Tag Archives: 2015

Letter from Em Sheppard – 26 December 2015

Please note it is important that this is not reposted after 30 December 2015 as this will be in breach of licencing conditions.

emLetter from Em: In October my probation officer said I could go back to Bristol. Now it transpires I have been a MAPPA (multi-Agency Protection) for my whole sentence, though no one thought to tell me (I always thought it was strange I wasn’t). The police met in November about me and to draw up my licence conditions, but (as is common practice) have only told me now. The licence is so restrictive that ironically I will have had more freedom in jail in some ways. I’m not sure what’s worse – to refuse to leave prison, or to accept their restrictions! It clearly shows what a farce the much quoted claims of “rehabilitation” and “maintaining family ties” are. I had a place to live and several jobs organised, but instead they make me sign-on and live in a bail hostel in Reading.
Licence conditions are one of many possible examples of how the prison society extends beyond these walls. As Ruth Wilson Gilmore said “Prison is not some building ‘over there’ but a set of relationships that undermine rather than stabilise everyday lives, everywhere”. Continue reading Letter from Em Sheppard – 26 December 2015

Kebele’s 20th birthday bash at The Plough – 18th December

hisisitsmall

OH MY GOSH!!! Kebele is 20!!!

Yes! Here it is, the 20th anniversary bash for Kebele social centre, the living anarchist experiment in Easton. It’s gonna be at The Plough pub in Easton (see Plough’s FB event), scene of many a benefit put on by and for campaigns & issues linked to and supported by Kebele.

Kebele20logoCome celebrate 20 years of anarchist organisation and resistance.
Proud of what we got? Hell yeah!!! So raise a glass and a fist for your local anarchist social centre! Dance like it’s 1995!
“If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution!” It is on!

Friday 18th December, 8pm til late at the Plough, Easton. Don’t be late, cos it’s gonna be rammed! All proceed to the dancefloor, all proceeds to Kebele social centre. £5 donation. Keep Kebele kicking!

Here’s a little mood setting and a taste of what’s going on:
Regime:
regimesound.bandcamp.com/releases
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFIScwWa9zc

MC Amalgam:
soundcloud.com/downtown_digital/la-bull…
myspace.com/amalgamone/music/songs

Mr Speaka with DFrost:
soundcloud.com/dj-sam-rawbeats
www.mixcloud.com/samuelrroberts9/

Plus DJs playing all sorts from hip hop and ragga to soul and cheese, with a few drops of dub and roots via the jungle!
GITSURFER; BLACK RAINBOW; THE POINTLESS SISTERS; SUN MONKEY; DUB MARK
(PS: Sorry but Dub Revolution are NOT playing)

What’s Kebele all about? Read ‘OurStory’ here.

Solidarity cafe Thursday 3rd Dec

kavala

Solidarity dinner and talk.

Hosted by Bristol antifascists.

From Kavala to Kebele – we share the same fight!

Thursday 3rd December.

Dinner at 7pm.

Presentation and discussion from 7.30pm:

Comrades from Kavala, Greece will be speaking about the situation there to raise awareness and solidarity for their struggle against fascists and state repression. One of the comrades from Kavala is facing serious charges at an upcoming court case on December 9th and is in desperate need for solidarity and financial support. Anti-fascists in Kavala have been some of the most active in all of Greece, organising demonstrations and actions against neo-nazi groups over the past years.

kavalademo










On Sunday 26th January 2014, a few hours before a scheduled anti-fascist rally, neo-nazis from the "Patriotic Movement" smashed up a shop owned by one well know anti-fascist and attempted to set fire to it, endangering the lives of those inside the building. After the intervention of local residents, as well as people from the surrounding nightclubs, the worst was avoided. Our comrade, once notified of the attack on his store, went down there to see what had happened. A few moments later some plain-clothes police officers arrived, having been notified by the local residents. At that moment our comrade is informed that before the smashing and arson of his store, a clash had taken place between a group of antifascists and a group of members of the Patriotic Movement. The "Patriotic Movement" were guarding the public space of the Municipal Park to prevent any anti-fascists from attending. Though refusing to have anything to do with the police, our comrade for the purpose of insurance had to go to the police station. Whilst waiting for 3 hours he was informed that he was arrested for public disturbance. Apparently members of the Patriotic Movement in collusion with the police attempted to put the blame for a previous confrontation on him. Not only were the Patriotic Movement attempting to control the streets and public spaces, they had after the incident violently attack two youths in a park and then proceeded to work with the police in making this claim against our comrade. A few hours later the antifascist rally, organised by the Autonomous Collective of Kavala, Vironos 3 squat and individual antifascists, took place in Faliro Park. From the very first moment of the rally, the Park was surrounded by several riot squads (around 8 to 10) and many plain-clothes cops. As soon as the antifascists (150 to 170 people from Kavala and other towns) blocked the road in front of the park, police vans shut off the road, in order to prevent the antifascists to approach the Municipal Park, where at the same time the fascist gathering was being held. Not only neo-nazi Golden Dawn members took part in the fascist gathering, but also other neo-nazi groups, such as the National Socialist Army of Macedonia and other known and unknown fascists from Northern Greece.

After the events of that weekend, two comrades were held in custody for several days and face charges of "disturbance of public order with facial features covered". The trial is set for December 9th 2015. 

We hope that this tour can further make links between anti-fascists in the UK Anti Fascist Network and anti-fascists across Greece. Please pass this on to your friends, comrades and networks. All proceeds from dinner and donations will go directly to the legal defence fund for the upcoming trial. Let's show our comrades they are not alone and we share the same struggle!

Nov/Fest – 6th weekend – mixing people, food, anarchy and alcohol

Welcome to the final full weekend of our NovemberFest (FB event), which includes a typically anarchic mix of work & play, and rounds off on Monday with a serious look at the impact of alcohol on both anarchist activity and on wider society.

The main weekend event sees Kebele hosting the 6-monthly UK Social Centres Network Gathering – see here and here for more info. We anticipate activists from at least 6 other UK social centres joining us for some in-depth discussions across Saturday & Sunday. Please note the building will be closed to anyone not attending the Gathering between the hours of 8am-6.30pm on Saturday 28th, and 8am-5pm on Sunday 29th.

s-c-partyFrom 6.30pm on Saturday 28th we’ll be putting the Social into the social centre with a party for  Gathering attendees, along with loadsa local activists & friends. Come down for some acoustic folk acts followed by some notorious (and mysterious) local DJ’s. Entry is by a suggested donation of £3 and early arrivals will be able to eat up any dinner leftover from the Gathering’s evening meal. Continue reading Nov/Fest – 6th weekend – mixing people, food, anarchy and alcohol

An Introduction to Anarchist Ideas and Politics

“Anarchy’s all about chaos and throwing bombs, right?”, “Yes, but who would take out the bins and do the dirty work?”, “But people need to be led!”, “How would you stop crime without prisons?”, “But how would we live without money?” “Humans are naturally greedy and selfish!”….blah…bluster…blah…bullshit…
IntrotoAsmallThe Dangerous Thoughts Collective presents a participatory discussion – An Introduction to Anarchist Ideas & Politics.
On Thursday 26th November at 7.30pm, at Kebele social centre. Continue reading An Introduction to Anarchist Ideas and Politics

Kebele – this is Ourstory

We’ve been banging on for a while now about our NovemberFest, celebrating our 20th anniversary, so here is OurStory

Kebele is based at 14 Robertson Rd, Easton, Bristol BS5 6JY, and since 1995 has provided space for the development of anarchist & radical ideas and activities, community campaigns, and international solidarity.

Kebele means “community place” or “neighbourhood” in Amharic, an Ethiopian language. The term refers to localised community institutions, which dealt with their own needs & concerns, such as justice, health and community democracy.  During the revolution in Grenada in 1979, Rastafarians involved in the struggle used the term “kebele” to refer to the community centres in each neighbourhood from which, in theory at least, the revolution was based. In 1983, the USA invaded the tiny island of Grenada to crush the rebellion.

The founders of Kebele were inspired by these meanings of the word, and current members are too.

The Squat and Kebele Kulture Projekt (KKP)
Kebele_frontKebele started as an empty building that was squatted in autumn 1995 to provide housing for four homeless activists. It quickly mutated into something bigger out of a need to defy the owners (a bank) and authorities seeking to evict them, and inspired by European social spaces there was a desire to create a self-managed space for local individuals, campaigns & projects. Continue reading Kebele – this is Ourstory

Nov/Fest – 5th weekend – talks, workshops, permaculture, food and films

Our NovemberFest kicks on with another eclectic mix of events this weekend mixing the serious with the fun, both indoors & out (see list below!).

NovemberFest celebrates 20 years of Kebele social centre as a living anarchist experiment, since it was first squatted in autumn 1995, until now when it has evolved into a Community Co-Op. See ‘OurStory‘.

This Weekend: Continue reading Nov/Fest – 5th weekend – talks, workshops, permaculture, food and films

Nov/Fest – 4th weekend – workshops, music, food and film!

There’s a packed lineup at Kebele social centre as our NovemberFest hits it’s 4th weekend, with plenty more to come!

As well as the ‘Libres’ performance on Friday 13th at 7pm, and the participatory workshop ‘Songs & stories of resistance’ on Sunday 15th from 1-5pm (details of both here), here’s what else is on, plus at the end we have a few date changes: Continue reading Nov/Fest – 4th weekend – workshops, music, food and film!

Libres – Spanish stories and songs of Resistance / Historias de Espana y canciones de la Resistencia

Este viernes al centro social Kebele, empezando a las 7pm: ‘Libres – una noche de historias de Espana y canciones de la Resistencia’ (canciones en espanol, historias en ingles) // This Friday at Kebele social centre from 7pm: ‘Libres – an evening of Spanish stories and songs of Resistance’ (songs in Spanish, stories in English).

We are delighted to welcome Pilar Lopez and her ‘Libres Project‘ to Kebele on Friday, 13 November. Doors will open at 7pm for the event, and there is a charge of £5…OR…whatever you can afford, but do come early to avoid disappointment! There are more details on the image below or at Pilar’s website. Continue reading Libres – Spanish stories and songs of Resistance / Historias de Espana y canciones de la Resistencia