Reclaiming Community Lands - Makes Community Possible
PORTOBELLO
|
4353 MILES
|
EMBOBUT FOREST, KENYA
|
Ring Out the Bellfield - Justin Kenrick
The photo of the street band in Portobello was taken in June 2018, on the day we celebrated the re-opening of Bellfield after the community successfully campaigned to stop it being lost to a private developer. Keeping Bellfield in community hands has meant keeping alive the space for the celebration and rejuvenation of community - whether for life events, classes, meetings or celebrations.
The clearances of communities from their lands in Scotland was part of the process of internal colonisation which led to people being forced overseas to colonise and appropriate other communities lands in Canada, Kenya, Australia and elsewhere.
Even today Scotland has the most unequal land ownership in Europe, with just 400 people owning half Scotland’s private land. Do we need a far more robust approach, so that we are not all left fighting over the crumbs from the rich man’s table, but we have the means to ensure everyone has sufficient nourishment, work and security to celebrate and sustain each other?
The photo of the street band in Portobello was taken in June 2018, on the day we celebrated the re-opening of Bellfield after the community successfully campaigned to stop it being lost to a private developer. Keeping Bellfield in community hands has meant keeping alive the space for the celebration and rejuvenation of community - whether for life events, classes, meetings or celebrations.
The clearances of communities from their lands in Scotland was part of the process of internal colonisation which led to people being forced overseas to colonise and appropriate other communities lands in Canada, Kenya, Australia and elsewhere.
Even today Scotland has the most unequal land ownership in Europe, with just 400 people owning half Scotland’s private land. Do we need a far more robust approach, so that we are not all left fighting over the crumbs from the rich man’s table, but we have the means to ensure everyone has sufficient nourishment, work and security to celebrate and sustain each other?