Political activism is often judged in terms of its productivity and the specific changes it provokes. But how should we value the time spent protesting? Does activism upset conventional ideas around labour and production?
Join us for a free screening of the acclaimed documentary film Generation Revolution (2016), which follows two Black-led grassroots groups attempting to create radical change. The screening is followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A with the film’s directors, Cassie Quarless and Usayd Younis, alongside Sarah Walker, spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, and chaired by Red Chidgey, Lecturer in Gender and Media, King’s College London.
Programme
14.00 Introduction to Generation Revolution
14.10 Screening of Generation Revolution
15.30 Break
16.00 Panel discussion with audience Q&A: Cassie Quarless, Usayd Younis, Sarah Walker and Red Chidgey
17.30 Close
Cassie Quarless
Cassie Quarless is a feature director/producer with a background in comedy and documentary shorts. He is also a trained digital anthropologist with a strong interest in the imagining of and potential for radical futures.
Usayd Younis
Usayd is a documentary director and digital journalist. A multimedia expert specialising in web development and film production, he also has a keen interest in social issues and international affairs.
Sarah Walker and the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP)
Sarah Walker is a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), a self-help organisation of sex workers, working both on the street and in premises, with a national network throughout the UK. Since it was founded in 1975, the ECP has campaigned for decriminalisation of sex work, for safety and for resources so that no one is trapped in prostitution by poverty or a criminal record. Ms Walker was part of a 12-day sex worker led occupation of a church in King’s Cross, London, in 1982, to protest police illegality and racism, which put the policing of sex workers on the political agenda. She is part of an international woman of colour network, is co-author of ‘Why People of Colour should support the Corbyn/McDonnell Movement’, is often interviewed by the media and was selected as one of the BBC’s 100 Prominent Women (2013).
Red Chidgey
Red Chidgey is Lecturer in Gender and Media at King’s College London. Her research investigates the impact of historic social justice movements on popular culture and activism. She is currently working on the book Feminist Afterlives for Palgrave Macmillan, examining how collective memories of feminist struggles travel. She is the Co-Investigator for the Afterlives of Protest Research Network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This network brings together international academics, artists, heritage managers and activists to discuss the central challenges and possibilities for curating social movement memories.
If you’re interested in learning more, our contributors recommend the following:
Cassie and Usayd recommend the resource page on .
Sarah recommends the online resources from .
Red recommends the following:
- Sisterhood and After Research Team,
- Zoe Fairbairns,
- Lina Dencik,
- Laura Portwood-Stacer,
- , UKFeminista
- from Global Justice Now
- from Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
- Resources from