The 1949 Docks Strike was notable as an international solidarity action in support of strike action by Canadian seamen of the Canadian Seamen’s Union. Canadian employers had used scab crews (in the Seafarers’ International Union) to load ships. One of these, the SS Gulfside, had remained strike bound in Avonmouth from 1st April. A second ship, the SS Montreal City arrived with a cargo of tomatoes and bananas. As tugmen and dockers refused to work the blacked ships, the Labour Government brought […]
Directed by Anthony Howard, 1989, 60min A rare chance to watch part 2 of the Channel 4 documentary series on the Greek Civil War of 1946-49 made in 1986; we screened part 1 in 2018. This documentary explores how the clash between British and US interests in Greece and the left-wing Greek Resistance against the Nazi occupation led to Civil War - and Greece becoming the first battleground of the Cold War. The liberation of Athens in 1944 was followed by a period of extreme right-wing terror […]
This Saturday there’ll be post-election fun and games with a serious edge at this event – a fundraiser for Bristol Antifascists and the launch of a new BRHG pamphlet plus a seasonal knees-up – all in one night. It’s on Saturday 14th December, from 7.30pm, £3 suggested donation on the door, at The Plough, 223 Easton Road, Bristol, BS5 0EG – see Bristol Antifascists website and the FB event. The Bristol Radical History Group are asking their followers/supporters to come along at 7.30pm for the […]
Book review and discussion of Extinction Rebellion: This is Not a Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook, ed. by Clare Farrell et al. (London: Penguin, 2019). Question: Who was described as a ‘true feminist green revolutionary’ in October 2019? (answer at the end; no scrolling now…) ‘Run comrade, the old world is behind you!’ went one of the slogans in Paris 1968. This is still true, comrade, and, catastrophically, the old world of predatory capitalism is rearing up in front of us too. […]
Between 1972 and 1978 more than 120 innocent civilians in Northern Ireland were murdered. Documentary director Sean Murray set out to investigate and found disturbing evidence of collusion between the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Ulster Defence Regiment and loyalist death squads. Sean Murray will present the documentary. “…outstanding documentary film-making combining in-depth research and personal testimony to expose the undeniable truth of state collusion and its fatal consequences.” Phil […]
Screening time is approximate. Reclaim The Streets: The Film (various, c1998, 50 minutes) Reclaim The Streets was a prominent 1990’s network of collectives that organised mass street parties to transform the urban environment. RTS initially emerged from the road protest movement and sought to liberate spaces from car culture. Large anti-capitalist mobilisations included the takeover of London’s M41 Motorway in 1994, the J18 Carnival Against Capitalism of 1999 and May Day 2000, which saw maypole […]
Screening time is approximate. Who Bombed Judi Bari? (2012, Mary Liz Thomson, 95 minutes) "This feature documentary filled with music, humor, and inspiration is a blueprint for activism in these more than urgent times. The Martin Luther King of the Redwoods, Judi Bari was an Earth First!er, AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations] and IWW labor organizer, radical feminist, world class orator, author of Timber Wars, fiddler and songwriter, fundraiser, mother […]
Screening time is approximate. On Level 2 of M Shed, we will be screening three films relating to the events of 1919: Tiger Bay Is My Home (early 1980s, Colin Prescod, 39 minutes) One of four films in Colin Prescod's 'Struggles for Black Community' series, Tiger Bay is my Home shows that in 19th century Cardiff as in other ports Black communities began with Black colonial seamen. The Tiger Bay community faced official, as well as everyday physical harassment, which culminated in race riots in […]
Prof. Steve Poole (UWE Bristol) will give an overview of the Recovering the Regional Radical Press in Britain 1968-88 project, highlighting the publications in the exhibition on Level 2. "From the late sixties to the mid-eighties, small, co-operatively produced local and neighbourhood papers played an important role in grassroots radical politics across the British Isles. Some achieved passing prominence with occasional news scoops, but most are unremembered now and their history is overlooked. […]
Prof. Steve Poole (UWE Bristol) will give an overview of the Recovering the Regional Radical Press in Britain 1968-88 project, highlighting the publications in the exhibition on Level 2. "From the late sixties to the mid-eighties, small, co-operatively produced local and neighbourhood papers played an important role in grassroots radical politics across the British Isles. Some achieved passing prominence with occasional news scoops, but most are unremembered now and their history is overlooked. […]
