Dear Comrades,
This is the 2nd newsletter since the pandemic has started. It means instead of inviting you to many great activities across europe we want you to stay connected, learned about other initiatives, exchange the resources and then maybe, if safe and possible, travel to places to participate in the gatherings, camps, skillshares and workshops, protests and actions.
Read below who else is there, how you can get involved, both locally and on the interregional level.
Please ask the group/person before sharing the information broadly.
Do not hesitate to write us if you need any support in these days, we can’t promise anything, but doing our best to strengthen our movements, keep them accessible, sustainable and alive.
Against isolation, individualism, and borders.
afrofilm
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
We are afrofilm and diasporic realities. We are a monthly filmscreening exclusively for black audiences hosted by xart Splitta, that show films about black lives made by black people. - Contact info
Instagram @afro.film
Email: afroscreening@tutanota.com - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too
We have events every month, exlusively digitally, on zoom (for now). Our next event is on the 25/02/2021 at 19h30 - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
We miss a better screening platform and visibility, especially for filmmakers to submit their films - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
We have curatorial skills, film knowledge and knowledge on how to host a multilingual cultural event
with artist Q&A and discussion rounds - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
It’s important for us to offer a safer space free from the gaze of non black people, which is why our screening is a restricted audience. Also we want to widen the knowledge about our communities around
the world and highlight black realities that are less mediatised or discussed in general.
BIWOC* rising
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
BIWOC* Rising is the first intersectional coworking and social club in Germany exclusively for women, transgender and non-binary people of colour. By creating a safer space , including training programs, we
promote social, professional and economic advancement through an intersectional community. - Contact info
info@biwoc-rising.org / www.biwoc-rising.org / IG @biwocrising / FB @biwocrising2020 /
https://www.gofundme.com/f/biwoc-rising - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
We are offering a mentoring program from and for QTI*BIWoC, regular transformative community (healing) care, empowerment workshops and more to come. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
Due to neo-colonialism, we are having a hard time finding an affordable space. We need fundings and donations to be able to pay the rent. We are offering our programs and space to our community free of charge, because we want to make our coworking space and programs as accessible as possible to reach the most marginalised within our marginalised community. That is why we need financial support from
our more privileged communities and allies. If you can please donate to our GoFundMe Page. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
We are working on a volunteer basis, that means our resources are limited. But we are happy to cooperate and support other projects, that are led by women* of color. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
Our community got hit hard by the pandemic, not only psychologically (having family abroad, pending visa issues), but also financially. Women* of colour are the ones with the short term contracts or freelance jobs, who got laid off easily when the pandemic hit. Transwomen are experiencing a lot of violence and are in need for more safer spaces, which we are trying to provide.
bikueers
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
Bikueers – A self-organized bike workshop. We are made by and for women* trans* migrants and BIPOC persons. We repair, build and donate bikes to asylum seekers and refugee women* & kids, to support
them in their independency and freedom of movement around the city. We also offer bike-riding lessons as well as basic bike mechanic courses. - Contact info
Kiefholzstr. 74 – 12435 – Berlin
bikueers@protonmail.com - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
We usually start our activities in April. Unfortunately we can not offer any online activity but we think about developing some bike mechanic tutorials in the future. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment? We are in constantly need of donations! Be that money or WD40!!! (We always need both!)
- Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange? We can definitely help you to fix or build your own bike!
- Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions? Due to the pandemic we will reduce our visitors capacity but helping hands
are always needed and welcome! We need help to sort out our entire workshop and as well to build new bikes that are gonna be donated.
fair-y circles
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
I am ‘Fair-y circles’, a growing research based mushroom learning network that expands human sensitivity to think with nonconsensual creatures, eg. mushrooms. I create interdisciplinary learning spaces where knowledge is transformed through community applications. I am critical pedagogy initiative - Contact info
www.fairycircles.network, boszorkanykorok@pm.me - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
I’m planning events of reading circles, podcast publications, collective mushroom encounters, expanded observation of microbes, local, periurban circular foodproduction, soil and water cleansing, playing and
fabulating. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
I need partners with whom I could interact, create content and multiply access to local audiences, communities. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
I have a basic financial resource that allows me to offer community growing and experimenting space in Budapest and partially nomadically, in a mobile mushroom laboratory that can move towards partner
territoties. I share openly results of experiments online on my website in the above mentioned practice fields.
inicjatywa 8 marca
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
We are Inicjatywa 8 Marca, a grassroot queerfeminist group from Poland. Since 2012 we organize demonstrations, camps, parties, debates, actions, and other stuff in our city of Wrocław, Poland. - Contact info
inicjatywa8m@riseup.net, manifa.noblogs.org, Manifa Wroclaw on facebook - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
At the moment we participate in the ongoing pro-abortion strikes. We plan to continue with our usual agenda as much as this is possible due to corona, which means an 8th of march demonstration, local
events, maybe a camp and/or a congress. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
We need legal abortion… but for now a lot of help is needed with protesting on the streets, and helping with abortion access in the country and abroad. As usual we’d love to network and unwind somehow. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
Just our hearts and hands. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
The general morale is rather low… Pandemic + terrible government + plenty of mental health issues around is a bad combo.
a – casa
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
We are A-casa, an anarchist collective based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We are involved in maintaining a social centre in the city, where we also organize different political events, ranging from movie projections
and discussions to direct action preparation and organization. - Contact info
We have a blog where you can find some information about us and about our activity: https://acasa.blackblogs.org
We sometimes use a facebook page (called Laolalta) where we share public events or fundraising call-outs. https://www.facebook.com/laolalta, Mail: casa.fara.nume@riseup.net - Any events you are planning to do in 2021?
Setting up our new space is going to be probably the main aim of this year. In that process we hope to have our comrades alongside us at parties, working sessions (renovation, fixing and arranging the house
and the courtyard) and different political events. A great deal of our time will actually be given to internal working meetings because we are basically setting up also a new collective (an enlarged one),
not only a new space. By working together we do a lot of practical and group dynamics skill-sharing. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
Our space functions on free donations that people leave in support of the space or in return for different products that the space offers, but the pandemic made it impossible to gather people for live events.
This led to the situation in which we have no income to cover the monthly expenses necessary for sustaining the space, therefore we will soon launch (end of february) a crowdfunding campaign aiming to
raise the necessary money for the functioning and maintainance of the space. Any kind of material support and spreading the word about the crowdfunding is more than welcome since we are not in the
most ideal of positions. Yet, we also know that others are in the same, if not more dire, situation. The pandemic and the repressive measures that ensued made all our lives harder. Follow our blog for news
about the crowdfunding. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
I think the biggest resource we have is the energy the people put into this collective project. Besides energy and dedication there is also knowledge. From facilitating meetings to organizing for direct action,
we have some knowledge stemming from our own experiences and also from the different workshops and events organized alongside comrades transnationally. More practically, groups which use the space
could offer camps infrastructure, mobile kitchen, diy translation equipment, a van, soon a bigger space for small groups to meet and skills on how to make your own fermented drinks for your space, bread
baking, gardening. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
The pandemic and the epidemiological restraints in place gave rise to an extreme right party, AUR, that managed to enter Parliament during elections held in December. The party is one year old. It has an anti-
immigration, euro-skeptical, nationalist – bordering fascist ideology with their lineage to the inter-warlegionarmovement and its leaders. We predict that in the future we will have to organize against this party and its many ways of functioning and co-opting members and supporters. Also more and morerefugees enter Romania near Timisoara and the state is handling the situation very poorly, especially during pandemic times. Our comrades in Timisoara are organizing to assist these people with their needs. You are always welcome in A-casa! To take a break, to give us a hand, to sleep and go further in your trips 🙂 !
radical resilience
- Who are you?
We are Lian and Delila, makers of the film “Radical Resilience” about burnout & “sustainable activism”.
We are working on new material around collective care, chronic illness and inclusivity. Currently living in the west of Germany. - Contact info
radicalresilience@riseup.net https://radicalresilience.noblogs.org
Mastodon: @radicalresilience@todon.nl Twitter: @radresfilm - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
As well as (mostly online) film screenings & workshops with various groups, we are planning an online workshop series in the next months (date to be confirmed).
We’d also like to continue with our film work, we’d like to expand on some of the subjects touched upon in the film, as well as focus on chronic illness and activism. Slowly - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
Networking around chronic illness and activism and other themes.
Help with funding applications for workshops and our next film project (also ideas where to ask). People who would be up for being interviewed or give input on subjects like collective care, anti-oppression
work, sustainable activism, barriers to participation, perspectives outside of central/northern Europe… for our next film. Collaborations for workshops. People who want to translate the zine or the film in other
languages. The person doing the spanish subtitles would appreciate some help for example. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
Our film (with subtitles in English, French, German, soon Polish and Spanish). We can also facilitate online workshops/discussions based on the film. “Caring Movements” zine (on our blog & EYFA website). We are
open for collaborations. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
Please keep up having online workshops/meetings from time to time, since Corona a lot more stuff has been happening online and it has made it much more accessible for chronic ill folks, we hope that continues at least a bit after Corona! Lots of love to you!
queer wagenplatz kanal
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
Queer Wagenplatz Kanal. We are a collective living space for queer, trans* & migrant folks, located near Treptowerpark, Berlin. We are also a cultural center with a party area for concerts, info events, cinema and workshops (bike mechanics, carpentery). Our main focus is migrant solidarity, intersectional feminism, trans* rights, permaculture. - Contact info
kanal@squat.net
“Radikal Queer Wagenplatz Kanal”on fb - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
We have planned some construction/renovation weeks to build our cinema and a new kitchen/better equipped kitchen. Unfortunately we can not offer online events because we lack good internet connection. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
During Covid things got very difficult for us and we do lack lots of basic resources, from financial means to keep the place running to even food.
People could help us by simply joining our construction weeks or donating money, food or tools to our collective. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
We have a wood workshop / bike workshop / collective garden and we would love to share/exchange our knowledge in these areas and beyond! - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
Covid19 hit us hard as most of us were already struggling with unstable (and the lack of) jobs even before the lockdown. But we also see that mutual help is real and the solidarity networks bring us hope so we can better take care of each other.
porozumienie kobiet 8 marca
- Who are you?
Porozumienie Kobiet 8 Marca, PK8M (March 8th Women’s Coalition, we are just changing the name into a more inclusive) is informal, independent feminist group located in Warsaw (Poland). We are exposing problems of inequality and discrimination, e.g. orginising March 8th demonstration and other event, like queer and women fundrising festivals. - Contact info
https://www.facebook.com/porozumieniekobiet8marca
Messenger: @porozumieniekobiet8marca, E-mail: porozumieniekobiet8iii@gmail.com - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
- February, on-line meeting about political prisoners
- February/March – feminist newspaper
- January/February – on-line auctions to rise money for demonstration, newspaper, workshops
- March, 7th Manifa) 2021(8th of March demonstration), depends on legal conditions (pandemia).
- January/February/March anti-violence workshops for collective
- Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
As polish feminists we will appreciate solidarity actions against ban on abortion. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
Our collective is our greatest bank of resources. We consist of different people with different social/class/cultural/economical backgrounds, different experience (also in feminist movement), knowledge, skills. As
collective with long history we have lots of contacts in Poland and abroad. We can help if person/groupis organising event, workshop, discussion, lecture, looking for someone to give interview, write article,
host activists coming to Poland etc. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
Since the end of October 2020, we, feminists in Poland are facing first a threat, and now a fact of almost 100% abortion-ban. Ruling far-right party, PiS (Right and Justice). There is also huge rise of qeerfobia. Now,
during pandemic, all manifestations and any forms of civil disobedience are forbidden. Despite this for several months there are massive feminist, queer and anarchist protests being organised regularly in
bigger and smaller cities. Protesters are punished with lots of police violence and huge fee’s.
spółdzielnia praktyk wywrotowych
- Who are you?
We are Spółdzielnia Praktyk Wywrotowych and we are active in Katowice, Łódź and Krakow (Poland).
The shared values are anarchism, queer and anti-fascism, they all influence our activities and present them to the people not necessarily politicized in the same way. - Contact info
E-mail: spw@riseup.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/espewu, Twitter: https://twitter.com/SPW_PL
Website: http://spoldzielniapraktyk.pl/ (under construction) - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? Online too.
We co-organize the anarchist congress ‘Kongresono’, this year in Łódź (27-28.08.21) and hopefully in person. Other activities are adjusted on the way regarding the political and pandemic situation in the country. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
We would like to renovate out space. We need big thermoses, so we can bring hot beverages to the demonstrations. We want to get in touch with other groups in other regions to talk, share the solutions
and ideas. Very soon we will face the challenge of efficient decision making process in a huge group. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
We have got the space in Krakow city center – Dom Inicjatyw Społecznych ‘Zwrotnica’, no sleeping places, but sufficient for the collective or open meetings. For free. Additionally we have printing machine, black-white (with ink!), big format. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
Due to the current political situation in poland we meet mostly outdoor to protest together, so we miss organizing discussions, screenings and live meetings.
the struggle against nuclear energy in bure
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
Individual/part of collective. Part of diverse struggle against Nuclear Energy in general and against project of “Industrial Centre for Geological Storage” (CIGEO) in Bure in so called france. - Contact info
bureburebure.info, aburecross@riseup.net - Any events you are planning to do in 2021? 24th – 21th of March: No specific title. Rather small event on “L’ancienne Gare de Lumevielle”, let’s call it “Get to know La Gare” ;). The plan is not ambitious at all. It is for people that are interested in building collective/group in context of antinuclear struggle. There is no framework and no limitations besides material limitations of place (more about it below). We want to spend a week together at the end of which we will share ideas and feeling about place and struggle and time we spend. What this place could be, what kind of projects people see are possible there? 19th – 25th of April: “Formation; Medic tout terrains”. It is knowledge shearing event for everyone who is interested to act as a medic during demonstrations. We especially welcome people who would like to start but are lacking of experience. Focus is on medic techniques relevant to different forms of active protest (demo, land occupations, etc.). Event will take place on “L’ancienne Gare de Lumeville” 8km from village of Bure in Meuse department, france. Event is planed for max 60 people. More info soon on bureburebure.info and other independent media websites.
- Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
Spreading info, fallow the events. Especially one place in area of struggle is in particular situation under threat of expropriation because it is on the site of a planned railway line to deliver radioactive waste. As
other places in the area since years is under heavy repressions and became generally deserted. This year couple of people trying to make it alive again. So for sure we will need some material support, however
more important are people with ideas, will to act and prepared for certain amount of repressions on daily basis. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?
So there is a place (L’ancienne Gare de Lumevielle) around hectare big with kitchen and little bit of solar powered electricity. There are free camping trailers ready to live in and also a building with around 25
comfortable places to sleep in collective sleeping. 8 of them are in non-cismale room. There is well prepared bike workshop and wood\metal workshop. Place is really suitable for medium size and big events in spring and summer. Because of characteristics of the struggle in Bure people who might be well connected to other political initiatives that take place around like anti-prison, queer-feminist, anti- colonial and land struggles. - Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
So, i guess other politics and context were already mentioned above. Pandemic of course changes lot, but general attitude is to focus on “keep going”. This sometimes put us in bigger risk of being
contaminated but we are trying to keep the necessary precautions. As far it has worked well for us, we haven’t had a single case of covid.
eyfa
- Who are you? What do you do? Where?
An european (still) network with the small office in berlin (germany). We organize, support and facilitate the occasions for people engaged in the social/political/environmental change to meet, share the skills,
learn together, collaborate and empower. - Contact info
www.eyfa.org, eyfa@eyfa.org, https://twitter.com/EYFA - Any events you are planning to do in 2021?
Our overarching workplan for 2021 focuses on the intersection between disability and racial justice, within which we are planning to open room for critical thoughts e exchanges, create a publication, host an
international youth exchange, and develop an online course. Expect the publication, online course and hopefully the gathering. Stay tuned. - Resources you miss? How the others can support you? What do you need at the moment?
We are looking for people/groups to get involved in the organizational process of these activities, in particular: disability justice individuals/groups who are open to sharing their knowledge and experiences in the disability rights movement; content contributors (disability and racial justice writers/vloggers/activists/educators, etc for the publication & online course); designers (web and graphic designers for publication & online course); facilitators for (hopefully in-person) training; project conceptualization; orga team to help in planning logistics. - Resources you have got. Anything to offer, to share with other groups, to exchange?Write us, whatever we do not have a the moment we can try to find for you 🙂 We have some skills and know-how on many topics (organizing, fundraising, bureaucracy, facilitation etc.), the office space, mailing lists and website posts, contacts and friends in many places.
- Anything else? About the pandemic situation maybe? About the politics you face or other contexts that matter to your actions?
BLM. Fight the police!