Posts by Sophie Wilson
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I posted a reply to you binary heart but it the system went down for some reason!
Anyway Kiaora for your reply, I appreciate hearing info from the other side. Although Lenka Rochford and Sam Buchanan have been some of the more successful media liasions, demonstrators over the past month have been unravelling their good work with every placard that says “Activism not Terrorism” and with every young chap in an orange jumpsuit referencing Guantanamo bay. I'm afraid the 128 open day did not affect the risk of the general public thinking of the activists as over reacting, mis-contextualising terrorists. I can see how the media can turn people to think of activism as a potential terrorism.
Why is it so disturbing to see the Tuhoe crew using their culture to express their (in my view righteous) feelings of unhappiness, anger and determination.
Can you understand how the haka can be primarily seen as a negative thing in this context? Nobody likes to be intimidated - I don't know about you but it sets my reptilian brain off! Agreed, NZ state loves to use haka at sporting and ceremonial events. As a Maori and New Zealand woman I will stand behind it as part of my cultural heritage. But soon as the haka is dressed with real anger and frustration and no clear direction of this anger – it becomes a negative, confusing & unhappy situation imposed on the public. Everyone loves sex, but as soon as anger is involved it becomes rape. A terrible analogy I know, but someones gotta do it.
I would ask anyone who say honestly why they felt intimidated by it. I think the answer would reflect more on the person than the nature of the march.
I saw the hikoi and the fleet of cars where all I could see were camo, balaclava, black and red as well as angry shouting at the public. It felt as though the Tuhoe fleet were ready for war, and this had my reptilian brain deciding whether I should fight or run. Yes this reaction reflects on me as a person because I am human.
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a lot are cynical about how their stories end up being packaged in the media, no matter what they have to say.
Yes, that's exactly the vibe I got from the meeting, Kracklite. It was a strangely defeatist attitude for anarchist activists, to be honest.
Media strategy does not seem to be their strong point - having seen the interplay between 20 odd core people of the activist movement in Wellington (and 20 other supporters). After the media was dismissed by one woman as a shit storm that you don't want to be caught up in, the room gravitated towards giving the stiff upper lip to mainstream media, and this is very much the culture I had observed from both this meeting and indymedia.
There are so many reasons for this. Overall, the mainstream media are part of the evil overbearing hegemonic power structure and should not be associated with, end of story.
They didn't seem to have confidence in their ability to provide bulletproof statements to the media. There were a lot of requests to source activist friendly lawyers or people with knowledge of law to handle anything to do with The Man aka The Media or The Courts.
They did not even attempt, or even prioritise to attempt to create a unified mission statement, which they had the oppurtunity to present to the media who were literally waiting on their doorstep. Not only was the oppurtunity there (and for the following two weeks at the Wellington court dates), but they also had a responsibility to use it for the sake of covering their arses...
Does arses count as swearing, Russell?
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As a woman I feel a little intimidated by this mostly male thread, but I just had to pipe up when I read of Kracklites anger...
Yes, I am angry, because people I know are being smeared through insinuations and leaks and they do not have the pulpit of the press to fight back.
I went along to the first 128 Abel Smith meeting a day after the arrests, just to observe. A reporter and camera man from TV3 were waiting outside for a good half of the meeting.
Obviously the first item on the agenda was: How To Deal With the Media. How did they deal with it? They didn't. Instead of giving a statement of position to the TV3 blokes, they close the curtains, raise concern about the morality of mainstream media and give up on it altogether; rather, turning to protests and activism on MP's offices to "spread their message".
My heart just sank. Like, to the depths of my bowels. I didn't need a fortune teller to tell me that these guys were going to have issues with their public image.