The Freedom Shop Aotearoa

Join us for a discussion evening with Giacomo Lichtner , Associate Professor of History at Vic Uni. The slogans at the protest at Parliament earlier this year were sometimes frightening. On the one hand a public vaccination campaign was compared to the holocaust, on the other hand Jacinda was labelled ‘a Jew’, resulting in demands for public lynchings. It seems the imagery of Europe’s fascism of the 20th century is fair game for anyone to use. Exactly one hundred years after the Italian establishment allowed Mussolini to become Prime Minister we want to discuss why so few people seem to be worried about the rise of far-right groups. Giacomo Lichtner will give an introduction on the subject, followed by discussion. See Giacomo´s previous article on this subject. Tuesday 1 November, 6:30pm  at Book Haven 160 Riddiford Street Newtown

And of course the Freedom Shop will be there! Wellington Zinefest is happening Saturday, 15 Oct and Sunday 16 Oct, 12-4pm (accessibility hour from 11 to 12).   139 Vivian Street School Of Design Innovation Te Herenga Waka Victoria University Wellington Zinefest is hosting two days of markets to celebrate the thriving self-publishing and zine scene here in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Same set up as usual: We'll have sixty unique stalls each day, loaded with self-made comics and zines. Accessibility Hour From 11am to 12pm each day we'll run 'accessibility hour'. This is a chance for any visitors who, for whatever reason, can't attend when Zinefest is crowded. We'll have no music and try to maintain a low-stimulation environment. See https://www.wellingtonzinefest.com/zinefestweekend

A discussion about what is really needed to avoid climate disaster Currently no political organisation is even advocating for the kind of change required to avoid the effects of catastrophic climate change. Some say that the solutions being put forward by the current government are worse than doing nothing. Yet we all know that drastic change is required. Let's talk about how we can get there. Tuesday, 11 October  2022, 6:30pm at the Freedom Shop, 160 Riddiford St, Newtown For further reading see this interview with Mike Joy . This is the first in a series of talks and discussions we have lined up. Coming up are a talk about the rise of fascism (one hundred years after Mussolini became Prime Minister) and a talk about investigative journalism. Stay tuned.

Shock, horror. People are refusing to vote. With only ten days left for voting, not even 5% of Wellingtonians have voted in the local body elections, Radio NZ reports.   How can that be? asks the inquisitive reporter and seeks answers from an academic instead of looking at the voting papers themselves, because that is what they learnt to do at journalism school. And the academic from AUT comes up with some excuses – the Queen’s death has confused people to a degree that they forget what a Mayor is and the long weekend has disrupted people’s routine. Local body politicians continue the series: people forget to empty their letter boxes or there aren’t enough post boxes to put the completed voting papers in. Or it is the fault of the people who do vote. That particular argument goes something like this: the voters are mostly older people who are homeowners, therefore candidates pitch their campaign at older homeowners, therefore young people feel there is nothing for them, therefore they

Gorodey was a member of the Red Scarves movement, a founding member of both PALIKA, the Party of Kanak Liberation which became one of the groups which formed the FLNKS coalition, and the feminist Groupe de Femmes Kanak Exploitées en Lutte (Group of Kanak and Exploited Women in Struggle). She was imprisoned three times between 1974 and 1977 for her political activities.   She was the first Kanak woman to gain a university degree, a teacher, writer and politician. She wrote collections of poems and short stories and the first published Kanak novel L'Épave (translated as The Wreck). As a teacher, she encouraged the use of her own language, Païci, and later became  a leading figure in the Ecoles Populaires Kanak (Kanak Popular Schools) movement, set up in opposition to French state schools Kanak  to teach Kanak children about their history, culture and languages. After the Noumea accord, she worked as an elected member of the New Caledonian congress. "My country is Kanaky" -