Challenging young people, the big society, the EDL and bedroom smells

Easy all, I hope you're all feeling well, positive and proactive. Life for myself of late has closer resembled pissing about on the dodgems than the ups and downs of a roller coaster. I've been cruising along at a steady pace dealing with the agendas of others coming at me from all angles whilst simultaneously swinging my own demands about the place. Everyone's smiling though, no one's getting hurt. Well, no one that I can see although screams from afar sit back in the mix of the laughter and idle chatter.

As my last blog post hints at things were pretty shit a few weeks back so I sat down with a pen and a pad and made a plan of action that began with the basics: Eat healthy, sleep more, drink less alcohol and more water, swim daily, cycle daily, meditate, spend time with nature, listen to the river, mix up the day with various activities, tidy up, stay organised, cultivate an autonomous anti-capitalist revolution in the here and now from the bottom up starting from the inside-out, blah, blah, etc. So, yeah, feel much better now.

Amidst the steady stream of essay writing there's been some exciting shit happening. I applied for a job with the Challenge Network who run summer residentials with 16 year olds over the summer. I applied for team mentor, they asked me to attend the assessment for senior mentor, I apply for senior mentor and they ask me to be an Assistant Team Leader, which has been a real confidence boost and recognition for my dedication and experience working with young people. The Challenge is a 3 week residential. Week 1 young people face lots of personal challenges in the form of outdoor activities, Week 2 is about working as a team, building up trust, communication, responsibility, understanding and empathy and Week 3 is back in their own communities where the Senior Mentors help them to design and deliver a community campaign or project that aims to improve their community. I think it is a really positive project but in no way does it amount to any kind of substitute for the children and young peoples services that have just been destroyed by the Con-Dem government. If anything this project could be perceived as being a way of encouraging young people to volunteer in their communities and therefore fill the gap being left by the public spending cuts and thus fulfilling Camerons Big Society vision. For me as a youth worker I have a responsibility to cultivate the young peoples critical thinking and raise awareness about activism/volunteering as being something far more effective than picking up litter, helping out people cross the road or washing up at the local community centre. We need to radicalise our young people through questions, we need to help them think critically about the world around them by helping them to think for themselves and make decisions for themselves. We need to be examples of how to do this.

Apart from working with the young people at Baby T School, helping them get through their OCNs in personal confidence and self-awareness, asking questions, challenging perspectives, expressing ourselves creatively about our lives and the world around us I have been mainly glued to my desk trying to write a 6000 word essay about the Zapatistas and the ways in which they managed to create successful alternatives to capitalism. It's a fascinating movement and what has to be one of the most significant revolutionary campaign strategies that I have ever come across. Once the essay is finished I shall be publishing it alonside the 4000 word essay I wrote about John Holloways concept of doing-against-labour and the 3000 word essay I wrote about anarchism being the key to sustainability and human well being in 500 copies of a Zine that will be launched at a Zapatista Solidarity event towards the end of the year.

In addition to the above there are some exciting events coming up that myself and others have been planning that I would love to invite everyone to attend and enjoy. Coming up on Friday June 24th there is another City-Zen @ The Ukrainian Centre from 7pm, with hot vegan food, a Question Time style discussion with Andy Dilks, Amit Zala, Ben Halford and some others to be confirmed, we shall be showing short films, having an open floor, Park Bench are headlining, James Hately shall be doing some comedy, the Bearded man and Mikey Cottle shall be hosting it and Johny Swinhoe shall be DJing, should be ace. A special treat leading up to it is that myself, the Bearded Man and others shall be doing a street performance in Derby city centre to promote the event. More details to follow. The following Sunday June 26th there shall be a popular education workshop about the Con-Dem governments vicious spending cuts, taking place @ The Place of Welcome, Queen Street Derby. A week later there shall be another open space technology workshop and on July 9th there shall be a LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM event on the Market Square to oppose the EDL who are currently mobilising to come to Derby that day. Finally, on wednesday July 13th there shall be a very special For The People By The People City-Zine 14 launch and fundraiser  @ Quad which again, I shall be performing some spoken word at alongside Barnaby J Thompson and the Bearded Man. Then on July 24th I head off to Birmingham for the Challenge. Exciting times.

Anyway, my bedroom is a shit hole and smells funny so I guess I'd better.... erm... go for a walk.

Resist and Create

Tao Jonez