps it's time to get involved.
Contacts
BUDD 01273 689725
Simon Jones Memorial Campaign:-www.simonjones.org.uk/ For
videos, send £5 to PO Box 2600, Brighton BN2 2DX.
Brighton FOE:- Tel: 01273 553044
Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project:- phone Kate on
01273 628535
Check out SchNEWS at www.schnews.org.uk or pick up a copy at
the Peace Centre on Gardner Street.
copyright New Insight 2000
|
