PNblogeditor's blog

    01 Jan 2014

    Matt Barr

    On January 1, 1804 Haiti became an independent nation free from colonial slavery but this important history is often missing from the prevalent narrative that blames Haiti for its current plight.

    Having broken free of the shackles of French colonial slavery, 210 years ago today Haiti become an independent country and in doing so became the first, and only, country to be born out of a successful slave revolt.

    Despite its huge historically significance, the scope of the human ideals upon which Haiti gained its independence from a brutal colonial ruler is often lost in the modern narrative about…

    20 Dec 2013

    Chris Crass

    Learning lesson for social justice organising using Harry Potter as an illustrative narrative.

    Have you daydreamed about being a member of an intergenerational social justice organisation like the Order of Phoenix? Do you want Dumbledore to be your mentor? Have dementors ever burned you out to the point where you doubted your ability to take on the Voldemorts of our world? Do you find yourself analysing Dumbledore’s Army for lessons on developing liberatory vision, culture, leadership, and organisation? Me too. Let’s develop our magic, build our liberation movement, and defeat the…

    12 Dec 2013

    Hakim

    The human cost of war in Afghanistan remembered.

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    Hashim at extreme left with eyes closed, Naseem and Hazrat in front.


    On the 16th of November, 2013, eight-year-old Hashim s/o Abdul Hamid and nine-year-old Zukoom s/o Abdul Majid were on the streets of Kabul polishing boots when a suicide bombing (in opposition to the…

    09 Nov 2013

    Neil Merrett

    Exclusive report from the Maldives on election day.

    ImageFor the Maldives, indefinite political chaos remains the only certainty should presidential polling scheduled for today - the fourth attempt over the last two months to vote a new head of state to office - not be allowed to proceed.

    Today's poll is scheduled to take place just days before the expiration of a constitutional deadline requiring that a new…

    10 Oct 2013

    Matt Barr

    UN sued in Manhattan court over its role in the 2010 outbreak of cholera in Haiti that has claimed the lives of over 8000 people and infected over 650,000.

    In a New York court yesterday a compensation claim against the UN was brought on behalf of the victims of the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti, the origins of which have been traced back to the organisation. More than 8,000 people have been killed with over 650,000 becoming ill as a result of the on-going outbreak of a disease that was previously only rarely experienced in Haiti despite numerous…

    19 Sep 2013

    Neil Merrett

    Report from the Maldives on the current elections and social crisis in the country.

    At what point is it that an infant democracy can really say it is growing up?

    For the Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives, which held its first multi-party democracy in 2008, uncertainty remains over whether the country is on the cusp of realising some form of political maturity, or is rather facing protracted political instability, potentially violent clashes and continued name calling between…

    17 Sep 2013

    Lucca Rossi

    Report about a recent anti-GM researchers and campaigners event.

    Being cautious and trying to apply the saying “you are what you eat” today can perhaps be trickier than simply checking the nutritional information about the levels of sugar, fat and vitamins that the food you are buying contains. Indeed, last year about 170 million hectares of genetically modified (GM) crops were…

    10 Aug 2013

    Matt Barr

    New scientific evidence “overwhelmingly” links UN troops to a cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed 8000 people and yet the organisation refuses to accept liability, adding further to the on-going controversy of the UN troop presence in the country.

    According to new report released by researchers at Yale University the United Nations inadvertently caused a deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti in October 2010 and has a legal and moral obligation to remedy this harm. This on-going cholera epidemic has killed more than 8,000 people and infected more than 650,000 in Haiti, a country still struggling with the aftereffects of the 2010 earthquake. Crucially, this conclusion directly contradicts recent statements by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki…

    06 Aug 2013

    LS

    Fourth installment of the PN blog series about grassroots activism in China.

    The month of June is now commonly associated with the Gay Pride movements in many countries worldwide. The first official Lesbian, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) demonstration took place in New York in 1969, standing up against homophobia and marginalisation; since then LGBT and Gay Pride movements have spread massively with June being the month when most activities and parades take place.

    The USA was also the first country to official recognise June as the "Gay &…

    08 Jul 2013

    LS

    Third installment of the PN blog series about grassroots activism in China.

    On the 25th June more than 35 civilians and members of the police force died in a small town called Lukqun, Xinijang province, China.

    It is difficult to get a clear picture of what has just happened in Lukqun: the official Chinese version talks of a terrorist attack by an Uyghur group of dissidents aimed at a local police station which resulted in 24 policeman and civilian deaths; two days after the massacre the official version acknowledged an higher number of deaths among…

    25 Jun 2013

    LS

    With a focus on enviornmental issues, LS provides the second installment of the PN series about activism in China.

    China has a long history of slogans and set phrases. During the era of Mao’s Charimanship hundreds of them were coined and printed on coloured posters which were then spread all over the country and in doing so propagating the message and line of action of the leadership. This tradition is still in place today, adapting to the time and context of the 21st century. If in 1966 a common slogan was along the lines of 'Boundlessly loyal to the great leader Chairman Mao, boundlessly loyal to the…

    18 Jun 2013

    LS

    First part of a series to feature on the PN blog about grassroots struggles in China.

    In the last few decades, one of the major phenomena occurring on the global scale has been the rise of China. In 1978, the country opened to the outside world after nearly 30 years of almost non-existent contact with what lay outside its borders. Since then, China has grown incredibly, in economic terms, and in terms of the global political balance of power. In little more than 30 years, China has become the second largest economy of the world, and a major economic partner for most countries…

    03 Jun 2013

    Emily Rainsford

    Ian Sinclair speaking at the University of Southampton about his book 'The march the shook Blair' that also featured Matt Barr who has recently returned from Iraq.

    ImageIn 2003 the UK and US invaded Iraq without a UN resolution. This is common knowledge to anyone who was old enough to pay attention to the news at the time and the following years. Many in my generation also attended the anti-war marches that were organised not only in Britain but across the world, although the London march, attracting between one and two…

    31 May 2013

    Jo Wilding

    Lawyer and activist Jo Wilding on the stark consequences of the proposed Legal Aid reforms and the recent demonstration against them.

    ImageBreda Power’s father Billy spent sixteen years in prison as one of the Birmingham Six (1975-1991), for an IRA bombing of which he was eventually shown to be innocent. Campaigning for his release she spoke frequently on the media and at meetings. When he and the other five walked out of prison, one of her first thoughts was that she never had to speak…

    13 May 2013

    Jill Gibbon

    A series of Jill Gibbon's drawings from BAE's annual general meeting, May 8th

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    Getting cross