Introduction
During seven days of creative, ingenious, staunch, peaceful, collaborative actions, over three hundred people spoke truth to the power of the war makers at Brisbane’s 2021 Land Forces weapons expo. Actions included the occupation of equipment before and during the arms fair, a launch involving solidarity fires being lit in Musgrave park and the highlands of West Papua, and noisy and creative protests outside local arms firms and the expo. All of which resulted in community building, disruption of the expo, 37 arrests, and much media coverage.
Credit: Wage Peace
The Thanks But No Tanks: Learnings from Disrupt Land Forces report was written by Zelda K J Grimshaw, incorporating reflections from Margie Pestorius and the whole Disrupt Land Forces crew. It includes details and photos of the main events as well as an “analysis of how we made all of this happen, what we missed, where we stuffed up and the thinking that inspires us.” It provides valuable insights into the preparation, organisation, promotion, solidarity work, infrastructure and creativity required to have a successful mass protest/festival.
Lessons learned
Sections covering lessons learned from the protest include:
- Consult
- Form a Core Organising Group
- Create digital resources
- Reach Out, Listen Up
- Frontlines to the front
- Art shows, public meetings, flyers, radio, stalls
- Language matters
- The inclusive we
- Be inviting
- Say what you want
- Be real
- Find your connection
- Practice active solidarity
- Build momentum through action
- Celebrate resistance, grow solidarity
- Call it a festival
- Hand it over
- Safe and happy
- Zero harm and radical respect
- Prioritise having fun
- Centre art and culture
- Have a hall
- Crowdsource actions
- Show love
- Be open
- DIY to the max
- Be flexible & say yes
- Leave space
- Recognize, value and include everyone
- Eat together, act together, dance together
- Diversity makes people happy
- We are all connected
Our Festival of Resistance unfolded in a whirlwind of humanity discovering itself, as we supported each other to take risks, make art, experiment and disrupt the military industrial death machine that is wrecking our planet and her peoples. There was rage, there was grief and there were moments of despair, but above all, growing by the day, there was joy. As we took action together to Disrupt Land Forces, as we planned and played together at our base in Jagera Hall, something extraordinary and alchemical happened.
Credit: Wage Peace
Actions
The creativity, once unleashed, became a raging torrent. We are stunned, thrilled and just incredibly impressed by all the ways people took action, and by the spirit of radical respect people extended to each other throughout the Festival of Resistance.
The range of actions carried out during the protest/festival included –
- Tank Block Action
- Trail of Blood Action
- Truck Block Action
- Factory block
- Lament
- Speeches
- Rally
- Quaker Granny Blockade on day 1
- Cacophony – Vuvuzelas & Cacerolazo
- Butoh – The Haunting
- Sit In
- Ode to the God of Wealth (poetry)
- Say Their Names (vigil for Palestinian children)
- Quakers 24 hour vigil on day 2
- Bleeding Climate Angels
- Dinner of Death Parade
- Picket of the Expo drinks session
- Sugar Glider / Citizen’s Arrest
- Dancing in the street
- Wall of song
- Storming the arms fair
- Bad ballet
- Blood spills everywhere
- Farty spray
- Raw prawns
- Banners
- Placards
- Chanting
- Dancing around the tanks
- Pickets
- Graffiti
- Yelling at the war makers
- Loud music
- Whirly things
- Climbing on tanks
- Rape whistles
- Personal alarms
- Projection art
- Candles
Credit: Wage Peace
Download Full Report
Thanks But No Tanks: Learnings from Disrupt Land Forces (PDF)
Explore Further
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