#mike crawshaw

[bowtie-toners]

[adamjh]

RIP Timmy Matley

Three days ago on this day lead singer (one of 5) of the British 5-piece harmony band, The Overtones, died on the 11th April at the age of 36 from skin cancer. I openly admit I wasn’t a major fan of the group but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy their music. The British music has lost another talented singer and my condolences go out to both his friends, family, fans and the other remaining…

[ask-thenetherlands]

Ruben voice claim

((Here’s my voice claim for Ruben [Holland], that I’ve found out today: Mike Crawshaw from The Overtones!))

[gozealouscloudcollection]

關於歐洲5G發展現狀：所有你想知道的

如今，在貨幣暴跌之際，到訪英國的遊客在享受更廉價啤酒和酒吧食物的同時，還可以見證到世界上最慢的5G網絡連接速度。根據OpenSignal的調查數據顯示，對於任何願意購買早期5G智能手機的人來說，如果身處英國少數提供5G網絡覆蓋的移動基站附近，那麼他能夠享受到的最高網絡速度為569 Mbit/s。

這個速度可能聽起來讓人驚嘆，但是這卻遠不及在美國、瑞士、韓國、��大利亞、阿聯酋、意大利和西班牙等國家5G用戶能夠享受到的速度。的確，這要比4G最快峰值速度高出128 Mbit/s——澳大利亞又是不同的狀況，在這裡，最快的5G速度要比最高速的4G連接慢上158 Mbit/s。那麼，當“舊”技術可以提供高達950 Mbit/s這樣的速度時，誰還需要5G呢？ （至少是在更快速的移動寬帶訴求方面……）

圖：OpenSignal調查的全球多國5G與4G網速對比差異。

除了瑞士以外（該國通常都是歐洲的異常值），歐洲國家在OpenSignal對5G速度調查的對比中均表現不佳。不過，速度僅是故事的一部分而已。在美國和亞洲運營商努力擴大其5G網絡覆蓋範圍的時候，許多歐洲國家尚未推出商用5G服務。而在一些已經推出5G的歐洲國家，網絡部署和推出可能是一項漫長而痛苦的過程。運營商部署任何新的網絡技術都需要花費時間。令人擔憂的是，5G的推出可能要比通常花費的時間更長。

這有兩個原因。首先，5G在經濟上的重要性可能比目前看起來的要大得多。如果這些超高速連接推動了新服務的產生，那麼開發人員可能會湧向擁有最佳5G基礎設施的國家。有的公司可能會成為下一個谷歌，而歐洲可能會擁有自己的數字巨頭。新服務也可能提高工業生產率（工廠自動化是一個重要領域）。如果歐洲落後於美國和中國，這一地區的公司可能很難在全球舞台上進行競爭。

第二個原因在於，要實現全國范圍內的5G網絡覆蓋還有很長的路要走，這可能會加劇個別國家的“數字鴻溝”——數字服務擁有者和非擁有者之間的鴻溝。對於那些試圖振興貧困地區並阻止農村地區陷入經濟發展無關緊要境地的政府來說，這條漫長的路看起來很尷尬。與此同時，民粹主義也在抬頭，原因是貧富差距日益擴大，以及人們認為，那些有權勢的精英階層忽視了普通民眾的擔憂。運營商選擇將早期5G網絡部署集中在倫敦金絲雀碼頭等地，可能會引發進一步的不滿。

圖：歐洲各國運營商5G發展狀況。

資料來源：運營商、監管機構、各種新聞媒體，由Light Reading整理。

頻譜壓榨

但是為什麼歐洲很難讓這些國家齊頭並進發展5G呢？在尚未推出5G的國家，通常是因為政府當局仍未發放新頻譜。東歐的大多數國家都屬於這一類，但法國也是如此。與此同時，在英國等市場，運營商正在投入5G頻譜的連續拍賣，彷彿政府擔心一次發放太多頻譜會導致用藥過量一般。

由此造成的影響是雙重的：分裂化——整個歐洲地區的一種數字鴻溝——因為不同國家的不同步以及更高的成本。批評人士稱，由於運營商們在爭搶殘羹剩飯，當局通過限制任何單次拍賣出售的頻譜數量，推高了價格。這就好比，當你把一小片肉扔進飢餓的食肉動物窩裡，看看會發生什麼。

那些為5G牌照而努力的運營商現在正苦苦掙扎。在為新的5G頻譜投入了22億歐元（25億美元）之後，德國電信表示這筆錢（原本）可以用來建設大約5萬個移動基站。該運營商本月在柏林和波恩推出了試商用5G服務，但其預期到今年年底投入使用的5G天線不會超過300個。德國電信目前在德國各地擁有約28000個移動基站。

反對者對此是冷漠的。他們表示，運營商總是抱怨監管不公，但競爭迫使他們進行投資。另一個論點是，如果放棄頻譜，運營商只會把錢放入口袋，而不是用於網絡部署。許多關注短期利益的股東無疑會表示贊同。據悉，歐洲最大的運營商之一法國Orange近年來就因為在全光纖網絡上的大手筆遭到了股東的抵制。

不過，監管機構有另一種選擇。 “選美競賽”是移動網絡設備供應商喜歡的一種方式，在這種情況下，當局用嚴格的覆蓋義務取代了高昂的頻譜費用。若未能滿足和實現這些覆蓋條件，那麼運營商就可能失去牌照，這是最大的威脅。

然而，德國卻因同時要求高額頻譜費用和嚴格覆蓋義務而飽受詬病。據愛立信表示，德國的拍賣設計顯然旨在獲得最大回報。愛立信歐洲政府事務負責人Gabriel Solomon表示：“大約有450輪拍賣，在100輪後，價格為20億歐元（23億美元），頻譜的分配並沒有改變。”最終的收益大約為65億歐元（ 73億美元）。同時，牌照獲得者被要求在2022年實現98%的覆蓋率目標。憤怒的運營商對這些規定採取了法律行動，並於今年3月被科隆行政法院駁回。但是，這似乎不太可能是爭端的結束。

圖：各國3.4-3.8GHz頻段頻譜每MHz價格，單位：億美元。

資料來源：運營商、監管機構、各種新聞媒體，由Light Reading整理。

在別的地方，當局優先考慮的似乎是短期意外收穫而不是長期5G收益。在另一個歐洲國家意大利，其5G拍賣收益遠超預期，關鍵的“中頻”頻譜附帶的覆蓋義務卻似乎並不那麼繁重。根據意大利監管機構Agcom頻譜辦公室負責人Mauro Martino去年的介紹，運營商需要覆蓋意大利城市相對較小的範圍，同時有些規則不適用於頻譜帶寬低於80MHz的獲牌運營商。這似乎可以成為Wind Tre和Iliad的藉口，但不會成為意大利電信和沃達丰的藉口。

無論如何，意大利電信的目標是到2021年為僅22%的人口提供5G服務。其他國家的運營商在網絡推出目標方面要謹慎得多，他們更願意確定5G具體會覆蓋哪些城市。 “我們已經宣布，到今年年底會有25個城市覆蓋，但並不一定是全面覆蓋——這只是一個亮相而已。”英國最小的一家移動運營商3 UK網絡服務戰略和架構負責人Mike Eales表示。

不過，其他運營商的建網目標也已經公開。英國最大的運營商BT（英國電信）計劃到明年5月在其19000個移動站點中的2000個開啟5G。德國電信在其昂貴的頻譜費用支出之前曾表示，計劃在2025年底覆蓋德國人口的99%。瑞士電信的目標是在今年年底達到90%的覆蓋率，雖然政府僅要求到2024年覆蓋50%的人口。瑞士電信期望當局能夠放寬關於輻射限制的立法（這可能阻礙5G服務）——如果它能夠證明自己是一個好市民的話。

平衡資產負債表

但是，運營商必須付出一些代價。不包括其龐大的美國業務（也即T-Mobile US）在內，德國電信的資本密集度（資本支出佔收入的百分比）已經從2013年的14%飆升至去年的約20%。在同一時期，Orange則已從14%上升至18%。意大利電信的國內業務增幅最大，其資本密集度從2013年的18%飆升至2018年可能創紀錄的37%，其中包含了頻譜費用。這些數字不能無休止地上升。

讓他們更難接受的是，電信運營商建設5G網絡缺乏任何直接的銷售機會。如果移動通信歷史是一份可靠指南的話，那麼用戶們不太可能為5G服務支付比4G服務更高的價格。並且運營商定價創新的空間非常小。英國的沃達丰希望針對不同網絡連接速度和不限量使用的收費機制，能夠吸引消費者放棄基於月度數據上限的套餐計劃。但是如果其舉動受到歡迎，那麼競爭對手最終將會作出回應。 Heavy Reading高級分析師James Crawshaw表示，沃達丰競爭激烈的純SIM卡（SIM-only）價格資費已經引發了人們對“觸底反彈”的擔憂。

圖：歐洲運營商資本密集度（單位：10億歐元）。

沃達丰高管在其5G發布會上試圖向記者證明其採取的行動是合理的，他們表示，利潤一部分將來自於5G比4G更高的“頻譜效率”。其基本論點是，通過5G網絡發送一個數據位要比通過4G傳輸便宜得多。但是差異是爭論的焦點。沃達丰英國首席技術官Scott Petty在5G新聞發布會上表示，5G的成本要低4-5倍。而在2017年底，沃達丰集團首席技術官Johan Wibergh則認為，5G會便宜10倍。

無論實際數字如何，投資者們似乎都太相信未來會有更大的利潤空間。沃達丰的股價在5G發布當天上漲了2%，但是該公司在今年的股價已經下跌了15%。其最近宣布推出5G服務的競爭對手BT，在同期的股價也已經下降了五分之一。

人們對頻譜效率將提高收益的懷疑態度似乎是有道理的。如果不裁員或採取其他措施削減開支（如出售房地產），運營成本不太可能大幅降低。當年，4G標準同樣被吹捧為是比3G更具成本效益的技術，但是沃達丰集團的盈利（扣除利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷前）在4G時代僅上升了兩個百分點，從沃達丰英國推出4G之前的那一財年的29.9%增長至最近這一年的31.9%。頻譜效率技術似乎是一種應對數據流量激增的機制，而不是獲取更大利潤的途徑。

“5G不會改變運營商運營網絡的總體成本結構。”諮詢公司Northstream CEO Bengt Nordstrom表示。 “5G顯著降低了引入更高數據傳輸速度和增加更多容量的成本。如果運營商希望提高盈利能力，那將需要通過他們的數字化轉型計劃來實現。”

一些大型歐洲運營商的債務狀況讓投資者更加擔憂。意大利電信去年的淨債務相當於其收益的3.3倍，與大多數同行比，處於一個較高水平。德國電信的這一比例為2.65，目前正逼近2.75的舒適區上限。 “我們的數據並不表明我們將偏離主幹道……但的確迴旋餘地將非常小。”德國電信CEO Timotheus Hottges在其最近一次財報電話會議上表示。

圖：德國電信CEO Timotheus Hottges。

關於市場整合

一些分析師認為，歐洲迫切需要的是更多的整合。擁有3.3億人口的美國市場，擁有4家大型移動運營商，如果T-Mobile最終與Sprint合併，那麼這個數字將縮小至3個。在中國，三家運營商為14億人口提供服務。

歐盟擁有約5.1億人口，卻擁有多家大型電信集團，包括德國電信、Orange、沃達丰和西班牙電信，以及眾多與巨頭進行競爭的相對規模較小的運營商。愛立信的Gabriel Solomon表示，許多小運營商都在掙扎存活。 “固定成本基數與擁有更大市場份額的運營商類似，而且維持和產生回報要困難得多。”他說。

在這種世界觀下，隨著現有企業滿足於更小的市場份額，而競爭導致價格下降，每個人的境況都會變得更糟。 Gabriel Solomon認為，運營商需要38%的EBITDA利潤率才能實現“最佳投資水平”，並表示歐洲的平均水平要低得多。沃達丰去年在歐洲市場調整後的EBITDA利潤率為31.6%。而在調整了特殊因素後，德國電信的這一利潤率為30.8%。

不幸的是，對於投資者而言，歐洲監管機構一直在持續反對併購活動，他們認為這將導致價格上漲並損害消費者利益。支持歐洲做法的人士指出，在競爭不那麼激烈的美國市場，客戶往往為電信服務支付更高的費用。但諮詢公司Nordstrom表示，這意味著歐洲運營商面臨支出限制。 “與美國相比，歐洲面臨的最大挑戰是我們的每用戶收入要低得多，因此我們的出發點是，如果將其分解為每用戶的投資，我們可花的錢就更少了。”他表示。 “這由歐洲市場整合遭遇的阻力所推動。”

根據GSMA的分析，在監管機構允許和記電訊（Hutchison）與Orange在2012年合併其奧地利業務後，這筆交易使當地的網絡覆蓋率和連接速度提高了20-30%。

在歐盟選出新領導人之際，電信業正拭目以待，看是否會出現一個對投資者更為友好的政體。但對國內併購活動採取更為寬鬆的態度，並不能解決歐洲的分裂問題，也無益於電信服務跨境市場的發展。甚至，德國電信在多個歐洲國家建立單一網絡的努力，也因為國家監管機構對當地數據設施的要求，而受到一定程度的挫敗，這些要求意在防止信息被儲存在另一個歐洲司法管轄區域。

在今天的政治環境下，這些反對意見不會輕易得到解決。對於整個地區的民粹主義者來說，歐盟是一個無法解釋的、卡夫卡式的怪物，它剝奪了民族國家應有的主權。在2016年的公投中，英國選民選擇了離開歐盟（由此引發了貨幣貶值，這也解釋了為什麼現在啤酒和食品對歐洲遊客來說相對便宜）。無論最終有沒有達成協議，“英國脫歐”都將於今年10月發生。而這可能刺激其他歐盟成員國對公投的要求。

無疑，支持和反對更多歐洲一體化的爭論將會繼續。但是，隨著中國和美國大練5G肌肉，行業內對於推進新技術和方法的質疑聲將會越來越小。 “將互聯互通視為新產業戰略的基石至關重要，我認為歐盟目前還沒有這樣做。”Gabriel Solomon說。 “如果我們繼續這樣四分五裂，其他超級大國將加速進入數字領域。”

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from 關於歐洲5G發展現狀：所有你想知道的 via KKNEWS

[nancydhooper]

'What I’ve Always Loved Is the Mischief for Creating Change'

The ACLU interviews Steve Crawshaw, the author of "Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief."

When Steve Crawshaw wrote his book about creative protests in totalitarian regimes, “Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief,” he never thought it would be all that relevant to the United States.

Crawshaw has been researching protests since 1989 when he covered the East European Revolutions for the British newspaper, The Independent. He witnessed decades of single-party communist rule crumble amidst protests led not by politicians or figures of stature, but by everyday citizens wanting to make a difference.

Since then, the world has seen increasingly creative and even absurd protests, ranging from mock pillow fights and illegal applause in Belarus to calling Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to tell him about menstruation. The book, which includes full-page color photographs of protests around the world, is a tribute to the human spirit. In telling the stories of these protests, Crawshaw challenges traditional narratives about how to create change.

“Too often we only think about the big political stuff, which of course is incredibly important, but we forget that it’s often little, tiny actions by individuals which make huge changes when put together,” Crawshaw said in an interview with the ACLU.

Although the book went to press just before Donald Trump became president, Crawshaw, who now works for Amnesty International, sees echoes of the strategies he covered in Street Spirit in today’s resistance. From the Women’s march with its trademark pussy hats to rogue Twitter accounts — Americans have employed humor in their resistance.

As the ACLU embarks on a new chapter in its history —  launching our grassroots organizing effort People Power — and hiring Legal Director David Cole, who believes that cultural change is crucial to the development of constitutional law, we caught up with Crawshaw to discuss the inspiration behind “Street Spirit.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get the idea to do this book?

I’ve always been interested in how change happens. A few years ago, I co-authored a book with John Jackson called “Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World,” which already started to play with some of the ideas I further explored in “Street Spirit.”

What I’ve always loved is the mischief for creating change. When I was writing “Street Spirit”  last year, I was at my writer’s desk thinking: “Is anything even going to be interested in protest when this book comes out in 2017? Well, I’m interested, so I’ll write it anyway.” Sadly, this book is much more relevant than I would have wished.

I would trade the great timing for a better situation, but we are where we are. It’s kind of fascinating to see that creativity and mischief are already so much a part of the narrative. There’s been such creativity in the protests in the United States and elsewhere. Brilliant slogans and brilliant activities and all of those kinds of things. That’s great to see.

When did you finish writing it?

The book went to press in mid-October 2016. The election was coming up in the U.S., but everyone thought they knew which way it would go, so we didn’t have to worry about that.

If you stand up for what you believe, you can’t be sure that you’ll change anything, maybe absolutely zero will change, but it will be satisfying to be living in truth itself.

I had a story in the book which I had first written in spring of 2016 about this guy who I confess I had never heard of named Mike Pence, who was the governor of Indiana. There was a lovely story there about a Facebook page — Periods for Pence —  mocking him for the terrible anti-abortion law he was bringing in. The ACLU and others were involved in confronting this legislation. I loved this particular story about the Facebook page. So I wrote about Mike Pence, this guy who’s governor of Indiana, then I had to put a little parenthesis into the photo caption saying “who became the running mate of Donald Trump in the summer of 2016.”

So it’s fair to say that you never thought Street Spirit would feel so relevant in the United States?

When I was covering the East European Revolutions of 1989 for The Independent, I read a wonderful essay about the power of the powerless by Václav Havel, the Czech dissident-turned-president. He wrote it in 1978, in the middle of the Cold War, certain nothing was ever going to change. He wrote about living in truth. If you stand up for what you believe, you can’t be sure that you’ll change anything, maybe absolutely zero will change, but it will be satisfying to be living in truth itself.

He later said he was treated as a Czech Don Quixote at the time, tilting at windmills. In fact, only 11 years later, indeed the whole house of cards of one party rule in Czechoslovakia collapsed, and that power of the powerless was made real.

The people who say, “Oh, it’s not really worth it, there’s no point doing it,” are often the ones who are quite happy to benefit from change when it comes later, but the people who have made the change are the ones who are determined to live in truth. That’s obviously true in repressive regimes, but now we are daily reminded how relevant it can be with a problematic elected leader too.

What would you say to those who think protesting in the streets in futile?

Over and over again, you will hear people saying, “It’s never going to change,” and then it changes, and they say, “Oh, it was bound to change.” There’s a line that I quote in the introduction of the book by this amazing young Egyptian woman, Asmaa Mahfouz, who in 2011 at the beginning of the revolution that unseated Mubarak, released a video that went viral. It basically said, if you stay at home and don’t go out on the street because you say no one else is going to be there, you are part of the problem. And that of course was highly relevant in Egypt. Millions went out then, partly because her video went viral and she was so powerful in saying, “You are part of the problem if you stay home.” I think that’s a great lesson. It was true in the authoritarian context of Egypt, but it’s true wherever we see bad things happening.

The courage that’s been shown by these people in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes sets a model —  few of us are taking the same kinds of risks when we’re standing up, and so I think the very least we need to do is realize we can have an impact by speaking out and speaking the truth.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org:443/blog/speak-freely/what-ive-always-loved-mischief-creating-change via http://www.rssmix.com/

[rockzone]

The Overtones announce UK Tour for June/July 2020

With 5 top 10 albums and 10 sold out UK Tours, The Overtones will embark on their 11th UK Tour taking place next Summer.

For the last decade, The Overtones have been a household name after appearing on dozens of television shows across the UK and Europe including Dancing On Ice, BBC Breakfast and This Morning to name just a few.

After headlining at world renowned venues like The London Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall.  The Overtones have built a name for themselves as one of the UK’s most prolific live acts.  From performing at the Queen’s

Diamond Jubilee at Buckingham Palace to singing at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in front of one million people.  The Overtones have entertained at some of the biggest events on the planet.

In 2019, the group welcomed new member, Jay James who rose to prominence working with the likes of John Legend and as a finalist on The X Factor.  The announcement heralds the start of an exciting new era for The Overtones.

The Overtones member Mike Crawshaw says, “We love performing classic songs and favourites from our albums, there will be plenty of surprises on tour next Summer”.

With their innate charm and adherence to vintage-modernist style, and a devotion to the timeless appeal of male vocal harmonies, The Overtones are a bridge between pre-rock’n’roll classicism and lively 21st Century entertainment.

They’ve sold over a million albums, made countless TV appearances and filled venues to capacity on tour after tour, all the while building a relationship with their fans that has real depth and devotion.

Line up Mike Crawshaw Darren Everest Mark Franks Jay James

The Overtones - June/July 2020 UK Tour Tue 16 Jun - NORWICH, Theatre Royal Wed 17 Jun - HULL, City Hall Fri 19 Jun - BLACKPOOL, Grand Theatre Sat 20 Jun - AYLESBURY, Waterside Theatre Sun 21 Jun - MARGATE, Winter Gardens Thu 25 Jun - BASINGSTOKE, Anvil Fri 26 Jun - COLCHESTER, Charter Theatre Sat 27 - STOKE ON TRENT, Victoria Hall Sun 28 Jun - WEYMOUTH, Pavilion Wed 1 Jul - CARLISLE, Sands Centre Fri 3 Jul - ABERDEEN, Music Hall Sat 4 Jul - EDINBURGH, Usher Hall

[centrestagereviews]

Doctor Dolittle Tour Casting

Casting has been announced for the new UK touring production of Doctor Dolittle.

The production will be led by Mark Williams in the role of Doctor Dolittle. He will be joined by Adele Anderson as Lady Bellows/ Poison Arrow at the first 6 venues of the tour (Bromley, Salford, Oxford, Wolverhampton, Newcastle and Hull).

He will be joined by Brian Capron, Vicky Entwistle, Mollie Melia-Redgrave and Patrick Sullivan who will play Albert Blossm/ Straight Aarow, Plynesia, Emma Fairfax and Matthew Mugg.

Williams and Capron will only play the first 10 venues on the tour which includes the previously mentioned 6 and Aberdeen, Northampton, Nottingham and Sheffield. The others will play the entire tour.

The cast will be completed by Femi Akinfolarin, Erica Jayne Alden, Lydia Bannister, Joel Bayliss, Evonne Bentley-Holder, Jane Crawshaw, Emily Essery, Jacob Fisher, George Hankers, Catherine Hannay, Evan James, Leon Kay, Emma Lloyd, Own McHugh, Ross Meagrow, Tom Norman, Emily Ann Potter, Ellie Seaton and Richard Vorster.

The role of Tommy Stubbins will be shared by Harry Cross, Elliot Morris, Quillan O’Meara McDonald, Louis Parker, Eliott Rose and Thomas Ryan.

This new production marks the 50th Anniversary of the original frilm and features a reworked book from Bricusse and will be directed by Christopher Renshaw.

It will also feature choreography from Josh Rodes, design from Tim Piper,puppet design from Nick Barnes, puppet direction from Jimmy Grimes, lighting from Chris Davey, sound by Ben Harrison and musical supervision from Mike Dixon.

For more information or to book tickets head to the official Doctor Dolittle website.

Images courtesy of Google Images.  

[bowtie-toners]

[nppnews-blog]

The Overtones reveal late bandmate Tim Matley would ‘be proud’ of their new album as they discuss ‘utter tragedy’ of his death in emotional interview

The Overtones reveal late bandmate Tim Matley would ‘be proud’ of their new album as they discuss ‘utter tragedy’ of his death in emotional interview

THE Overtones have revealed they’ve recorded a new album together after the death of their bandmate Tim Matley.

The singer died on April 11 at the age of 36 after a long and courageous battle with skin cancer, leaving his bandmates – Lachie Chapman, Mike Crawshaw, Darren Everest and Mark Franks – devastated.

The Overtones discussed the loss of their bandmate for the first time

But the stars…

[ilhamelouisamaria-blog]

The Overtones singer Tim Matley dies aged 36 after battling skin cancer Entertainment News

The Overtones singer Tim Matley dies aged 36 after battling skin cancer Entertainment News

The Overtones singer Tim Matley dies aged 36 after battling skin cancer Entertainment News

The Overtones singer Tim Matley has passed away at the age of 36.

While an exact cause of death is yet to be announced, the vocalist had been battling skin cancer after being diagnosed with a stage three malignant melanoma in 2016. 

Confirming his death on Twitter, band members Mark Franks, Mike Crawshaw,…

[nancydhooper]

'What I’ve Always Loved Is the Mischief for Creating Change'

The ACLU interviews Steve Crawshaw, the author of "Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief."

When Steve Crawshaw wrote his book about creative protests in totalitarian regimes, “Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief,” he never thought it would be all that relevant to the United States.

Crawshaw has been researching protests since 1989 when he covered the East European Revolutions for the British newspaper, The Independent. He witnessed decades of single-party communist rule crumble amidst protests led not by politicians or figures of stature, but by everyday citizens wanting to make a difference.

Since then, the world has seen increasingly creative and even absurd protests, ranging from mock pillow fights and illegal applause in Belarus to calling Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to tell him about menstruation. The book, which includes full-page color photographs of protests around the world, is a tribute to the human spirit. In telling the stories of these protests, Crawshaw challenges traditional narratives about how to create change.

“Too often we only think about the big political stuff, which of course is incredibly important, but we forget that it’s often little, tiny actions by individuals which make huge changes when put together,” Crawshaw said in an interview with the ACLU.

Although the book went to press just before Donald Trump became president, Crawshaw, who now works for Amnesty International, sees echoes of the strategies he covered in Street Spirit in today’s resistance. From the Women’s march with its trademark pussy hats to rogue Twitter accounts — Americans have employed humor in their resistance.

As the ACLU embarks on a new chapter in its history —  launching our grassroots organizing effort People Power — and hiring Legal Director David Cole, who believes that cultural change is crucial to the development of constitutional law, we caught up with Crawshaw to discuss the inspiration behind “Street Spirit.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get the idea to do this book?

I’ve always been interested in how change happens. A few years ago, I co-authored a book with John Jackson called “Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World,” which already started to play with some of the ideas I further explored in “Street Spirit.”

What I’ve always loved is the mischief for creating change. When I was writing “Street Spirit”  last year, I was at my writer’s desk thinking: “Is anything even going to be interested in protest when this book comes out in 2017? Well, I’m interested, so I’ll write it anyway.” Sadly, this book is much more relevant than I would have wished.

I would trade the great timing for a better situation, but we are where we are. It’s kind of fascinating to see that creativity and mischief are already so much a part of the narrative. There’s been such creativity in the protests in the United States and elsewhere. Brilliant slogans and brilliant activities and all of those kinds of things. That’s great to see.

When did you finish writing it?

The book went to press in mid-October 2016. The election was coming up in the U.S., but everyone thought they knew which way it would go, so we didn’t have to worry about that.

If you stand up for what you believe, you can’t be sure that you’ll change anything, maybe absolutely zero will change, but it will be satisfying to be living in truth itself.

I had a story in the book which I had first written in spring of 2016 about this guy who I confess I had never heard of named Mike Pence, who was the governor of Indiana. There was a lovely story there about a Facebook page — Periods for Pence —  mocking him for the terrible anti-abortion law he was bringing in. The ACLU and others were involved in confronting this legislation. I loved this particular story about the Facebook page. So I wrote about Mike Pence, this guy who’s governor of Indiana, then I had to put a little parenthesis into the photo caption saying “who became the running mate of Donald Trump in the summer of 2016.”

So it’s fair to say that you never thought Street Spirit would feel so relevant in the United States?

When I was covering the East European Revolutions of 1989 for The Independent, I read a wonderful essay about the power of the powerless by Václav Havel, the Czech dissident-turned-president. He wrote it in 1978, in the middle of the Cold War, certain nothing was ever going to change. He wrote about living in truth. If you stand up for what you believe, you can’t be sure that you’ll change anything, maybe absolutely zero will change, but it will be satisfying to be living in truth itself.

He later said he was treated as a Czech Don Quixote at the time, tilting at windmills. In fact, only 11 years later, indeed the whole house of cards of one party rule in Czechoslovakia collapsed, and that power of the powerless was made real.

The people who say, “Oh, it’s not really worth it, there’s no point doing it,” are often the ones who are quite happy to benefit from change when it comes later, but the people who have made the change are the ones who are determined to live in truth. That’s obviously true in repressive regimes, but now we are daily reminded how relevant it can be with a problematic elected leader too.

What would you say to those who think protesting in the streets in futile?

Over and over again, you will hear people saying, “It’s never going to change,” and then it changes, and they say, “Oh, it was bound to change.” There’s a line that I quote in the introduction of the book by this amazing young Egyptian woman, Asmaa Mahfouz, who in 2011 at the beginning of the revolution that unseated Mubarak, released a video that went viral. It basically said, if you stay at home and don’t go out on the street because you say no one else is going to be there, you are part of the problem. And that of course was highly relevant in Egypt. Millions went out then, partly because her video went viral and she was so powerful in saying, “You are part of the problem if you stay home.” I think that’s a great lesson. It was true in the authoritarian context of Egypt, but it’s true wherever we see bad things happening.

The courage that’s been shown by these people in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes sets a model —  few of us are taking the same kinds of risks when we’re standing up, and so I think the very least we need to do is realize we can have an impact by speaking out and speaking the truth.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/what-ive-always-loved-mischief-creating-change via http://www.rssmix.com/

[beckie-toner]

Oh Michael.