On Saturday 6 March 1971, women from across the UK gathered in central London to join the first national demonstration by the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement. Observer photographers Jane Bown and Tony McGrath documented the event for the following day’s paper.
Continue reading...Category Archives: Activism
Oakland teachers reach tentative deal to end week-long strike
The city’s 3,000 teachers walked off the job to demand higher pay, smaller classes and more school resources
Striking teachers in Oakland, California, reached a contract agreement Friday with district officials to end a week-long walkout.
The Oakland Education Association, which represents the city’s 3,000 teachers, said that union leaders reached a four-year agreement that calls for teachers to receive an 11% salary increase and one-time 3% bonus. The deal also requires the district to reduce class sizes and hire more student support staff, including special education teachers and counselors, the union said in a statement.
Continue reading...Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at four school strikes in a week – video
Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has criss-crossed the continent speaking at rallies in four countries in just eight days in a bid to spur politicians into action. She also made a brief stop at the European parliament in Brussels to address EU leaders. The Swede has become a social media sensation this year with her campaign of school strikes sweeping across dozens of countries and tens of thousands of teenagers participating
- Climate crisis and a betrayed generation
- Youth climate strikers: 'We are going to change the fate of humanity'
The Breadmaker: on the frontline of Venezuela’s bakery wars – video
In the midst of Venezuela’s spiralling economic crisis, Natalia and fellow members of a Chavista collective have stepped in to take over production at a local bakery, La Minka. Authorities had suspended operations when the owners were accused of overpricing their loaves and hoarding flour. In March 2017, with the tacit support of the government, the collective began selling affordable bread. This is the story of their fight to safeguard the bakery’s future and keep the Chavista dream alive
Continue reading...Parkland one year on: what victories have gun control advocates seen?
From the March for Our Lives to a background check bill, activists have seen success in preventative measures since the shooting
A year after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on 14 February 2018 sparked a national youth protest movement, gun violence remains an American crisis.
Nearly 1,200 American children and teenagers have been killed with guns in the past 12 months, a number that does not take into account an additional 900 to 1,000 youth gun suicides.
Continue reading...Salif Keita: ‘Democracy is not a good thing for Africa’
The ‘golden voice of Africa’ has just released his final album. And though he is visibly tired, he is still in love with his guitar
Salif Keita, Mali’s most famous musical son, is going home. “I’m returning to the land,” he says. “I was a farmer’s son. I am a farmer’s son. Now, I will go back to the country and cultivate.” Cultivate what? I ask, not for the first time. Keita does not answer, not for the first time. He closes his eyes and falls silent. When he does speak, it is bursts of a few words and short, stilted answers.
I am in a modest hotel suite in the north of Paris with one of the greatest musical talents the African continent has ever produced. Keita, known as the “golden voice of Africa”, has enjoyed a career spanning more than half a century. Now nearly 70 years old, he is known not just for his extraordinarily powerful and passionate voice, but for the genetic condition he has called albinism that has made him, he says, “white of skin and black of blood”. He has sung for Nelson Mandela, and in aid of Ethiopia. He continues to sing to highlight the desperate plight of those with albinism across Africa, giving his time and talent to raise funds.
Continue reading...Stansted 15 activist: ‘Jail separation from my baby would be horrific’
Emma Hughes tells of her fears as group await sentence for halting deportation flight
One of the 15 activists convicted of a terrorism offence for blocking the takeoff of a deportation charter flight from Stansted has spoken of her anguish before the group’s sentencing this week, saying she fears a “horrific” separation from her newborn son.
The Stansted 15, who were convicted at Chelmsford crown court in December of endangering the safety of an aerodrome, hope they will be given non-custodial sentences, though the offence carries a maximum of life imprisonment. Their convictions under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, were condemned as a “crushing blow for human rights” by Amnesty International. Their lawyers have lodged an appeal.
Continue reading...Women around the world march against violence – live
Demonstrators gather for 80 events across 31 cities including London, Berlin and New York to protest violence against women and the gendered impact of austerity
We’re wrapping up our live coverage of the 2019 Women’s March. Thanks for reading.
A few more images from marches around the country:
Continue reading...Women’s March 2019 – in pictures
Thousands gathered across the globe to call for equality and the protection of women’s rights
Continue reading...Women around the world march against austerity and violence
Tens of thousands take to city streets to protest against violence and the impact of austerity on their lives
Propelled by a mass public rendition of Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves and accompanied by a thudding police helicopter overhead, hundreds of protesters have rallied in central London in solidarity with an estimated 89 Women’s Marches worldwide.
In Athens, Berlin, Washington DC and Los Angeles, to name just a few, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out to protest against violence against women and the impact of policies of austerity. They also had some choice words for Donald Trump and Theresa May.
Continue reading...Women’s March 2019: Tens of thousands take to streets across the world – video
Demonstrators march on the streets of Washington, Berlin and London on Saturday as part of the global Women's March to protest against violence against women and the impact of policies of austerity
- Women’s March 2019: thousands around the world march to demand gender equality – live
- Women's March: 30 countries set to take part in third global protest
Peter Dutton tops GetUp’s ‘hard right’ hit list for federal election
Tony Abbott in second place as activist group looks to extend list of targets
Peter Dutton is the most unpopular Australian politician among GetUp supporters, with the activist organisation now looking to extend its “hard right” MP target hit list for the upcoming federal election.
The home affairs minister, who is already facing an established GetUp campaign against him in his marginal Queensland seat of Dickson, dominated the activist group’s poll of most loathed politicians, attracting 22,028 first-place votes.
Continue reading...‘It’s like 1984’: Venezuela targets human rights defenders
Amid Venezuela’s collapse, Nicolás Maduro has locked up those accused of criticizing his regime – often without due process
Geraldine Chacón, a 24-year-old lawyer from Caracas, went four months without seeing the sun while a prisoner in the Helicoide, the feared hillside prison complex administered by Venezuela’s secret police, where she was denied access to sunlight, water and food.
“The guards told me I was a political prisoner, and for that I don’t get anything,” said Chacón, speaking by phone from Caracas, where she is on conditional release. “Without seeing the sun, you lose a sense of time, you don’t know if it’s day or night – it’s horrible.”
Continue reading...The GOP hopes for a post-confirmation midterm boost. But Democrats might be getting a bigger bounce.
Almost 18 years after Bush v. Gore, the GOP's November hopes might once again rest with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Vietnamese environment activist Le Dinh Luong during his trial. Photo: Reuters
Obama had billed the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a chance for the US to write the rules of trade in the world's fastest-growing region - while also curtailing China's influence It was one of US President Donald Trump's very first acts: to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping 12-nation trade agreement that had been the centrepiece of President Barack Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward Asia. Trump had charged that such deals hurt American manufacturing, and on January 23, 2017, he signed the withdrawal order in the Oval Office.
How Hurricane Maria exposed long ignored human rights concerns in Puerto Rico
Driving around San Juan, the sight of blue tarpaulins is almost inescapable. Nailed over people's roofs, the tarps continue to provide the only shelter for tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans one year after Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing extensive damage to homes, hospitals and schools.
In Iowa debut, Booker tells Dems to turn despair into action
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker urged Democrats disappointed by Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to turn their despair into action as he made his national debut in Iowa as a Democratic presidential prospect. Racing from Saturday afternoon's Senate confirmation vote in Washington, Booker breezed into the Iowa Democratic Party's top fall fundraiser to try to make a positive impression on roughly 1,000 party activists.
Irony: Nobel Peace Prize for anti-Rape Activist, as US Senate puts Alleged Abuser on Highest Court
If the allegations of Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh are true, then he was a juvenile criminal. He and a friend plotted out how to get girls inebriated, force them into an upstairs side room, turn up the music to drown out screams, jump on top of them, and have their way with them.
Commentary: Facebook damages freedom of expression in Vietnam
Last year, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: "Our job at Facebook is to help people make the greatest positive impact while mitigating areas where technology and social media can contribute to divisiveness and isolation." As a Vietnamese musical artist who grew up in a totalitarian society, I can attest to the positive impact Facebook can make.
Is Kavanaugh a War Criminal?
The group states : "Amnesty International believes that the vetting of Brett Kavanaugh's record on human rights has been insufficient and calls for the vote on his nomination for Supreme Court of the United States to be further postponed unless and until any information relevant to Kavanaugh's possible involvement in human rights violations - including in relation to the U.S. government's use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, such as during the CIA detention program - is declassified and made public."