The AFN conference this year took place on 1st December in Oxford. It was very impressivley organised and well attended. The amount of footwork that had been put into the event was clear and really paid off to make it a hugely successful event. There was a really good range of both informative and practically useful sessions on offer, from antifascist history to legal info for demos and from an introduction to the AFN and militant antifascism to a talk on how to get info on our far right enemies. Another session made clear the links and shared politics between transphobia and fascism. A very accessible and motivational self defence session got a lot of uptake and the community centre was filled with the sounds of hitting pads.
A network can’t march on theory and practice alone so an impressive dinner was served up by a hard working local community kitchen crew who were really pleased to support the conference by doing what they do best. Likewise, raised fists to the awesome folk duo who played and sang some very powerful old antifascist and rebel songs in the pub afterwards as conference participants relaxed and socialised together.
Everyone has something to offer to the antifascist struggle. The day was a powerful reflection of what we have and what we can achieve as a network when we put our knowledge, experience, skills and efforts together. Full respect to the organisers from Oxford Antifascists and to everyone involved who helped create such an impressive space to discuss, learn, inform, practice and socialise together. Events like this strengthen antifascist solidarity and keep us and our movement energised and motivated to carry on the fight.
