A big thanks to everyone who made it to our #noTTIP film night last night. There was a really great buzz and lots of energy for derailing this corporate power grab in its entirety.

All of the films shown are available on YouTube, and we’re including the links below (they’re listed in the order they were shown). Feel free to take inspiration from our selection to put on your own film night in your area.

What did you think?

Also, if you were there last night, let us know how it worked for you as a film night in the comments. Was the balance of the films right? Are there other TTIP films you’ve seen that could have been included? We’d love to know.

Finally, make sure you’re on the 6 Billion Ways mailing list (sign up in the box on the right) to find out about our next film night in the new year.

The films

1. Get ready for TTIP (1m 46s)

2. TTIP: A race to the bottom (1m 42s)

3. Why is TTIP more than a Trade Agreement (11m 18s)

4. No Fracking Way (5m 11s)

5. What is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership? (4m 08s)

6. Spizzwinks sing TTIP (1m 11s)

7. Politics for People (2m 48s)

8. Trans-Pacific Partnership (10m 56s)

9. WDM #NoTTIP: Join the Movement (1m 28s)

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***free event – no need to register***

It will cost at least one million jobs. It will lock in fossil fuel dependency for the coming decades. It will irreversibly extend the privatisation of key public services such as the NHS. It will make it harder to regulate the banks.  And it will give US corporations the power to sue the UK and other states for loss of profits when these governments introduce public policies designed to protect their citizens.

It is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). If it goes through, it will be the greatest transfer of power to big business that we have seen for a generation.

But now for the good news: there’s every chance we can stop it.

Join us for an evening of films and speakers on the growing fight back against TTIP. Find out how you can join the resistance, what local actions you can be involved in, and most importantly, discuss how we can win!

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• Suggested tweet: TTIP: Capitalism on Steroids, 6 Billion Ways film night at Rich Mix, Tuesday 14 October https://t.co/cJAPR3LkZ0 #noTTIP

Tuesday 13 May, 6.30pm till 9pm
Rich Mix, 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA

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Featuring films and speakers spanning over 30 years history of struggle by Britain’s black communities. The stories of resistance and rebellion will cover the iconic self-defence campaigns of the Newham 7 in the 1980s, the Stephen Lawrence family campaign, the brutal deaths in custody, those criminalised and imprisoned in miscarriages of justice right through to those facing today’s war on terror.

Learn about the victories achieved by militant community campaigns and the uprisings that rocked the country as the UK’s black communities fought to establish and strengthen their place within British society – in the face not only of individual prejudice but trenchant state racism, not least by institutions like the police and the courts.

Tuesday 14 January at 6.30pm
Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA

These ten moving and often funny short films document a proud 50 year history of campaigning, strikes, occupations, work ins and solidarity in the name of fair pay, decent jobs, and economic justice. The films are made up of interviews with key organisers, speaking about the tactics they used, what was successful, what wasn’t, and where they see the struggle for economic justice going today.

The film night will also feature a discussion with the film maker, and organisers from key current economic justice movements in London for a chance to talk about how social justice activists today can learn from the lessons of other movements past and present. With speakers from the 3cosas campaign, student strike solidarity and South London Anti-Fascists.

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Films featuring:

• St Pancras Rent Strike 1960
• Dagenham Equal Pay Strikes 1968 & 1984
• Upper Clyde Shipworkers work in 1971 – 1972
• Grunwick Strike 1976 – 1978
• The Miners’ Strike 1984 – 1985
• The Poll Tax Rebellion 1989 – 1993
• Liverpool Dockers’ Strike 1995 – 1998
• The Living Wage 2002 – 2007 (and ongoing)
• Occupy (London) 2011 – now
• Disabled People Against Cuts & UK Uncut: now

Watch the trailer

The films form part of the Economic Justice Project which aims to provide opportunities for people to learn about the basics of economics and the financial crisis, vital tools for social and economic justice activists. It also brings people together who have similar aims, but don’t usually work together. From global justice campaigners, to anti-cuts activists, there has never been a better time to recognise what we share and how we can strengthen each other’s work.

See more detailed information on the films here: http://economicjustice.jubileedebt.org.uk/2012/12/film-blurbs/

Films produced by Jubilee Debt Campaign for the Economic Justice Project.

Join 6 Billion Ways for a free evening of short films, speakers, campaigns & discussion on our energy future:

Our current energy system is rapidly running out of steam. Corporate giants have spent decades destroying communities and ecosystems all over the world to extract fossil fuels but it is clear this has to stop.

Our planet is burning, but powerful energy companies block any real attempts to stop climate change. Instead they promote false solutions like shale gas which are just as polluting and destructive.

Fuel prices are soaring, leaving many in cold homes, while billions around the world have no access to electricity at all. We need a new system that provides clean, safe energy for everyone before it is too late.

• Join the Facebook event >>

The meeting used open space facilitation, which meant that the agenda was constructed by the people who came based on what they wanted to discuss, and people were free to move around to different discussions at any point. About 60 people came, most of whom had been the previous day. Many more made excuses based on too much partying the previous night…

Hot topics
There were a variety of issues raised, from carbon trading to housing, fixing the financial system to what UK Uncut should do next, and what to do about arms company Lockheed Martin running the census. One of the most popular discussions was about plans for the 26 March anti-cuts demonstration in London, which led to a callout for a national day of publicity for the demonstration on Saturday 19 March, on high streets and on Facebook and Twitter (use #March26 #whyiammarching #demo2011).

Keeping up the momentum
Another popular session was on ‘Keeping up momentum after 6 Billion Ways’. As one of the organisers of 6 Billion Ways, I was particularly interested in this one. So far 6 Billion Ways has been an event we’ve held twice to bring together lots of different strands of the movement and encourage cross-fertilisation to make it stronger. But this session indicated an appetite for more than that. Some of the suggestions that came up in the session were:

• Holding 6 Billion Ways once a year not every two years (the first event was in 2009)
• Regular meet-ups in London every two or three months. These could be public meetings in the manner of the sessions at 6 Billion Ways or open-space sessions like the Sunday event.
• Organiser training for global justice activists around the country, perhaps with a focus on making links between issues and networks as at 6 Billion Ways
• A web portal where people can find out about global justice campaigns, including being able to filter by region and issue. Like False Economy but not just on the cuts. It could be a list of existing campaigns and maybe aggregate from other sources like Google News.
• More co-ordination at national level between all global justice organisations, so that people feel part of something bigger (Make Poverty History, Stop Climate Chaos and Put People First were examples of where this has been/is being done before, in different ways)
• Using the 6 Billion Ways Facebook page to build up a network of global justice activists and discuss the issues raised. Also perhaps to identify some priority global justice issues for people to work on together

What do you think?
Some of these things, or things along the same lines, may be happening already, but not everyone might know about them. Some of them might not be useful, and some of them might be easier said than done!

As the 6 Billion Ways organisers we’re thinking about what we do next, and we want to know what you think. So let us know in the comments.

Around ten years ago I began a new web site, My London Diary, mainly to provide a record of things I saw happening in London that never made the news. Among these were protests, some about local issues, some national and others global in their scope. I’d been photographing protest for years, but saw this as a new way to make my work available to others, create a historical record and gain publicity for the causes.

There are now over 50,000 pictures on My London Diary, as well as my comments about most of the events. Many have been used by activist groups in newsletters and flyers (usually without charge for unfunded organisations) and some published in newspapers, books and magazines in the UK and abroad. Some are also available though picture libraries.

From its earliest days the site shows the international nature of protest in London, with the handful of pictures from 1999 including a Westminster protest calling for NATO to get out of the Balkans, Jubilee 2000 calling on the UK government to “cancel the debt”, solidarity with East Timor and members of London’s Kurdish community calling for the release of Abdullah Öcalan.

So far in 2011 as well as local marches against the cuts in Islington and Hackney, UK Uncut actions, students protesting the loss of EMA, protests against unfair testing for disabled benefits, against privatisation of Royal Mail, calling for the release of Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo, I’ve also covered protests calling for freedom for Kashmir and Khalistan, opposing cuts in the BBC World Service, solidarity with the Libyan, Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions and more – including a pillow fight against unsuitable high-rise development in Walthamstow.

A small selection from the site will be projected at Rich Mix during 6 Billion Ways – but the whole growing collection can be seen on-line at http://mylondondiary.co.uk

Peter Marshall

Images in this post are © Peter Marshall

Why does money matter so much? Excuse the obvious and perhaps stupid question, but it is one that economists agonise over and activists increasingly question, especially since the global financial crisis shone a light on the murky excesses of the global financial system.

Many wonder about the strange nature of something that is simultaneously worth everything and nothing – money’s the only thing worth the paper it’s printed on, and then some. On March 5th at 6 Billion Ways, I’m going to try and untangle the history of money and how our current financial system has shaped and been shaped by the way we manage our money.

Some argue that the power banks have to create money lies at the heart of the excessive power that banks and financial institutions now have, able to lose a fortune in a day and make it back from taxpayers the next. But would changing this fact do anything about it?

Internationally we hear rumblings about the privilege the dollar’s role confers on the United States. Despite holding trillions of the greenback, the Chinese government has hinted that maybe it is time to change the international financial order, starting with the currency. Could this be done, and if so how?

The way we rely on the dollar and on financial institutions to manage credit and debt clearly has massive implications for the global economy, and I would argue that another (financial) world is possible. So what are the more progressive and sustainable forms of investment and financial institutions? Could they lead the charge to a progressive investment system, that doesn’t bring with it so much anarchy and instability?

I’ll be trying to answer these questions at 6 Billion Ways with a few props, a few chocolate coins and some audience participation.  If you’re interested come down to either the morning session (10:30) or afternoon (3:30) to get stuck into debate that will veer wildly from the global financial system to Brixton pounds in a gonzo guide to the history of money.