What motivates your activism?

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 So many of the conversations that take place during Shake! planning and delivery engages with the discussion of what our motivations for activism are? Is there a space for ‘feelings’? Should we be motivated by love or anger? Do they even stand in opposition? If not, then how do we find the balance?

“So often activism is based on what we are

against, what we don’t like, what we don’t

want. And yet we manifest what we focus

on. And so we are manifesting yet ever

more of what we don’t want, what we

don’t like, what we want to change.

So for me, activism is about a spiritual

practice as a way of life.

And I realized I didn’t climb the tree

because I was angry at the corporations

and the government; I climbed the tree

because when I fell in love with

the redwoods, I fell in love with the world.

So it is my feeling of ‘connection’ that

drives me, instead of my anger and feelings

of being disconnected.”

-       Julia Butterfly Hill

“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
―Frederick  Douglass 

What are your thoughts?

Shake! Recommendations for Alternative Media Sources

"Citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for meaningful democracy.” Chomsky



Here is a list of alternative media  sources that Shake!rs recommend for getting information in an era of mass information:

Alternative Media Sources

Tumblr

Youtube

India Radio

Democracy Now! (daily news online)

Ceasefire

Peace News

New Left Project

Yes!

Open Democracy

Café babel

Pambazuka

RRRiot girl

Reddit – various

Craigmurray.org

UTNE reader http://www.utne.com/

Red Pepper

Al Jazeera

Russia Today

On Latin America:

Upside down world

Narco news

Alborado. Net 

 Let us know if you agree with this list, what would you add or remove?

Review of Shake! @SLCT'13 in The SOAS spirit magazine

Here is what Crisitiana from The SOAS spirit magazine had to say about Shake! when she came for a visit. 

rough draft of a never-ending process

rough draft of a never-ending process1

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” 2

so let us Begin:

to disbelieve in any system claiming to have a “monopoly on the truth”3

to make Noise – and to listen

to Eat great food – but not too much

to Work – but not too much

to make Art without limit

to have a place to Sleep – and someone to keep us warm

to be Untiringly Human

we refuse to be embarrassed about hope or to have dreams about checking

our email

we refuse to continue to see the world in the black and white stark contrasts of Manichean design

we refuse to confuse Education with Capital, in which:

Reframing the 'Riots' - Voices of the Unheard

We're excited about the premier of a new feature-length documentary in London today - Riots Reframed takes a look back at the 2011 UK uprising in London and reframes the mainstream media narratives of "feral youth" through voices of resistance, dramatic monologue and raw spoken word.

Film-maker Fahim Alam is keen to "emphasise the 'positive' fallout of the riots... in the aftermath, some people began talking about a section of the population that for years had been ignored helping to strip away the veil of normality that concealed entrenched social despair... Sometimes there are deep and profound opportunities within the biggest injustices and if we can use these things to speak to power then we should." [New film reveals the unheard voices of the 2011 London riots, The Guardian12/03/13]

Our event, The Unheard: Youth, the “Riots”, and the Media that took place at the Rebellious Media Conference in 2011 discussed similar issues of youth mis-representation in the corporate media in the aftermath of the 'riots'. Here's part 1 of that event below. Part 2 as well as interviews and poetry from Selina and Rotimi plus Ceasefire magazine interviews with Zena and Sai from the conference can be viewed on our videos page here:

The premiere of Riots Reframed also features a Q+A audience discussion (Akala, Prof. Paul Gilroy, Lee Jasper & our very own Zena amongst the panel). Tickets may still be available from here.
See you there!

BORN INTO THIS?

Charles Bukowski was listed as an influence of one of the Shake!rs for the Shake!’13 @SLCT week. Bukowski was a German -born American author, prolific poet, short story writer, columnist and novelist.  His work has inspired and influenced so many great writers and thinkers and he is often described as a dangerous mind.

 We thought we would share his powerful poem Born Into This:

 “...Born like this
Into this
Into these carefully mad wars
Into the sight of broken factory windows of emptiness
Into bars where people no longer speak to each other
Into fist fights that end as shootings and knifings
Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that it's cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much it's cheaper to plead guilty
Into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed
Into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes
Born into this...” ( an extract from Born Into This)

What do you think? Are we born into this reality Bukowski describes? Can we do anything to change it?

Shake! '13 @SLCT, The Low down...

Having completed our first Shake! intensive for 2013 we are bursting with ideas, continuity projects and creative ways to use our voices to shake things up. The week at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was truly inspiring, uplifting and emotional.

Through invigorating and eye-opening discussions, skill-shares, workshops and via the mediums of spoken word poetry, film, documentary, visiting guest artist/activists, and international web link-ups we addressed a variety of topics of injustice (power, tar sands, creative campaigning, gender, race, media and mental health).

The caliber and rigor of ideas, opinions and artwork definitely shook us up and over the next few weeks we look forward to sharing some of this with you. So watch this space!

Here’s what some of the Shake!rs had to say:

“Thank you for a wonderful week, for your enthusiasm and for providing a space for openness & creativity. I look forward to continuing my relationship with Shake! I have been inspired to feel as though I can really make a difference, even on a small scale. I have realized the importance of engaging with my creativity and thinking about the way I think ☺”

"This week has been life changing!”

“I have learnt so much that I didn’t even know I didn’t know. I have met people who are amazing, incredible, inspiring who I never would have come into contact with.”

“It’s been fascinating sharing this journey with you, it’s been a reminder of values and ideas I believe in. Carry on the journey and keep refreshing your spirit.”

“One of the most inspiring and energising weeks I can remember... it will definitely get me through my next batch of essays! Looking forward to the next steps...”

A big thank you to the Shake!rs (Adam, Amariah, Annie, Ceris, Catherine, Christina, Dershe, Holly, Ifty, Kate, Khafilat, Nathaniel, Saif, Umaru) for helping create such an honest, warm, humorous, trusting and stimulating environment. Welcome to the Shake! fam, and we looking forward to continued growth and learning with you.

If you are interested in getting involved in our next Shake! intensive this summer at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre or would like to know more, get in touch at: farzana@platformlondon.org.