Launch of 'Equality' movement....Lowkey, Logic, Jody McIntyre & Tariq Ali

The inaugral meeting of the 'Equality' movement spearheaded by Lowkey, Logic and Jody McIntyre proved immediatly impressive as due to demand the venue had to be moved to a larger lecture theatre, which itself was packed to capacity of around 500 people.

Speakers included Seamus Milne Guardian columnist and author of ‘The Enemy Within’,Lizzie Cocker political activist, Tariq Ali, a political commentator and campaigner who recently wrote ‘The Obama Syndrome’,Jody McIntyre writer for the Independent and author of ‘Life on Wheels’ and Dr. Hanan Chehata, commentator on Palestine and Middle Eastern affairs.

The lead question of 'What is Imperialism' was not debated as such, rather each speaker gave an empassioned overview of various elements of the anti-war, anti-imperiallist mosvement that has grown since the invasions of Iraq and Afgahnistan after the 9/11 attacks. There were some excllent points raised, especially in regards to the illegal Israeli imposed blockade of Gaza,the victimisation of protesters espcially young Muslim men by the policed, and examples of imperialistic aggression against civilians and children by Britian and America.

Unfortunatley, a debate it was not and the question and answer section after the initial speeches was hijacked by a lot of enthusiasic comments agreeing with all the previous speakers. Although encouraging to see such enegry it was a shame that there was no little internal criticism or debate, especially in regard to the initial question - What is Imperialism? Preaching to the converted is one thing, however the nature of imperialist capitalist hegemony means that levels of apathy in the general population must be addressed before a popular movement can really prove to be successfull. Although Lowkey was only present via a video speech, his presence was most definitely felt, and some of his views I have later found encapsualted in this important and provocating video for his track 'Terrorist?' below.

Regardless of lack of debate, the meeting showcased a lot of common sentiment against violent oppression everywhere, and was very inspiring. The next meeting is set to be even larger, I just hope the next one will begin to solidify some ideas for raising awareness, especially over the situation in Gaza, and direct action. For the time being I'm writing to my MP (probably not the most revolutionary of actions but its a start!)so watch this space...

Endemic bang on point

Props to Sarah Love for spotlighting this wicked producer. Leatherfase and the Triple Darkness boys tear the man apart in this tune. Particularly relevant reading the papers today, the Met announcing they are going to be heavily tooled up and ready for a fight over the G20 protests. Freedom of speech and right to protest must be upheld.

Orwellian Form 696

A while ago I was asked to join a Facebook group against form '696'...intrigued, I started reading about this and found it was basically a form the Met Police have been getting venue promotors to fill in to give exhasustive details of the performers including addresses, styles of music to be played and expected ethnicity to attend...basically racial profiling and a massive infringement on freedoms and small scale live music. Anyway I wanted to see the form my self but couldnt see it on the web site...in journo mode I contacted the Met but got no response! Luckily someone at the Guardian had a bit more clout than me and are able to follow the story...and even though the blatent racial profiling has been removed it still looks like the man is gonna try shut the kids up...go check the rest! http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jan/21/police-form-696-garage-music