The challenge of climate change with China Miéville

China Miéville, award-winning fantasy fiction writer and author of the young adults' novel, “Un Lun Dun” will be appearing at the Willesden Green Library Centre on Monday 17^th October at 7.30pm to talk about creative fiction writing and the challenge of climate change.

In the light of recent reports on the rapid thawing of polar ice-caps, China will discuss whether fiction writers ought to amend their creative output to address climate change, the most serious long-term issue facing the world today.

The author is three-time winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award (Perdido Street Station, Iron Council and The City & The City) and has also won the British Fantasy Award twice (Perdido Street Station and The Scar). The City & The City, an existential thriller, was published in 2009 to dazzling critical acclaim and drew comparison with the works of Kafka and Orwell (The Times) and Phillip K. Dick (The Guardian). The City & The City recently won the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award and was also short listed for the Nebula and Hugo prizes.  His fifth novel, Un Lun Dun, won the 2008 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book. He has also published extensively on international law.

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “China really is one of the most exciting young writers in Britain today and as one of the originators of ‘weird fiction’ will bring a fresh and challenging perspective to the discussion of climate change and how we should respond to it.”

This event is the third in a series of “Environmental Writers” meetings at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors read from their books with environmental themes and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Brent Library Service.

The reading and discussion will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 17^th October 2011 at the Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. This is a free event and all are welcome.

The World vs Wall Street - a message from Avaaz

 
A message from Avaaz.org

Thousands of Americans have non-violently occupied Wall St -- an epicentre of global financial power and corruption. They are the latest ray of light in a new movement for social justice that is spreading like wildfire from Madrid to Jerusalem to 146 other cities and counting, but they need our help to succeed.

As working families pay the bill for a financial crisis caused by corrupt elites, the protesters are calling for real democracy, social justice and anti-corruption. But they are under severe pressure from authorities, and some media are dismissing them as fringe groups. If millions of us from across the world stand with them, we'll boost their resolve and show the media and leaders that the protests are part of a massive mainstream movement for change. 

This year could be our century's 1968, but to succeed it must be a movement of all citizens, from every walk of life. Click to join the call for real democracy -- a giant live counter of every one of us who signs the petition will be erected in the centre of the occupation in New York, and live webcasted on the petition page:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_world_vs_wall_st/?vl

The worldwide wave of protest is the latest chapter in this year's story of global people power. In Egypt, people took over Tahrir Square and toppled their dictator. In India, one man's fast brought millions onto the streets and the government to its knees -- winning real action to end corruption. For months, Greek citizens relentlessly protested unfair cuts to public spending. In Spain, thousands of "indignados" defied a ban on pre-election demonstrations and mounted a protest camp in Sol square to speak out against political corruption and the government's handling of the economic crisis. And this summer across Israel, people have built "tent cities" to protest against the rising costs of housing and for social justice.

These national threads are connected by a global narrative of determination to end the collusion of corrupt elites and politicians -- who have in many countries helped cause a damaging financial crisis and now want working families to pay the bill. The mass movement that is responding can not only ensure that the burden of recession doesn't fall on the most vulnerable, it can also help right the balance of power between democracy and corruption. Click to stand with the movement:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_world_vs_wall_st/?vl

In every uprising, from Cairo to New York, the call for an accountable government that serves the people is clear, and our global community has backed that people power across the world wherever it has broken out. The time of politicians in the pocket of the corrupt few is ending, and in its place we are building real democracies, of, by, and for people. 

With hope,
Emma, Maria Paz, Alice, Ricken, Morgan, Brianna, Shibayan and the rest of the Avaaz team

PETITION LINK

Is this 'freedom from control' Michael Gove?

Michael Gove in his arguments for academies and free schools always emphasises that they will be 'free of local authority control' and further can make their own decisions about the curriculum. Of course the real situation in local authority schools is that strategic direction is decided for each school by a representative governing body with elected parent and staff representatives alongside members or nominees of  the democratically elected local authority.  He fails to mention that academies and free schools, directly funded by the government, are in the final analysis under government control - in effect 'nationalised' schools.

His advocacy of 'freedom' is limited however. He is keen to put foward his own ideas about what should be in the curriculum, including British narrative history, and exposed his nascent authoritarianism last week by putting pressure on schools in Islington and Haringey to cancel pupil trips to the weekend's Tottenham Palestinian Literacy Festival where children's writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen was due to speak.Children were going to take part in workshops on human rights and living under occupation and encouraged to enter a creative writing competition.

Schools decided not to take part after being contacted by the Department for Education officials who asked them if they were meeting their responsibilities under the 1996 Education Act (Section 407) to provide both sides of opposing political views. The festival was organised by a branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Jeremy Corbyn MP for Islington North, who supports the festival, said: "It was a great opportunity for children to understand the wealth and joy of Palestinian literature and a little of the history of the region. It's not in any way biased, but a festival which encourages children to broaden their horizons. The children were looking forward to it."

There are some interesting comments on the Evening Standard's website about the decision LINK including this one with which I strongly agree::

I find it astounding that the Education Secretary has stepped in to prevent schools having access to a literary festival. It's a repressive and frightening decision, and also a breach of the Human Rights Act.

To quote from article ten.

"Everyone has the right of freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises."

By not allowing schools to take part, Michael Gove is denying the right of freedom of speech, which is a matter of great concern, given he's a government official.

This comment gives the literary background:

Poetry has always been the Arab world's dominant literary form. When Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died in 2008 he was honoured with a state funeral and three days of national mourning. (I recommend the long poem 'The Siege' for starters) Mourid Barghouti is another Palestinian poet of international stature - try 'Midnight' (Arc Press). Lately, Palestinians writing in English have distinguished themselves in the field of memoir: you could start with Ghada Karmi's beautifully written 'In Search of Fatima'; Raja Shehadah's personal guide to the West Bank 'Palestinian Walks' (Winner of the George Orwell Award), and Karl Sabbagh's Palestine: A Personal History' Ghada and Karl were key speakers at the Festival, as was Selma Dabbagh, whose first novel 'Out of It' is due to be published by Bloomsbury this winter. I do hope you explore these writers, whose stories fill in the huge gaps left by our media when it comes to the Palestinian narrative. As a member of PSC - an anti-racist organization - I myself will be working to help challenge Gove's outrageous and potentially slanderous decision.

The curriculum of our schools has always been a contested area and the clash was probably at its sharpest when Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit  abolished the progressive Inner London Education  Authority. Tebbit accused ILEA schools of  driving children to truancy by teaching  'anti-sexist, anti-racist, gay, lesbian, CND rubbish' in schools. Margaret Thatcher said, 'You know about political indoctrination in some of the inner cities. Well, I could show you examination papers.... I sometimes look at the Continent, where they have not only a core curriclum but a core syllabus. That would be an enormous leaps for us to take, because my generation still recoils from having a system that any government could manipulate...What we are considering is whether we should take that leap.'

Both Conservative and Labour governments did take that approach and Gove is moving towards imposing his own control under the guise of opposing that of  local authorities.

Interestingly on March 31st  2010, before the General Election, Liberal Democrat Friends of  Palestine warned about a Conservative win:

If the Conservatives win the election, the influence of the Greater Israel lobby –those extremists who believe Israel has a right to add to its territory by swallowing up land it conquered in 1967, rather than by negotiating fair boundaries with thePalestinians on an arms-length basis - will increase. Extreme Conservative views are exemplified by those of Michael Gove MP. Find out about them at http://www.ldfp.eu/gove.htm

Needless to say that link no longer works - the page has been removed.

Labour Litter Double Think

 I had a chat with a street sweeper over the weekend who told me that no way could Brent maintain the quality of service with the reduced numbers of sweeps in residential areas and the cuts in weekend work. He said that sweepers used to have the flexibility to deal with any extra littering and that would no longer be the case: "If we sweep on Monday and it is littered on Tuesday it will stay there until next Monday.

He also mentioned that Veolia had offered sweepers redeployment to Haringey and the difficulties involved travelling there. Veolia had said those redeploying would get an extra 30 pence an hour, only for the sweepers to discover that this increase was also due in Brent.

I am sure some of you noticed the interesting juxtaposition of letters in the Willesden and Kilburn Times this week. In the first letter Labour Councillor Jim Moher, responsible for the cuts in street sweeping, attacked me ands the Green Party for opposing them.  In the second letter, Labour Councillor  and Group Leader in Westminster, Paul Dimoldenberg, denounced his Conservative Council for....cuts in the weekend street sweeping service. He asks if the Council is not spending Council Tax on this 'primary duty' where on earth is our money going?

Brent Council denies proper place for Black History

"This is Black History - the school system made it a mystery"

Black History Month has been a central focus of the educational calendar in Brent for many years. Every year it is accompanied by special events in the libraries, curriculum work in schools and usually a competition in different age categories for local children.

The aims are to:

• Promote knowledge of the  Black History , Cultural and Heritage
• Disseminate information on positive Black contributions to British Society
• Heighten the confidence and awareness of Black people to  their cultural heritage.

This year Black History Month was launched at a special event Black History Live! at Wembley Stadium.and Oakington Manor Primary  is hosting a Culture Fest on October 8th which 1,000 people are expected to attend.

Disconcerting then to read that Brent Council will no longer separately recognise the event from next year. In a a move with parallels to the Council's muddled festivals policy Black History Month will be subsumed into:

'Word Watch! which is a celebration of books and reading also drawing on other events such as Halloween, Diwali and Children's Book Week. Word Up! will be applauding the achievements of Black British people.'

 It is unclear from the press report where this decision emanates from but it clearly fails to recognise the significance of Black History Month which originating in North America in 1926 was campaigned for in the 1970s by figures such as Ealing black bookshop owners Eric and Jessica Huntley and Alex Pascall pioneer broadcaster of Black Londoners. It was a cultural and political campaign which both tackled the racism that ignored and denied black history and the need for black children in the diaspora to be aware of their roots and heritage. At its best it was internationalist and tackled issues of colonialism and imperialism.

It may be hard to believe now but when I started teaching in North Westminster in 1975 in a small Church of England primary school in Paddington, in a school of 90% black children there were no books even showing black people, let alone covering their history. I remember a child being astonished when I used a 'reader' which portrayed black children - some schools imported the Ladybird Sunshine Readers published for Caribbean schools for this purpose but the setting didn't match the locality of urban schools. When I introduced a book about Oloudah Equianno I remember a child turning to me and saying in hushed tones, 'I didn't know black people could be famous!'

Backed by community demand, local education authorities such as the Inner London Education Authority started to produce their own materials, albeit with a rather 'home made' feel. As these materials became popular publishers themselves reacted and higher quality publications were produced.

Early attempts at covering black history and black culture were often clumsy and stereotyped, despite being well-meaning and encountered the accusation  of tokenism and exotica - the 'saris, samosas and steel bands' approach. A much sharper edge developed where issues such as discrimination, oppression and struggle were recognised.

Unfortunately that Brent statement linking Black History with Halloween and Diwali (!) brings us back to the earlier model and there is a real danger of dilution. Their decision needs to be challenged.

Hear Tony Benn on Afghanistan - Tuesday Willesden Green Library

Tony Benn, President of the Stop the War Coalition, will be speaking tomorrow Tuesday October 4th on 10 YEARS ON...STILL AT WAR IN AFGHANISTAN alongside John Hilary, Director of War on Want. Sheila Robin will speak on Ten Years of Brent Stop the War.

The meeting, organised by Brent Stop the War, will be at Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF 7.30pm

Osborne damaging UK's green credibility - Caroline Lucas

Commenting on the speech delivered by Chancellor George Osborne to the Conservative party conference today, Green party leader and Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said:

"In his conference speech today, George Osborne drew a line in the sand on climate policy and signalled his intention to relegate the UK to a back seat in the global shift towards a greener economy - effectively pulling the rug out from under the Government's supposed green credentials.

"The pledge to cut the UK's emissions 'no slower but also no faster' than our European neighbours was a transparent ploy to undermine the legally binding targets in the Climate Change Act and set the stage for downward negotiations at the EU level. And by highlighting his instrumental role in the internal dispute over the fourth recent carbon budget in May, the Chancellor further exposes the deep Cabinet divisions on efforts to position the UK as a leader in the low carbon economy.

"While it seems unlikely that Osborne will succeed in diluting our national emissions targets, today's downgrading of ambition on climate change poses a serious threat to the UK's credibility; accepting that we need an international agreement to tackle climate change, while at the same time casting doubt on our climate targets for the years to come, sends a damaging and inconsistent message to other nations and to the business community that this Government will not prioritise the green industries of the future."

Brent Fightback Protest at Tory Conference

With the Tories digging their heels in and insisting 'there is no alternative' despite rising criticism from economists and some of their own business supporters, the TUC March for the Alternative in Manchester could not have been better timed. 35,000 trades unionists and activists turned up to insist that there was an alternative to the imposition of austerity on ordinary people while casino capitalism carries on regardless.  Brent Fightback supporters were there along with a wide range of other groups: