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Festival of Alternatives: Workshops, Talks & Discussions Press release from Ourmayday.org.uk, 2nd April 2002 Note: Social centre used by the London Mayday Collective for the Festival of Alternatives is located at: 10 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3NT tel: 07786 716 335 or 07960 973 847 e: londonmayday@yahoo.co.uk, w: http://wwww.ourmayday.org.uk (The building is decorated pink/purple and is an ex-Tapas bar. It is about 10 minutes walk from Liverpool Street station; Old Street or Shoreditch tubes are also close by). One of the main aims of the Mayday Festival of alternatives is DIY skills-sharing, empowerment and political discussion. To this end there will be a series of workshops on themes as diverse as the history of Anarchism, juggling & plumbing. Some workshops will offer a hands-on chance to learn new skills, others will consist of theoretical discussion. Saturday 27th April Day of workshops and discussions on the theme of social centres, squats & how to set them up. The aim of the day is to transform a disused building into a vibrant social centre, and to learn & share new skills. Workshops on plumbing, electricity, finding a good building & legal advice. Speakers from London Social Centres Network & Advisory Service for Squatters. There will also be talks from collectives who have set up both permanent & reclaimed social centres. Cleaning & decorating will go on all day, so please come down and lend a hand. Squat electronics - 10.30am Get the electricity connected without frying yourself. Practical Plumbing - 12pm Hands-on session covering elementary fix-it skills relating to whatever needs doing in the particular reclaimed space we'll be working in. Lock-changing, securing a building & fire escapes - 1.30pm Carpentry - 2pm Learn to make your own bookshelves, tables etc. Advisory Service for Squatters talk - 3pm Help and legal advice for squatters. London Social Centres Network talk - 5.30pm The dutch experience of squatting - 7pm Differences in law, police repression, defence, activist community mobilisation and cultural representation of the scene. Venue for all of the above social centre workshops: Temporary social centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details. Sunday 28th April Women's Football Skills workshop - meet 12pm Clissold Park, Stoke Newington. (bottom side of park, near lake, behind tennis courts. A chance to brush up on tackling, headers etc for the Looney Left footie tournament on Sunday 5th May. A series of workshops with a focus on useful skills for mass actions: Legal workshop on 'dealing with public order situations', including 'Section 60'. Essential if you're going to Mayday. (2 1-hour workshops from 2-3pm and 5-6pm). Medical workshop: 2-5pm 'First Aid on demonstrations'. (3 one-hour basic first aid sessions from 2-3pm, 3-4pm, 4-5pm). Banner-making workshop - 12pm onwards. Bring material, paint, brushes etc. Circus skills workshops - come along & join the 'Anarchist Travelling Circus': Juggling & juggling-ball making - 11am - make your own juggling balls & learn to use them. Poi Spinning & poi-making - 1pm Marching band - 3pm - bring a drum, tambourine, rice shaker or other portable instrument. Venue for all of the above: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue. Monday 29th April Banner-making workshop - 12pm onwards. Self-defense - 2pm Costume-making - 3pm onwards. Make a carnival costume for Mayday - bring material, sequins, ribbons, glitter etc. Venue for all of the above: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue. Theory & Discussion Friday 26th April London Anarchist Forum meeting - 8pm, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1. Saturday 27th April Anarchy, Anarchism and the Anarchists - 2pm An informal talk on history, anthropology, psychology and ideology with special reference to the movements of the working class and disinherited, plus reflections on the anti-capitalist movement and the future. (Followed by open ended discussion, if so desired). Venue: Temporary social centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details. Sunday 28th April 'Gender & women-only spaces' - all genders are welcome. 4pm. 'The War on Terrorism' - discussion hosted by Anarchist Youth Network- 6pm Venue for the above workshops: Temporary social centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details. Monday 29th April Palestine - a talk from women who have been to Palestine as part of a 'human shield' international peace mission. - 7pm Venue: Temporary social centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details. Tuesday 30th April Workshop: Outlaw Women - 1pm From the Chinese straits, Mediterranian, Atlantic and Caribbean, to the streets of Philly, Bonn, Delhi and London, this workshop charts the rise and fall of gender-bending pirates, radical black eco-warriors, gun slinging bandit queens, freedom fighters and beatnik bomb girls - critically. Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue. Post-revolution and post-capitalist visions - 4pm An brief history of counter-revolution and insurrectionary failures; including 1930s Spain, France 1968, English Civil war and beyond, followed by group discussion amd simulated scenario outlines, focusing on post-capitalist social organisation, culture, and the shape and scope of counter-revolutionary elements; How could we be recuperated?What will we do about police, paedophilia, politicians with secret weapon stockpiles, us with weapons stockpiles?, food production, industry, work, religion. Could it happen here? And what would it look like if it did? If we cannot make it here, where will it smoulder first? What about the concept of an anarchist Permanent Revolution? Venue: Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue. Talk from Ex-Black Panther, Robert King Wilkerson. 7pm. Venue tba. Robert King Wilkerson was held in solitary confinement in Angola maximum security prison, Louisiana, for 27 years for a crime he didn't commit. He was framed because of his political organising at the prison as a member of the Black Panther party. Released in February 2001 after a long campaign, he's now spending his time doing speaking tours around the world to raise awareness of the brutality, corruption, racism and injustice of the Louisiana criminal justice system. His co-accused, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, are still in prison and entering their thirtieth year of solitary confinement. Thursday 2nd May Showing of a documentary film (Spanish, no subtitles) of the SINTRAEMCALI trade union occupation of the Emcali tower in Cali, Columbia. On Christmas Day last year, 800 workers occupied the nerve-centre of the state-owned municapal company which runs water, electricity and telecoms, for over three weeks,and won their fight to stop essential resources being privatised. A talk by former SINTRAEMCALI President Alexander Lopez plus a member of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, follows. Colombian food possibly available. Venue: The Union Tavern, Camberwell New Rd, nearest tube Oval or BR Vauxhall, in the luvly back room called The Latin Palace. 7.30pm Friday 3rd May Workshop/discussion: Feminism 101 - an introduction to feminist arguments for men. time & venue tbc. Monday 6th May Workshop: Food Autonomy - 4pm. A one to one-and-a-half hour talk plus gorgeous slide show featuring images of diverse agriculture and grass roots resistance to corporate control of the food chain. Workshop also includes updates from the Resistance is Fertile (www.resistanceisfertile.com/english/) actions in Den Haag April 8 - 19 against the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (phew! - aka Cop6) which looks at the commodification and privatisation of 'genetic resources'- plants, ecosystems, land, agriculture, and knowledge. Venue: London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (corner of Fieldgate St & Parfett St). Nearest tube: Aldgate East or Whitechapel. Evening: 'Incitement to riot' - 6pm; followed by a discussion about how police tactics during public order situations have changed over the past few decades. "Incitement To Riot" is an hour long video that does just what it says on the box! Packed with footage from all the best riots of the past, and a hard hitting soundtrack, from Gil Scott Heron to Conflict! Venue: London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (corner of Fieldgate St & Parfett St). Nearest tube: Aldgate East or Whitechapel. Simon Jones Campaign - talk & film. venue tba. Alternative Health Radical Yoga: free yoga classes with opportunities for discussion, practice and meditation. You will be very welcome to participate…wearing loose clothing, bring a happy heart, an empty stomach and an open mind. There will be 3 free yoga sessions throughout the week: Saturday 27th April: 3pm-6pm – Diorama One (Movement Room 1st floor), 34 Osnaburgh Street, NW1. Monday 29th April: 3.30-5pm - Social Centre - phone: 07786 716 335 on Friday 26th April for details of venue. Thursday 2nd May: 4:30pm-7pm – London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1. (part of a 'Health & healing' day - see below for details). Thursday 2nd May: 'Health & healing' day Central to Anarchism is the belief in self-empowerment and the notion that we, the community, should control our lives as much as we possibly can. One way we can do this is through looking after both our own health and that of the wider community. We are holding an alternative health and healing day in order to learn more about how our bodies work, their relationship with the earth, and how we can help one another in the community to cut out the state (doctors) and capital (pharmaceuticals) as much as we can. The day will feature: Shiatsu workshop, massage, herbal treatments, healing with chocolate, Yoga, discussion on mental health. A chance to relax and unwind after the stresses and strains of Mayday, and try out alternative health treatments for free. Venue : London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1. Details below (further details tba): Sports massage - 5pm radicalyoga Free yoga classes with opportunities for discussion, practice and meditation. You will be very welcome to participate…wearing loose clothing, bring a happy heart, an empty stomach and an open mind. 4:30pm-7pm – London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (Article reproduced for information purposes only. Please read our disclaimer...)

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