Workers Know Your History, Spirit of Revolt Additions

       We've been very busy at Spirit of Revolt Archive, we always are, but recently we have had a wee marathon of work. Three new additions to our website, one is some drawings by Henri-Gabriel Ibels taken from the anarchist paper Le Pere Peinard, they can be viewed HERE: The book is part of our John Cooper Collection

       The next item is for those who missed our recent exhibition on the Rent Strike 1915, 100 Years On, held in the Mitchell Library, during the month of November, you can now read details of the exhibition with photos. The exhibition proved to be very popular and had a catalogue of wonderful comments from the public, who found it both interesting and informative. It also proved to be a stimulant for chat, stories, and questions about our history. So have a look and enjoy the exhibition you thought you had missed.

       The third item we have added to the website is one that I am rather proud of, not that I'm not proud of our entire archive, but that people can learn from it, is I think you'll agree, very important. We have added an educational workshop module on Glasgow's Rent Strike 1915, suitable for schools. It is called Understanding Solidarity Through The Glasgow Rent Strike 1915. It is available free for download as a PDF HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Walk of Pride, To Mark 1915 Rent Strike Victory.

       The Glasgow 1915 rent strike was a tremendous victory for working class solidarity. It forced the government to bring in the rent restriction act, freezing all rents in the UK until six months after the war. Only by their determined and heroic stand was this achieved. It wasn't compassion from the landlords, it wasn't concern for the welfare of the people by the government, it was co-operation and solidarity between the local women of the districts of Clydeside, and the men in the shipyards and factories that brought this struggle to an historic victory. 

Photo from www.leftcom.org
 

      A date for your diary to mark this wonderful victory and display of solidarity and determination. Organised by the Scottish Peace Network, and Clydeside branch of the Industrial Workers of The World.  

      In conjunction with this event, Spirit of Revolt is holding an exhibition In the Mitchell Library foyer, From November 2nd. to November 28th. The main theme of which will be the Rent Strike, 100 years on. There will also be a tribute to Joe Hill, marking the centenary of his murder by the US state, along side a display on the Peace Movement.
Two events not to be missed.

Tuesday, 17 November
    Walk of Pride, starting 12 pm, Dewar's statue, proceeding to the City Chambers
       A tribute to radical Glasgow on the 100th anniversary of the rent strikes and mass march of 1915.
      To honour the tens of thousands of Clydeside women and shipyard workers who united to defeat the rent rises; and to affirm the rent strike as a tool of struggle throughout the world.
      In conjunction with Spirit of Revolt's November archival exhibition at the Mitchell Library, The Glasgow Rent Strike:100 Years On; the Scottish Peace Network's Counter-Centenary Project; and the ongoing work of the Clydeside Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World

When Will We Ever Learn?

        Our life is a constant struggle, we produce an abundance of wealth, and struggle to survive. For generations the public have listened to politicians and walked round to the ballot box to make their mark on that bit of paper, that guarantees a decent job for somebody else, and the same old shit for themselves. In Glasgow we remember the rent strike of 1915, it was a victory on that issue, but the system stayed the same, and that's why in  Kirby, 1972/73, the local people were once more in an organised rent strike, nothing had changed.

         Here we are today with the bedroom tax, among other repressive legislation, still struggling to keep our heads above water, still producing an abundance of wealth, and there are still people who listen to politicians, who still walk round to the ballot box, make that same mark, and get the same results. They say that one of the signs of insanity is to keep doing the same thing, but expecting a different result, makes you think??

         In this video the voice of Ethel Singleton in 1972, could be from the 1915 rent strike, or it could be from any housing scheme in 2014 Britain. When will we ever learn?

'Behind the rent strike' was Nick Broomfield's graduation project. It followed the progress of the 1972/73 Kirkby rent strike. This video features Broomfield's interviews with Ethel Singleton, one of the forces behind the strike who gives an insightful, intelligent and articulate analysis of the plight of the working class in 70's Britain.

    

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk