I just got the new issue of Brand in the mail the other day. The theme is Generations (of activism) and they used two of my illustrations for the 90s chapter in an article about the autonomous movement in Skåne.
These drawings were published some years ago in the book Trettionde November, by Andrés Brink Pinto and Johan Pries. It’s about the autonomous/antifascist demonstrations in Lund that used to happen each November 30 when various nazi groups used to march in commemoration of Karl XII, the old Swedish king who spent most of his regency waging war against the rest of Europe. Very glorious. Legend has it he was shot by one of his own soldiers who used a button from his uniform as a bullet. Here’s a replica I’ve had since I was a kid…
I guess that’s what happens when you expect people to kill and die for you but you don’t pay them enough for bullets. There’s an anarchist point in there.
If memory serves, the nazis stopped their royalist celebrations after a final big riot in 2008. Don’t say a riot never lead to anything good.
Speaking of antifascist wins, did you hear about how the people of a neighborhood in Glasgow stopped a deportation not long ago? They just turned up, more and more people, to stand in the way until the deportation was stopped.
Also, Italian dock workers recently refused to load weapons that were being shipped to Israel to be used to murder Palestinians.
Small victories considering what we’re up against. We could use more news like this these days. Lots more…