Taking Power Back through Community Conversation
MERLIN BETTS
Despite the abysmal state of our national politics, last Sunday (16 June) I felt like there was a bit of electricity in the air, a sparkle in the windows, a glint in the eye of the sea. Yeah, there was the football – but I’m not talking about that. Down at the Stade Hall, 119 Hastings folk got together to tell candidates what our priorities are for this election, and for this town’s future, at Hastings Assembles.
The event wasn’t run by any political party, just a patchwork of locals who wanted to make it happen. I noticed some of them are involved with community activist groups, some of them work in the media; some are young, some are old. But they weren’t doing it ‘for work’ or to impose their own opinions on others. They set up and ran the event because they believe that people need to organise themselves without interference from any political establishment.
To steal a phrase: they believe that we need to be the change we want to see in the world. (That’s apparently an Arleen Lorrance saying rather than a Gandhi quote, by the way.)
Hastings Assembles was slated to be a free assembly for all – where you could say whatever you wanted to say, as long as you respected the people you were saying it to. And this principle was tested pretty early on in the meeting. We’d all gathered into groups of six (sometimes five, sometimes seven) and one of the organisers had just briefed us on the focus of our discussion, told us how best to structure and record our chat.
Then someone stood up claiming to be a representative of the local LGBTQIA+ community, saying that there’s concern about Hastings Assembles’ refusal to ban views that might be considered transphobic. They tried to initiate a vote in the hall to confirm that such views are not welcome at the meeting. No-one leapt out of their seats in support, and one of the event organisers calmly reminded the hall that the meeting is about discussion, and that as long as the discussion is respectful, no-one will be banned, cancelled or no-platformed for sharing their views.
We ended up talking this through in my sub-group, which happened to contain four gays, including myself. Some of us were a little older and remembered joining political movements to fight for gay rights, and specifically recalled how important it was to talk with people, to make them feel heard and then help them understand that gays aren’t dangerous weirdos they have to hate, but other people maybe living a different life to them. And that kind of discussion is exactly what the assembly was about – learning about other people’s views, considering them, developing a deeper understanding, and a meaningful sense of mutual respect as a community. None of the divisive politics that blight the national stage.
The working groups focussed on two key points: how do we improve people’s lives, and how do we make those improvements happen? Group responses were recorded via menti.com. Plenty of people mentioned accountability and transparency in government – perhaps obviously. Other talking points included the water situation, both stopping the raw sewage dumping and even improving the service to offer free water to all. People suggested the renationalisation of utilities and transport.
Housing came up a lot, with some groups suggesting that we build more social housing, and others talking about housing co-operatives and community housing strategies.Our group had two anarchists and a communist, so perhaps unsurprisingly we talked about banning second homes and trying to destroy landlording in its entirety (though we conceded that people could still rent out a spare room).
As to how we bring about change, the meeting overwhelmingly favoured more community activism: assemblies, volunteering in all its forms, localised lobbying groups, and generally more self-organisation. There was a perhaps reassuring note for the community-sceptic too: people said it’s important to get out and vote. Though they also suggested we seriously need voting reform.
Hastings Assembles wants to host more meetings in different parts of town, involving and giving voice to many different communities within Hastings. They’re also considering topic-specific meetings to get a deeper understanding of people’s views. If you want to be involved, or read more about responses given on the day, find them on social media and get in touch.
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