My experience on the organising team for this year's Marxism Festival

 

Photo my comrade got of me after the festival. Che Rosenberg perhaps?!

Whilst being an avid SWP member and a huge fan of the much awaited Marxism Festival and the many other smaller national events within the party, being on the Marxism team was not something I'd ever done before. In spite of the long hours (starting qt 9:30- long before festival goers arrived- and ending late into the evening) the making of sacrifices of not attending certain meetings, and the effort of stewarding and organising large groups, it was a really enjoyable experience for me and one I would like to have again. From the very beginning helping set up all the chairs in the venue to the final singing of the Internationale by all to close the festival, I immediately felt confident and proud to be representing a party I valued so much, and give something in return for all the many opportunities they had given me in developing my activist profile. I felt a huge sense of pride at being welcomed into such a fantastic event uniting all revolutionaries in a shared hope for a fairer society. It seemed like the ultimate means by which I could further demonstrate and reflect on my huge respect for the party and give back to them for their role in helping me develop my activist profile within my community and supporting me in my passion for left wing politics inspiring me to a career in journalism.

The main thing that stood out for me about being on the team was the sheer amount of time, effort and organisation that goes into planning such a large event and the how completely reliant the party is on its many committed members and supporters to help it take place. It is for this reason I feel that there should be so much more respect for political organisations based off of their community organisation, grassroots development, and ability to recognise and support their supporters as opposed to their electoral and parliamentary presence. This appears far more sincere and truly people motivated (with minor touches such as them having their food stall serve a Palestinian comrade a free meal, and the provision of party members with free or heavily subsidised accommodation at the festival being hugely valuable), something rarely observed for political groups (both left and right wing) within mainstream electoral politics. This observation and understanding has made me truly respect and value the SWP more. This, in my eyes, seems like the best and only real way to properly advocate for a true worker led society led through revolutionary means to dismantle existing power structures present within current capitalist society. Events such as Marxism prove to be hugely important in the making these ideas more accessible to the general people and encouraging greater debate to ultimately animate them to engage with bringing about change for their local communities.

This year, I was in some excellent meetings led by some hugely influential revolutionary speakers such as Yanis Varoufakis, Richard Boyd Barrett, Wayman Bennett, Joseph Choonara, Bob Vylan, the founders of the Sumud freedom flotilla and many others (Hasan Piker, Jeremy Corbyn and Mothin Ali were also there but sadly I couldn't see them because of organisational duties). Huge highlights for me were engaging with debate and discussion with the audience and contributing and asking questions to the panellists, getting to hear the many differing viewpoints from the audience with a huge diversity of ages, cultures, parts of the country they came from, and lived experiences. My favourite meetings were likely Choonara's meeting discussing trade unions and workplace mobilisation which made me think of Robert Owens' philosophy, the Fabian movement and the failures of the current Labour government, the meetings on imperialism and the illegal occupation which sparked discussion about culture, religion, and the rise of fascism. I also gained a lot through being at the meeting on Thomas Sankara's revolution in Africa, as well as Wayman Bennett's very personable, relatable, and eloquent commentary, which (as I always find whenever I hear him speak) made me feel even more anticipated and inspired to love and support my community through revolutionary activity. As well as, of course, the not to be missed and unforgettable arrival of Bob Vylan at the Palestine panel. 

While some unexpected circumstances and slight technical challenges made for minor inconveniences, we were able to make the festival run smoothly and effectively, especially since we didn't have any disruption from far right agitators this year which was a huge positive and I am incredibly proud of how well we all worked together on it all. I thoroughly enjoyed the four days I spent with my comrades, some from Portsmouth and others from further afield, in London together, as well as meeting and connecting with many other new comrades who I hope to keep in touch with and meet again at other political events, hopefully not too far into the future. Long may we continue organising.