Saturday 16th February sees the return of the Street Party & Protest to Bristol. Aiming to bring attention to the ongoing climate crisis, the event promises to ‘shut down’ Stokes Croft, a major road route into Bristol city centre, for at least two hours. We recommend everyone is there, ready to get onto the street, before 1pm, to ensure there is a ‘critical mass’ of people present to take the street…in case the authorities decide to try and stop it (they’ve allegedly agreed to facilitate it…but you cannot trust them eh!). See the FB event details (or just be there!).

Recent months have seen the latest upsurge in protest about climate change, or climate breakdown, spearheaded by the new’ish protest movement Extinction Rebellion. They are calling on people to rebel, quite literally ‘for life’, as the escalating global climate emergency threatens the very existence of both planet Earth, and all life on it. From April 15th they are calling for a worldwide rebellion to force action to address climate change – see their website for further details! Whilst one may not completely agree with Extinction Rebellion’s ideology, strategy & tactics, one can only applaud their hard work in mobilising many thousands in Bristol, the UK & around the world, to take notice, and take action, in recent months. Yesterday’s Youth Strike 4 Climate success is indicative of the work of Extinction Rebellion & many similar groups in getting people to take action. Because the power to bring about change does begin in the streets. We support all calls for people to protest in the streets, and shut down whatever is needed to bring about change. By any means necessary.

We have however been here before, whilst for this newest generation of campaigners it’s their first go at bringing about the social change required. One of the beauties of the human condition is that every generation, sooner or later, pushes back against the greed, excess & inherent destructive nature of the powerful global elites. The specific issues on which we fight, and have fought, may vary, but the struggle is essentially the same – to create a world for the benefit of the many, not the elite few. Now that struggle has escalated, and we need to actually save the world, which will be impossible under our current global system.

Reclaim The Streets

The idea of the Street Party & Protest is not new. But from an environmental protest perspective the biggest push in recent history was in the 1990’s, when people coalesced under the banners of Reclaim The Streets – against the environmental damage caused by ‘car culture’, and ultimately therefore against the very nature of capitalism itself. RTS drew on the diy nature of the 1980’s punk scene & the rave/free-party scene that followed it, and married it with the early 1990’s anti-roads protests, to create protests that were far more fun than the standard A to B marches of previous years. Using innovative tactics – follow the flags, carnival masks/costumes, fake car crashes & much more – to both shut down roads and/or city centres, and have a party at the same time. This happened all around the UK, including multiple events in Bristol – see this RTS archive timeline. As RTS developed it broadened it’s scope, for example supporting in 1996/7 the striking Liverpool dockers, and in 1999 targetting global centres of financial & corporate power at it’s Carnival Against Capitalism. RTS slowly subsided in the new millenium. The reasons are many & too complex to go into detail here – although harassment by the cops & state, and activist burnout are both worth a mention – but it is instructive to learn about RTS, and also to become aware of how much of its ethos continued into later protests & movements. These articles are worth a read: Do or Die issue 6 looks at the origins & evolution of RTS; RTS activist John Jordan wrote this short case study of RTS; digital journalist & activist Alan Lodge covered many RTS events & wrote this piece on state harassment of RTS; Urban 75 has an extensive protest archive including RTS; and if you’ve had enough reading sit back with this 51 minute documentary about RTS (youtube!).

Rebellion/System Change or Climate Change

Presently Extinction Rebellion, and other like-mided groups such as Earth Strike!, are gathering momentum, and numbers, ahead of major events in coming months – all out rebellion and strikes. So we should not judge too harshly as they test the ground, and their strategies & tactics – there’s no point being battered, beaten, arrested and stopped short whilst you are just beginning! But we need to be clear that terms like Rebellion and System Change are extremely serious matters, as of course is the global climate emergency. This is not a game you can just walk away from. When one speaks of Rebellion one should not mean asking politely for this or that, or expecting governments & corporate elites to submit quietly to demands that will essentially destroy their power & wealth. A Rebellion is an uprising that seeks to overthrow the existing order, with the aim of replacing it with something much, much better. A Rebellion will meet organised & violent opposition designed to smash the Rebellion. So be ready, and prepared. When one speaks of System Change, that does not mean swapping the government of one party for another, say Tory to Labour, or even Green. System Change means completely getting rid of the existing system (social, political & economic), and the elite that runs it, and replacing it & them with something entirely different. Historically those in & with power have never given it up quietly. So be prepared, and be ready. But don’t panic…this won’t all start on Stokes Croft on Saturday, it has already begun, but for now enjoy the fun & party, gain confidence & strength, learn from past & practical experience, and plan ahead. The planet & all who live on her need you. So get ready!

(Image credits: Main – street party flyer/XRBristol + M41 London ’96/Alan Lodge; Others – AltBristol & internet scavenged)