♦ Five years after the initial national Community Action Gathering a second is being organised later this month in Nottingham. Invitations have been sent out to all radical, community-orientated local groups and individuals throughout the country to a gathering at the Sumac Social Centre on Saturday 27th March.
According to the organisers the aim of the event is to:
· share information, local experiences and views about some of the key issues affecting our communities
· establish better links and communication channels among radical, community-orientated local groups and individuals
· promote collective and non-hierarchical, open and horizontal forms of organisation
· promote anti-authoritarian, anti-state, anti-capitalist and pro-community, pro-working class grass-roots politics – that is, the interests of people rather than of governments and corporations.
The day event will look at such issues as fighting for local services and facilities in the area, affordable housing, gentrification, local workplace struggles, as well as looking at the practical demands of setting up a local group, methods of communication – newsletters, mailing lists, leaflets, public meetings etc, and effective activity. Groups interested in attending and getting involved should contact Community Action Gathering 2010 at: communityactionnetworkuk@googlemail.com
♦ The latest edition of the Hackney Heckler is now available. Produced by Hackney Solidarity Network in east London, it is beautifully put together packed with useful information on the area including an Olympics update and a feature on the successes of Hackney’s Unemployed Workers group. There’s also a top ten of best Hackney novels which, criminally, fails to mention the Martin Amis classic London Fields. Hackney Solidarity Network in association with Reel News will be hosting a film and discussion night on Sunday March 14th featuring “Copenhagen: System Change Not Climate Change!” and a discussion and a proposal for a Peoples Assembly in Hackney on April 4th. Further details: www.hackneysolidarity.info
♦ The people involved in the Black Cat social centre, Bath, have started an online petition to save it from closure, and to let the council know that communities need independent and community controlled social spaces. The Black Cat has been occupied for the past six months making real inroads into the local community, becoming a popular resource for the area. It currently provides a venue for live music including a bar, plus meeting and workshop space, library and cheap cafe but is threatened with imminent eviction.
People can sign the online petition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/blackcatbath
or visit their website http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com/ for more information.
♦ Issue 12 of the bulletin for the Hereford Solidarity League, the Hereford Heckler, is out now. Featuring articles on Hereford’s Tory MP and old Etonian Bill Wiggin, who criticised Cadbury’s workers as a “whinging workforce” over the Kraft takeover, a look at Hereford’s radical history with the Whitson riot of 1605 and a round up of the Heckler’s impressive first two years in existence which has seen over 40,000 copies distributed throughout the area. Available to download at: http://herefordheckler.wordpress.com/
