In the face of genocide, ecological collapse, and creeping authoritarianism, turning up to a housing picket or community forum can sometimes feel pointless. But we “have not yet been defeated.” That’s what Alaa Abd El-Fattah tweeted from his fourth year in solitary confinement.
His imprisonment in Egypt is the brutal endpoint of authoritarian backlash. But his words were directed at those of us who still have the ability to speak, organise, and resist. He urges us not to wait until it’s too late.
The threats we face are insidious. But while we still have rights, we must use them to defend our neighbours: older women facing abuse (p. 16), boarding house evictees (p. 5), those experiencing mental ill health (p. 7), and those being priced out of their communities (p. 6).
This issue of Inner Sydney Voice is about community action. At times, that theme felt too small. But pulling this edition together has reminded me that community action is where we first learn to say no, to organise, and to imagine something better.
I’ve been inspired by local victories: the ‘Road Wars’ of Erskineville in the 1980s that made streets safer (p. 12); Waterloo business owners organising against modern slavery (p.20); mothers turning up every day for Palestine (p. 5.28).
These aren’t isolated acts. They demonstrate what it means to think globally, act locally, and persevere. Some days, Gundawilla is the only one tending the sacred fire as he reoccupies Wangan and Jagalingou land near the Adani mine, but his four-year stand has inspired resistance around the world (Page 22).
Then there’s the 50 women broke into an abandoned house in Glebe 50 years ago, they couldn’t have known they were starting a movement that would reshape Australia (p. 8). Their refuge brought together migrant, Aboriginal, working-class, and middle-class women around a common cause. We won’t always share the same views, but we can still work together to build something powerful.
Mark Skelsey’s Views to Die For reminded me of that, too. The Victoria Street struggle united tenants, artists, and unionists to resist brutal redevelopment (Page 18). The Green Bans weren’t about purity; they were about solidarity.
Of course, there are backslides and burnout, and often, only a few are left to keep the fire burning. That’s why we need to back the next generation, like SNAICS’s Youth Voice (Page 28), as they take up the baton.
As always, Community Voices (Page) holds the greatest wisdom: people who refuse to give up on each other, who show up when it matters, and make room in the tent so that the movements can grow.
We have not yet been defeated. And we’re not done yet.
In solidarity,
Isabelle
Editor, Inner Sydney Voice