Haringey (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Local activists are mobilising after the We Demand Change summit in Haringey, building momentum for unity and voicing strong opposition to Labour’s militarism.
Following the summit on We Demand Change last month, activists are ramping up their efforts to organize against austerity.
This Saturday, April 12, at 1pm, Sheffield’s town hall will host a demonstration under the theme “We Demand Change.”
Disabled People against Cuts (DPAC), the Peace and Justice Project, the Sheffield People’s Assembly, the Sheffield Women’s Collective, the Sheffield NEU union, and Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) all endorse it.
According to the organizers, the Labour government’s austerity drive is causing social murder at home while simultaneously financing mass murder overseas.
On Saturday, there will be a march in Tottenham, Haringey, from the Tottenham Hotspur stadium to the town hall. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will be the target of the battle.
Organiser Alison told Socialist Worker, “People are thinking, ‘where has the hope gone?’ We were promised something better under Labour. But the queues at our food bank are getting longer.
“We elected David Lammy but he’s doing nothing for us. He’s on the news as foreign secretary overseeing a genocide.
We want the government to spend money on hospitals, schools and housing instead of making cuts and spending more money on weapons and war.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Haringey and Tottenham Palestine Action, and Haringey Justice for Palestinians are among the organizations supporting the march.
Additionally, DPAC, Homes For All, SUTR, Haringey Right to Food, and Haringey Trades Council support it.
Initiatives around the world that concentrate on changing governance systems to guarantee fair representation and decision-making might serve as models for activists.
Local communities have been inspired to participate in grassroots organizing by the summit’s emphasis on creating an activist network. In order to encourage larger social movements, trade union branches may pass model motions.
Despite the momentum, the summit was criticized for its speaker lineup’s lack of diversity, which included the exclusion of homeless and disabled people.
Discussions around representation and inclusivity in activist movements have been sparked by this.
Local initiatives to promote more responsive and inclusive governance can benefit from this.
Activists can create more powerful and successful movements that tackle regional and worldwide issues by concentrating on these themes.
In Islington, north London, there is a protest at the town hall at 10am. Oonagh from Islington told Socialist Worker,
“We are targeting Labour MP Emily Thornberry because she has been hypocritical.
When it was the Tories doing these cuts she opposed it. But we are also targeting the council over the local cuts. Our slogan is welfare not warfare. We are calling for taxing the rich and opposing the attacks on disabled people.
We have speakers from DPAC, local housing activists, and the anti-war movement. It’s important that we also have striking teachers whose schools have been threatened with closure joining the protest.”
Activists are gathering to organize action in other locations.
Building on the spirit of solidarity and the opposition to Labour’s militarism and attacks on the working class, socialists and others ought to adopt comparable measures.
What are the key takeaways from the summit that activists should focus on?
In order to guarantee that marginalized populations’ needs are satisfied and that their viewpoints are taken into consideration when making decisions, activists should concentrate on elevating their voices.
The NEXUS Global Summit and the World Humanitarian Summit, which place a strong emphasis on empowering impacted communities, illustrate this strategy.
Achieving meaningful change requires cooperation between various groups and industries. In order to use their combined strength to advocate for social justice and legislative changes, activists should collaborate with other organizations.
Investigating cutting-edge collaborations and technologies can help activists improve their efforts. This includes utilizing new funding sources to support social issues and mobilizing through digital media.
Activists ought to put communities’ overall health first, attending to their mental, emotional, and physical needs.