Author: James Ward

Founder of The Bristol Activist, a news blog for protest and activism in Bristol. @BristolActivist
A gaggle of clowns at the Extinction Rebellion Summer Uprising Bristol 2019
Clowning, Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Theatre, Training/Learning

Interview: Robyn Hambrook on Clowning and Activism

When you hear the word “clown”, the first thing to come to mind is maybe a circus, or a children’s birthday party, or perhaps even a villain in a horror film. But, as Robyn Hambrook, a performer, director and clown, explains, there’s more to clowning than unicycles and balloon animals, with clowns historically playing an important social, political, and cultural role by speaking truth to … Continue reading Interview: Robyn Hambrook on Clowning and Activism

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Riot police advance along Wine Street
Demonstration, March, news

Heavy-Handed Policing at May Day Kill The Bill Protest

Saturday’s Kill The Bill protest ended with a show of force from Avon & Somerset Police.  After the main Kill The Bill protest, Bristol’s thirteenth, had ended on College Green at around 21:30, a small group of around 50 protesters marched back through the centre and to a squatted building on High Street.  Here they stood in the road and outside the squatted building, which … Continue reading Heavy-Handed Policing at May Day Kill The Bill Protest

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BOSA members with two illegally parked vehicles. They have draped imitation yellow lines across the vehicles to demonstrate the problem.
Community, Direct Action, Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Lobbying

Residents Campaign for Social Justice on the Streets of Bishopston and St Andrews

In Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the alien Ford arrives on Earth and supposes cars to be the dominant species. A visit to Bishopston and St Andrews makes one sympathize with Ford’s misunderstanding.  To experience vibrant Gloucester Road, verdant St Andrews Park, or vistas of Bristol from Ashley Down on foot is to experience oneself scurrying between cars parked on double yellow lines, … Continue reading Residents Campaign for Social Justice on the Streets of Bishopston and St Andrews

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Direct Action, Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Rent Strike

‘Hit Them Where it Hurts’: inside the Largest Student Rent Strike in Recent History

Students at the University of Bristol (UoB) are staging one of the largest rent strikes in recent history with over £1m being withheld from the university. The strike, driven by students’ desire for a fair deal, and for recognition of their concerns, has won significant concessions from UoB and shows the power collective action can command. Is this the beginning of a new wave of … Continue reading ‘Hit Them Where it Hurts’: inside the Largest Student Rent Strike in Recent History

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Pink paint on Bristol city hall
Direct Action, Feature, Interviews and Analysis

Pink Paint and People’s Assemblies: meet the council candidate bringing activism to city hall

On February 15th, Rachel Lunnon was arrested for throwing pink paint onto City Hall. On May 6th she could return to the seat of Bristolian democracy, only this time as an elected councillor.  Standing for election in her local ward of Windmill Hill, Rachel would be the first councillor in Bristol from “anti-political” Burning Pink, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion. From her insistence that she … Continue reading Pink Paint and People’s Assemblies: meet the council candidate bringing activism to city hall

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Protester addresses crowd at ninth Kill The Bill protest in Bristol, Saturday April 17th.
Assembly, Demonstration, March, news, Police

Kill the Bill Movement Debates Relationship With Police

A pause on College Green during the Kill The Bill protest on Saturday, April 17th, gave demonstrators the opportunity to discuss their emerging movement’s relationship with the police.  The nine Kill The Bill protests that have now taken place in Bristol have brought together individuals and groups from a diversity of backgrounds in resistance against the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.  Yesterday’s … Continue reading Kill the Bill Movement Debates Relationship With Police

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Civil Disobedience, Direct Action, Disruption, news

Reverend Arrested at December MoD Blockade Stands Trial

Reverend Sue Parfitt, 79, attended Bristol Magistrates Court yesterday (April 16th) on a charge of obstructing the highway.  Outside the courthouse, Rev’d Sue said ‘I am a law-abiding citizen’ but ‘civil disobedience is required to ‘flag up the enormity of the [climate and ecological] emergency.’ She was supported at the courthouse by a crowd of around 20 people from XR Peace and Christian Climate Action … Continue reading Reverend Arrested at December MoD Blockade Stands Trial

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Two protesters sit on rooftop of Bristol's Elbit offices.
Civil Disobedience, Direct Action, Disruption, news, Occupation, Top Story

Palestine Action Target Bristol Arms Trade with Rooftop Occupation

Palestine Action, a mass direct action movement working to end UK complicity with Israeli apartheid, occupied the rooftop of Elbit Systems’ offices in Aztec West, Bristol, yesterday morning and remained throughout the day. Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, has 10 factories and offices in the UK. Palestine Action have successfully targeted Elbit on over 50 occasions over the last eight months, frequently shutting down … Continue reading Palestine Action Target Bristol Arms Trade with Rooftop Occupation

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Community standing by the Ashley Down Oak with banner.
Lobbying, news, Petition

Tree Campaigners Demand Truth from Bristol City Council

Tree campaign group Save the Ashley Down Oak (STADO) are calling on Bristol City Council to tell the truth about the proposed felling of the 100 year old holm oak on Ashley Down road.  In a letter to Afzal Shah dated April 13th, STADO request the release of key evidence supporting the claim that the oak is causing subsidence to a nearby house.  STADO was … Continue reading Tree Campaigners Demand Truth from Bristol City Council

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Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Police

Meet the Protesters Fighting to Kill the Bill

Kill The Bill. Protesters have carried those words through our city  for three weeks now, showing their opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill. But who is your average Kill The Bill protester?  Mayor Marvin Rees, local MPs, media figures, and other notable Bristol individuals have created a narrative of protesters as ‘politically illiterate’ outsiders, whose unacceptable and shameful behaviour amounts to … Continue reading Meet the Protesters Fighting to Kill the Bill

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