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I’m here at the We Are Wisconsin headquarters in Milwaukee for today’s big Wisconsin state Senate recall races. I’ll be updating this throughout the day:

A week ago today I was in London, standing in the streets with half a million people protesting massive cuts the UK government is rolling out.

It was a powerful, inspiring, confusing, and exhausting day. There were parents and kids holding signs and marching, samba bands and a ‘book bloc’ carrying large pink cardboard books as shields (‘Manufacturing Consent’ and ‘Imagined Communities’ were two). There were dance parties and students picnicking next to a 20-foot-tall wire and cloth Trojan horse in Oxford Circus. And there was the peaceful occupation of Fortum & Mason department store that resulted in the arrests of hundreds, while police looked the other way as a few people bashed in glass bank windows and splattered paint on storefronts.

I blogged here and here on the weekend for Think Progress.

There’s been a lot of roundups and analysis of what happened on Saturday—particularly with folks on the left debating the usefulness of marching versus occupations and other more confrontational approaches. One of the best pieces is this from Daniel Trilling at the New Statesman, on the false distinction between ‘peaceful protest’ and ‘direct action,’ and why it’s important to defend UK Uncut even if you don’t agree with the tactics they use: 

There are two lessons that I think the anti-cuts movement (by which I mean anyone who turned out on Saturday) should take from this. First, there has been a great deal of sneering among advocates of “direct action” in the past few months at “A to B marches”. I hope Saturday’s march, which left me feeling exhilarated and hopeful for the prospect of building sustained opposition to the cuts, proves that bringing together a huge cross-section of society is valid and necessary action. Of course it doesn’t change anything in isolation, but just think about how many people returned to their workplaces today, sharing their experiences with colleagues, realising that they’re not alone in their fight and, with any luck, thinking about what to do next.

Second, there is a narrative developing among some sections of the left that UK Uncut wrecked Saturday’s protest by diverting attention from the rally in Hyde Park and is somehow responsible for the “anarchist violence” focused on by most of the media. This plays into the hands of the right and needs to be stopped.

A few weeks ago I heard Ellie O’Hagan talk about why the UK Uncut push uses tactics like shutting down stores to highlight how corporations are avoiding paying their taxes—tax money that could be used to fund services the government’s cutting everywhere you look.

When you protest by marching, she said, you don’t feel powerful. You walk, maybe chant or wave a sign. Shutting down a store, you realize how powerful you are. You realize they are scared of you, even if your only weapons are leaflets and a bullhorn—or sometimes musical instruments or books at UK Uncut’s ‘rock ins’ or ‘read ins.’

That struck me when I heard Ellie say it, but it did even more so this weekend when I joined a group of friends who organized a gig in a Vodaphone shop to protest arts cuts and draw attention to the company’s tax avoidance. The organizer, Nick, is an art student who hadn’t been able to join any Saturday actions because he’d been working. So he decided to set up his first event of this kind, and brought university friends who’d been in a band together. None of them had met anyone “with UK Uncut officially”—but that’s kind of the point. No one represents the group: the name is everyone’s and anyone’s who wants to claim it.

After meeting up at a nearby bar to make a plan, everyone headed to an Oxford Street Vodaphone shop. Once inside, Nick took out his bullhorn and announced what was going on, others sat down and started playing songs on a lap harp, a small keyboard, and guitars. After a few tunes the group told to move outside, where the band set up and Nick explained the action to the Sunday foot traffic. “We’re here to highlight Vodaphone’s 6 billion in unpaid taxes, they’re tax dodgers and not worth your pocket money.” He said: “Art is important, culture is important.” And got kind of silly: “Buy this guys’ fruit!” he shouted, pointing at the vendor who was concerned the group was scaring away customers. Even the police were nice, suggesting using sidewalk chalk as a punishment-free alternative to pasting signs on windows.

I think we all left feeling pretty inspired—and I definitely felt that power Ellie talked about. Sure, I know that the feeling of inspiration, excitement, or power doesn’t speak directly to how effective an action is. But I do think it got people on Oxford Street to think about what’s happening, in a surprisingly fun way given what could have been a confrontational situation. And there’s something important to be said for being inspired by taking action: you want to keep doing it. I hugged a few of the friends goodbye and said we’d meet up for the big one this Saturday. #March26 #Solidarity

After spending a few weeks with some great London activists, I wrote this blog post for Movements.org on how student protests over the winter helped energize a much larger push against huge government cuts.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to protest in London this Saturday, with UK Uncut planning to take over stores up and down Oxford Street. I had planned to leave London last week, but decided to extend my stay to be here for the weekend. Seems like it’s gonna be big. 

Remember London? Before we became riveted by uprisings in North Africa and Wisconsin, late last year tens of thousands of high school and university students took to London’s streets to protest massive tuition hikes and education cuts. What started as a day of action in November led to occupations on campuses across the country, clashes with police, and marches throughout the winter.

The protests weren’t just a one-off thing—and no longer are the protesters just students.

On March 26th, more than 100,000 people will gather in London to ‘March for the Alternative.’ They’re protesting deep government cuts: slashed local budgets that mean cuts to libraries, child care, public transportation, public safety, and assistance for the elderly—combined with opening up the publicly-funded National Health Service to private companies at a loss of 50,000 jobs.

Ever heard of Buntingford, England?

Even though it’s just an hour’s drive, no one in London had either. But that’s where I’m spending this week, living and working with a small international youth nonprofit.

The friend who connected me with Peace Child rightly described it as a magical place. A group of interns and staff live together in ‘the stables’ (below) and walk across the field (above) to their office each morning, in a huge old white house where the program’s directors live. The current group has young people from India, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, France, Italy, and England. Together they cook, clean, and keep themselves entertained out in this small village.

It’s a world away from DC—instead of the power plant outside of the DNC, from my desk I watch huge birds flutter from tree to tree. This weekend we’re visiting the local alpaca farm. It’s a good peaceful spot to be wrapping up my few months of travels before heading back to London and DC.