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Reclaim Brixton movement - meetings and April 25th protest planned

The 'Reclaim' word will get people scratching their heads, I don't think it sums up every aim behind all the causes, but I'm not sure there is a word that does. It does say something though, and that is 'act now' and if you have to question it too much then you'll never get what Reclaim: Brixton is really about, and mostly because you don't want to. There's enough on these pages, and others, and facebook, twitter etc..., which scream out the motivations of those involved and if you need to question those motives and reduce it down to what does 'reclaim' means then you have failed to pay any attention to the honest fight people are having to engage in just to stay in their own homes....
 
Will this thread always be the main one about Reclaim Brixton? Would it be useful to have a new thread about what we do next? We've got to keep the momentum going and not be distracted by people who still want to question the name of a demo which happened weeks ago.
 
David Clapson said:
Will this thread always be the main one about Reclaim Brixton? Would it be useful to have a new thread about what we do next? We've got to keep the momentum going and not be distracted by people who still want to question the name of a demo which happened weeks ago.
Click to expand...

I thought Reclaim:Brixton was an organisation? not just the one day? they did something outside Foxtons before the big thing in Brixton the other Saturday, didn't they? Yes I'd like to know what we can do next too.
But everytime I check this thread I just find a load of people slagging each other off.

Nanker Phelge said:
The 'Reclaim' word will get people scratching their heads, I don't think it sums up every aim behind all the causes, but I'm not sure there is a word that does. It does say something though, and that is 'act now' and if you have to question it too much then you'll never get what Reclaim: Brixton is really about, and mostly because you don't want to. There's enough on these pages, and others, and facebook, twitter etc..., which scream out the motivations of those involved and if you need to question those motives and reduce it down to what does 'reclaim' means then you have failed to pay any attention to the honest fight people are having to engage in just to stay in their own homes....
Click to expand...

I'm against the sell off homes, I'm against what the council are doing. I support the market. I support people fighting to have a home, I've been following whats happening at Cressingham and the Guiness ests. I was at event on 25th April and I have read all this thread (sorry I'm an old fart so I don't do facebook or twitter) - but even I'm still unclear about some of the stuff I've read and heard.

Are people not allowed to ask questions? I know some friends /neighbours/ co workers have no clue what its about at all, or they beleive the tiny bit they heard from the papers and I can only tell them what I know. Not everyone will be an activist, some people just live, shop, work here - not everyone is on line - shouldn't causes like this seek a community wide support base?

This isn't a simple single issue campaign but broader movements still need to be clear about what they are for and sweep all sorts of support along with them, don't they? I suppose the intolerance of some of the 'anti-gentification', some of the who qualifies as community sort views I've come across on these forums makes me wary of getting more involved, even though I want to do something to save the diverse Brixton and London that I love.
 
That is exactly where most people feel. In the middle of something they just don't understand. I don't think the words 'Reclaim Brixton' tell the whole story, but I don't know what words will. I think people want a a voice and today that voice is aired under 'reclaim brixton'. It's not a perfect pitch, but it is a place to start from. I think it is the place to stand and ask questions, but it is not the place for pedants and semantics. Yet.

I think 'reclaim brixton' will grow up beyond those two words.
 
friendofdorothy said:
I thought Reclaim:Brixton was an organisation? not just the one day? they did something outside Foxtons before the big thing in Brixton the other Saturday, didn't they? Yes I'd like to know what we can do next too.
But everytime I check this thread I just find a load of people slagging each other off.

I'm against the sell off homes, I'm against what the council are doing. I support the market. I support people fighting to have a home, I've been following whats happening at Cressingham and the Guiness ests. I was at event on 25th April and I have read all this thread (sorry I'm an old fart so I don't do facebook or twitter) - but even I'm still unclear about some of the stuff I've read and heard.

Are people not allowed to ask questions? I know some friends /neighbours/ co workers have no clue what its about at all, or they beleive the tiny bit they heard from the papers and I can only tell them what I know. Not everyone will be an activist, some people just live, shop, work here - not everyone is on line - shouldn't causes like this seek a community wide support base?
Click to expand...

The demo would not have happened without wide range of community support. I think the amount of interest in Reclaim Brixton surprised the person who started it off. It just took off suddenly. This would not have happened if it had not got the interest of a lot of people. The actual day had Council tenants, Housing Association tenants, shopkeepers etc on it. This does show wide community base.

I do not think most of the people involved are what one would call full time political activists.

I just live and shop here as well. I played a small part in it as I feel the need to try and do something. There is so much going on in the area that I find it hard to keep up or do more than I do now.

It has also been well covered by Brixton Buzz and Brixton Blog.

I have reposted up here from the Facebook page as well. There is enough info out there.
 
Nanker Phelge said:
The 'Reclaim' word will get people scratching their heads, I don't think it sums up every aim behind all the causes, but I'm not sure there is a word that does. It does say something though, and that is 'act now' and if you have to question it too much then you'll never get what Reclaim: Brixton is really about, and mostly because you don't want to. There's enough on these pages, and others, and facebook, twitter etc..., which scream out the motivations of those involved and if you need to question those motives and reduce it down to what does 'reclaim' means then you have failed to pay any attention to the honest fight people are having to engage in just to stay in their own homes....
Click to expand...

Well said, Senor Phelge. Well said.
 
Nanker Phelge said:
That is exactly where most people feel. In the middle of something they just don't understand. I don't think the words 'Reclaim Brixton' tell the whole story, but I don't know what words will. I think people want a a voice and today that voice is aired under 'reclaim brixton'. It's not a perfect pitch, but it is a place to start from. I think it is the place to stand and ask questions, but it is not the place for pedants and semantics. Yet.

I think 'reclaim brixton' will grow up beyond those two words.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's possible to tell the whole story, simply because everybody's version is inflected with their personal experiences - we all bring who we are to "Reclaim Brixton", and hopefully what we take from it is a sense of unity and community - of not feeling alone in the middle of a maelstrom.
 
ViolentPanda said:
My vision of "reclaiming" Brixton is the continuance of the fluidly multi-cultural, multi-class, reasonably sexuality-blind atmosphere that has come into being over the last 40 years or so. All those elements go toward making Brixton the place I love, and the removal of any of those elements will - in my opinion - have the effect of destroying what makes Brixton different.
Click to expand...

Wonderfully put - I think a lot of people would stand by that.

I hope reclaim can become something that unifies people who care about Brixton - regardless of race, class, clothes or anything else that superficially divides.
 
REEL News will be showing there film of Reclaim Brixton along with short docs from other part of the world. REEL NEWS have been around for a while. They do a lot on a shoestring budget to cover what mainstream media might miss or not show in sympathetic light.

They also sell ( quite cheap) DVD version. More info here

793a9a9f-0fd3-4b3d-80ef-c0d67894efa1.jpg


Film night in Brixton on May 28

The defeat of the Labour Party in the election seems to follow the pattern of social democratic parties across Europe being in crisis through implementing the politics of austerity.
In places like Greece and Spain, people who don't feel represented by any political party have built huge mass movements and formed their own parties - with housing activism being a major driving force.
Are we sseeing the start of our own mass movement in Britain with the growing housing movement and events like Reclaim Brixton?

Join us for a FREE informal night of films, discussion, music and drinks as we show:

RECLAIM BRIXTON (Reel News 2015) 15:29
Thousands take part in the Reclaim Brixton to send a powerful message to Lambeth Council: Stop selling Brixton off to property developers and start putting people before profit.

THE LEGACY OF THE BLACK PANTHERS (Reel News 2008) 20:49
Spawned by the US civil rights movement of the 60s, the Panthers were masters of community organisation in a country with very little political representation.

GREECE: COMMUNITY ORGANISING (Reel News,2012) 22:14
How a mass movement based on solidarity grew to combat savage austerity measures.

SPAIN: INDIGNADOS - 25-S (Reel News, 2012) 15:41
"They don't represent us!" Spain's mass movement surround Parliament in 2012, just before the formation of Podemos.
 
ManSoAdmired said:
Looks fantastic, I'll be there. Will there be any discussion of future Reclaim Brixton efforts? I'm interested in getting involved, but I'm completely new to activism.
Click to expand...

There will be people who have been involved in RB there. So you are welcome to come and chat. They are friendly bunch of people.
 
It's interesting that the council seems to be the main organisation getting criticised (beyond broader objections to gentrification as a process)

Is there any evidence of labour getting less support locally?
 
brixtonblade said:
It's interesting that the council seems to be the main organisation getting criticised (beyond broader objections to gentrification as a process)

Is there any evidence of labour getting less support locally?
Click to expand...

I doubt it; most people don't look beyond the name of the party, irrespective of policies local or otherwise. A lot of people will support the same party simply because they always have done.

I often think that political parties should be forced to change their names every two years in the way that telecoms companies seem to do. In 10 years time we'd have no idea which party was which, and people would actually have to look at policies to decide who got their vote.
 
http://www.progress.org/article/an-...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This is a recent US article about the economics of gentrification and points to community ownership such as Land Trusts, explaining how they work in other places and get started.

Also, a Community Charter in Scotland's Forth Valley - the first of its kind in the UK - is being used as a unique method to oppose commercial interests. The Charter has been inspired by numerous Bills of Rights that protestors are using throughout the US to uphold the rights of communities.
 
brixtonblade said:
It's interesting that the council seems to be the main organisation getting criticised (beyond broader objections to gentrification as a process)

Is there any evidence of labour getting less support locally?
Click to expand...

I think its rational response to what is happening to Brixton.

After all on Pop thread one poster said that instead of criticising Pop and the business in it one should criticise the Council for allowing it to happen.

The Council who are supposed to represent and support interests of residents and small business are more than willing to do deal with developers ( Our Town Hall) and not take sides against big landowners ( Network Rail). And set up pointless schemes like Pop.

So I think it right to criticise this administration.

There would be no need for Reclaim Brixton if Lambeth Labour fought for the small affordable local shop, Council housing and not closing libraries for example.
 
brixtonblade said:
It's interesting that the council seems to be the main organisation getting criticised (beyond broader objections to gentrification as a process)

Is there any evidence of labour getting less support locally?
Click to expand...

At the level of wards, no. They hold 56 out of 63, although that may change somewhat at the next locals.
At the level of constituency Labour Parties, Streatham, Dulwich etc and Vauxhall are all smaller and crapper than they were 20 years ago, mostly thanks to Blair's changes to party democracy. It was the last straw for a lot of my generation who were party members and activists. Why be active for a party you have no say in?
 
editor said:
I'm guessing it's a response to the 'threat' of Saturday's protest but - lol - Foxtons is all boarded up http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/07/brixton-foxtons-is-all-boarded-up-again/
Click to expand...

Wasn't it the case that at the last Reclaim Brixton march the windows were put in in an oh-so-grown-up "legitimate" protest? Shortly before everyone moved on to barnardos with some tenuous justification about historic abuse of second hand clothing or something equally sketchy. Pathetic vandals justifying criminal damage in the name of politics.
 
Twattor said:
Wasn't it the case that at the last Reclaim Brixton march the windows were put in in an oh-so-grown-up "legitimate" protest? Shortly before everyone moved on to barnardos with some tenuous justification about historic abuse of second hand clothing or something equally sketchy. Pathetic vandals justifying criminal damage in the name of politics.
Click to expand...

Better to damage property than people.

Barnardo's is involved with the detention of children who are asylum seekers. It's not an issue to be taken lightly.
 
Twattor said:
Wasn't it the case that at the last Reclaim Brixton march the windows were put in in an oh-so-grown-up "legitimate" protest? <snip>
Click to expand...
No. One person kicked in one window. During a day which was amazingly peaceful and harmonious, given the size of the crowd.

No matter what you think of 2nd hand clothes or the principles which Barnardo's claims to uphold, the charity has very dirty hands indeed. Children from the homes were shipped off to to do extremely hard manual work in the colonies (including ones who they weren't orphans, and not telling the parents where those children had been sent, let alone that they'd been sent) as late as the 1950s.

That's before you take into account what they currently do about non adult asylum seekers.
 
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