LONDON 121 SOCIAL CENTRE UNDER IMMINENT THREAT OF EVICTION. ACT NOW TO
PREVENT THE LOSS OF AN INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE.
PLEASE ADD THIS POSTING TO ALL MAILING LISTS AND FORWARD TO FRIENDS.
Dear Friends,
The 121 Social Centre, located in Brixton, London, UK is under direct
and immediate threat of eviction! Squatted for 18 years the centre has
asserted a radical prescence in London providing services to the
community and serving literally 1000s of people in its time. Groups who
have been housed or resourced by the centre at different points have
included Bad Attitude Feminist Magazine, Shocking Pink Magazine, Crowbar
magazine, Earth First!, Black Flag Magazine, London Food Not Bombs,
London Psychogeographical Society, Brixton Squatters Aid, Brixton
Against the JSA, Dead by Dawn, Direct Action Movement, Miners Support
Groups, Anti Criminal Justice Bill Group, Brixton Hunt Sabotoeurs,
Contraflow, Anarchist Black Cross, Fare Dodgers Alliance, Anarquist
Queer Group and others. Hundreds of meetings, concerts, benefits and
cafe nights have been held on the premises. Currently the center houses
a resource space, meeting space, radical bookshop, library, cafe and
printing facilities, all of which are used by local and London based
squatter, feminist, socialist, autonomist, queer and animal rights
groups.
All this is now threatened as the Lambeth Council sponsored �Brixton
Challenge� has seen a rise in gentrification in the area. Millions of
pounds have been poured into yuppie cafes, movie houses, markets and
wine bars whilst the council has auctioned off unused housing space due
to a �lack of funds for renovations�. Rather than accepting that the 121
is a long standing and widely respected part of Brixton the council
would rather evict the space and sell it off to property developers.
The latest attack on 121 is nothing new. Under local and international
pressure in 1985 the council abandoned its attempts to evict the centre
and has only in the last two years dared come after it again. Although
the centre has been in continual use for 18 years and is thus under
British law the property of its users, the council has used a
technicality in the courts to secure an eviction notice. Given the huge
amount of favourable legal evidence that the 121 centre had accumulated
this decision has come as a shock. The space could be evicted by the end
of January. A court appeal and on the ground resistance is now being
organised with large turnouts at centre defence meetings.
International support is needed. As mentioned earlier such support was
instrumental in preventing the centre�s eviction during the 1980s. At
this time the Lambeth Council was threatened with boycotts and direct
action and actions were held internationally at embassies and British
businesses. If you have ever visited or been a user of the centre or
merely support its aim of providing a grass roots alternative for people
in London then now is the time to act. We need to bombard Brixton
Councillors and the Brixton Challenge with emails and faxes stating that
we oppose the eviction and that we support the centre. People should
also indicate that they will impose a tourism and industrial boycott on
Brixton and will continue to fax and email them until they relent in
their attack on the centre. Other forms of action are of course also
welcome. To send direct support to the center write to- 121 c/o121
Railton Rd, Brixton, SE24.
Email- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thankyou,
The International Friends of 121.
Email- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Save 121 Hit List.
Lambeth Council- C/O London Borough of Lambeth, Town Hall, Brixton Hill,
London SW2 1RW.
Tel- 0171 926 1000
Lambeth New Labour. Fax Number- 0171 926 2844. Email-
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(New Labour are the party currently in control of the council and
therefore the ones most responsible for attacks on 121. Specify email
messages for New Labour- New Lambeth).
Brixton Challenge- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(The organisation responsible for the increasing gentrification of
Brixton)
Lambeth Councillors.
Councillor David Griffiths, 35 Abbotswood Rd, SW16 1AJ
Telephone & FAX: 0181 769 2600 E-Mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Councillor Hugh Jones, Room 123, Lambeth Town Hall, SW2 1RW
FAX: 0171 926 2845 E-Mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Steve Reed
0181 674 8316, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Ty Goddard
0171 207 0580, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Jackie Meldrum
0181 671 5595, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Johanna Sherrington
0171 737 3290, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Alex McKenna
0181 677 6569, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Kitty Ussher
0171 771 0202, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Michael Cruickshanks
0171 926 2123, Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Obi Anyanwu
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Ambrose Hogan
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Simon Stevens
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Leslie Boodram
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Steven Bourne
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Ruth Ling
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Martin McEwan
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Roland Doven
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Michael English
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Chris Henley
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Claudette Hewitt
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Mohammed Abu-Bakr
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Richard Jarman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Paul McGlone
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Jim Dickson
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Peter O'Connell
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Kirsty McHugh
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Paul Connolly
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Colin Crooks
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Kevin Craig
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Rupert Bawden
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Esther Green
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Tom Franklin
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Toren Smith
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Judith Brodie
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Hugh David
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Abigail Melville
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr John Kazantzis
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Tim Sargeant
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Alan White
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Paul Hewitt
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Julie Minns
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Nick Cattermole
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr Geraldine Curtis
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cllr John & Clare Whelan. Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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