The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Category: Campaign of the week

Omas Gegen Rechts Berlin

Diversity, Human Dignity, Justice, Rersponsibility, Participation, Solidarity


26/01/2023

OMAS GEGEN RECHTS BEERLIN (Grannies Against the Far Right) was formed in Berlin in early 2018 as a non-partisan civil society initiative, following the group Omas Gegen Rechts which has been working in Austria since 2017.

The number of Omas Gegen Rechts initiatives grew quickly. There are currently several Omas Gegen Rechts groups in Berlin, each with its own focus.

Every granny can become active as a political force, and organise joint resistance with other grannies. The can raise their voice against the dissemination of agitation, intimidation and lies from the right wing.

Engaged women, identified by the initiative as Omas are, because of their life experience, vigilant and loud for the protection of parliamentary democracy and for social peace – for our children and grandchildren.

What do we Omas stand for in Berlin? DIVERSITY, HUMAN DIGNITY, JUSTICE, RESPONSIBILITY, PARTICIPATION, SOLIDARITY. WE GET INVOLVED:

Political friends from all generations are welcome at out actions.

On Monday, 30th January, Omas Gegen Reichts Berlin are once more mobilising against right wing conspiracy theorists and antisemites. Under the slogan “We are Diversity”, the protest will take place at Stargarder Straße 77, near S-Bahn Schönhauser Allee.

You can read more about Omas Gegen Rechts Berlin on their website.

English Theatre Berlin

Music, Comedy, Drama


19/01/2023

English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center (ETB | IPAC) is the German capital’s only producing and presenting organization in the Hauptstadt expressly dedicated to English, the 21st century lingua franca, as the working language, as a bridge between cultures, countries and traditions.

We collaborate with both English native speakers and non-native speakers in order to achieve a continuous exchange between artists of different backgrounds who mutually inspire and influence each other to create something new together.

Learning Feminism From Rwanda by Flinn Works January 19, 20, 21 at 8pm

Women in Europe are still fighting for what Rwanda achieved long ago: 62% of their members of parliament are female. In Germany, the figure is just 34%. This East African country declared gender parity the basis of its politics in 1994. Meanwhile in Germany, this kind of parity is still a long way off despite gender equality being enshrined in common law since 1949.

A Rwandan and a German performer discuss numbers and realities from both countries, using a drum as the central symbol of power. They take a peek behind the curtain: if women are empowered, how do men deal with losing their power and what are the lines of confrontation in the home? How slowly or quickly do quotas change a culture and the mindset of a nation?

With speeches, statistics, songs and protest choreography, Learning Feminism from Rwanda follows the trail of Rwandan fast-track feminism from shiny statistics and glass ceilings to hearth and home. Let’s see how much Europe can learn from Rwanda?

Heartburn by Cosmino Productions  January 26, 27, 28 at 8pm

Two women face the truth of the dissolution of the European egalitarian dream.

Everywhere they look things are not equal; in the taxi at the end of the night, on the bench in the middle of a village, in the congregation, in the boardroom, in the home. They tell stories of abortion, sing about violence and dance about menopause. They remember the lies they were told as children and question the hope that things might be different for future generations.

The performance uses puppetry, comedy, song, text and movement to create a hybrid, humorous and powerful perspective on being a woman in Europe today.

Klimaneustart Berlin

Yes to the referendum to make Berlin Climate Neutral by 2030.


12/01/2023

Did you know that Berlin will have a climate referendum next March?

The referendum aims to change the law to make Berlin climate-neutral by 2030 instead of 2045. Earlier implementation would make Berlin compatible with the 1.5°C target.

The alliance behind the Berlin 2030 climate neutral referendum wants to put further pressure on Berlin politics and raise public awareness for more climate justice. The team of Klimaneustart Berlin sees itself as a civil society movement that acts as a link and platform to advance the exchange between citizens, science and politics at eye level.

On March 26, 2023, everyone who is over 18 years old and has German citizenship can vote. Obviously, a successful referendum would have a signal effect for other European cities and hopefully also worldwide. At the moment, the initiative is raising money for a campaign via crowdfunding.

Please donate if you can for a greener Berlin!

Dzień po

The day after collective


05/01/2023

The Polish government consistently tries to limit reproductive rights by making access to abortion and contraceptives difficult. In response, grassroots feminist initiatives provide basic medical services to fight this christian fundamentalist push.

Currently, we need to replenish our stocks of the day-after contraception pills, so we invite you to an info event about the “Day After” (“Dzień Po”) collective.

Soli event for grassroots feminist organizing for reproductive rights in poland – Discussion, polish snacks and more.

You can support us directly by bringing “the day after” pills!

07.I.2023 Solicafé Schlürf (Regenbogenfabrik)

17:00 Food, Glühwein, polish Schnaps, cocktails
18:00 Discussion on grassroot feminist organising for reproductive rights in Poland.
20:00 DJane(s)

There will be a short presentation and discussion about grassroots pro-choice organizing in poland and the idea of “demedicalisation” basic medical aid. There will be polish food, soli cocktails, polish schnaps and music to dance to.

We strongly encourage you to donate contraceptive pills based on ullipristal acetate (ellaOne or generics), or donate money.

Please don’t bring pills based on levonorgestrel – we rarely need them and anyway levo is a scam (we can elaborate on that during discussion!).

Get some EllaOne pills and come over!

In 2017, the polish right-wing government established a law to make the day-after contraceptive pill a prescription drug. This happened after a short three-year period during which one could access emergency contraception over the counter – according to EU recommendations, and shortly before a near total ban on abortion.

In response, we started the “Dzień Po” („the day after”) collective to provide direct access to emergency contraception that for many people in poland – especially young and those living in smaller cities – has become unavailable due to conservative and misogynistic politics.

As a collective we are also a part of pro-abortion movement and we wish to change the societal approach to what is commonly accepted and what is stigmatized: what is legal, regulated or criminalized.

We work in the paradigm of demedicalization and intersectionality. The current political situation in poland shows how crucial a grassroots solidarity movement is for providing access to basic medical services.

Come and hear more about our actions and participate in a discussion on approaches to demedicalized help. You can also bring gifts – emergency contraception with ullipristal acetate or generous donations that we’ll exchange for pills. For more information contact us at dzienpo@riseup.net.

Discussion will he held in English. German translation possible.

Note: we try to base our work on contreaception based on ulipristal acetate (ellaOne or others), because other contraceptive pills (PiDaNa, Levonoraristo, Unofem, Hexal, Postinor, Levonorgestrel Stada, Stada) need to be taken much quicker, and it is much more difficult to get them delivered on time.

Regenbogenfabrik (Rainbow Factory) Berlin

Neighbourhood Centre for Kids and Kulture


15/12/2022

Regenbogenfabrik Berlin is a children’s, culture and neighborhood center in the middle of Berlin. We have a wide range of offers for Berliners and guests from all over the world. Have a look: here on our website or live at Regenbogenfabrik, Lausitzer Straße 21a, 10999 Berlin.

The rainbow factory is a children’s, culture and neighborhood center in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Occupied in 1981, we still see ourselves as part of the housing and tenant movement and are committed to building and maintaining self-governing, collective and emancipatory structures from below.

As a collective, we work without bosses and make decisions together and in a grassroots-democratic manner according to the consensus principle. Solidarity and cooperation form the basis of our joint work. For the rainbow factory, every job is of equal value, which is why every job is paid the same.

Volunteers are also integrated into the decision-making structures. Each of us bears responsibility for the entire organization. We reject pressure to perform and thoughts of competition. In addition, we are committed to the greatest possible transparency of operational processes and decisions, both within the collective and in relation to the outside world.

About the factory

The Rainbow Factory was declared a monument in 1998. We learned that from a dry letter from the Berlin administration and were surprised. We were perhaps frightened because in the letter the authority imposed on us that changes in or on the building must be discussed and coordinated with the responsible monument protection authority with immediate effect. It wasn’t until 2004 that we discovered that we could also use it to tell exciting stories.

Monuments are many things: stores of knowledge, storytellers, eye-catchers, places to live or study. People live or work in them, crafts are learned, applied and passed on from them. This has been celebrated in Europe for several years on Open Monument Day. We go along with it and year after year we get a new opportunity to tell our story from a new perspective.

The Rainbow Factory is not spectacular architecture. But it is part of an ensemble, it tells the story of the Kreuzberg mixture of living and working in a very small space. We are glad that we can continue this story today.

No Border No Nation

On Saturday17th December from 5pm until 10pm, there will be soli drinks, Glühwein, waffles and music in the Regenbogen Café, Lausitzer Straße 22. All profits from the event No Border No Nation will go to raise money for the costs of refugees fighting for the right to stay.