121 Centre was a

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

Railton Road Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube stat ...

in Brixton, south London from 1981 until 1999. As an anarchist social centre, the venue hosted a bookshop, cafe,

infoshop Infoshops are places in which people can access anarchist or autonomist ideas. They are often stand-alone projects, or can form part of a larger radical bookshop, archive, self-managed social centre or community centre. Typically, infoshops offer ...

, library, meeting space, office space, printing facility, and rehearsal space. Organisations using the space included Food Not Bombs,

Anarchist Black Cross The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), formerly the Anarchist Red Cross, is an anarchist support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organizes material and legal support for c ...

prisoner aid chapters, an

anarcho-feminist Anarcha-feminism, also referred to as anarchist feminism, is a system of analysis which combines the principles and power analysis of anarchist theory with feminism. Anarcha-feminism closely resembles intersectional feminism. Anarcha-feminism ...

magazine, a squatters aid organisation, and an anarchist queer group. Regular events at 121 Centre included

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

concerts, a women's cafe night, and a monthly queer night. The centre kept a low profile and was one of the longest-lasting squats in London.

Original occupation

121 Railton Road was first squatted by

Olive Morris Olive Elaine Morris (26 June 1952 – 12 July 1979) was a Jamaican-born British-based community leader and activist in the feminist, black nationalist, and squatters' rights campaigns of the 1970s. At the age of 17, she claimed she was assaul ...

in 1973. Sabaar Books was established there before moving elsewhere. The centre then became an anarchist social centre.

Activities

During the

1981 Brixton riot The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981.J. A. Cloake & M. R. Tudor. ''Multicultural Britain''. Oxford Unive ...

s, the centre was left untouched. In 1983, the centre hosted people coming to London for the Stop the City demonstration. The

Kate Sharpley Library The Kate Sharpley Library (or KSL) is a library dedicated to anarchist texts and history. Started in 1979 and reorganized in 1991, it currently holds around ten thousand English language volumes, pamphlets and periodicals. __NOTOC__ Namesake The ...

(KSL) was founded at the 121 in 1979 by, among others,

Albert Meltzer Albert Isidore Meltzer (7 January 1920 – 7 May 1996) was an English anarcho-communist activist and writer. Early life Meltzer was born in Hackney, London, of Jewish ancestry, and educated at The Latymer School, Edmonton. He was attracted to ...

. From 1993 onwards, the venue hosted

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

speedcore Speedcore is a form of electronic music that is characterized by a high tempo and aggressive themes. It was created in the early to mid-1990s and the name originates from the hardcore genre as well as the high-speed tempo used. This music rarely ...

, and

gabber Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

electronic music events, such as the Sate industrial nights. The social centre was a networking centre for these experimental subgenres. The Dead by Dawn club hosted London's hardest and fastest music between 1994 and 1996. Attendees shared aesthetic interests, including

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...

, lectures by

Sadie Plant Sadie Plant (born Sarah Jane Plant; 16 March 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a British philosopher, cultural theorist, and author. Education She earned her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Manchester in 1989 and subsequently taught at ...

, and intellectual literature by the

Situationists The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

Deleuze and Guattari Gilles Deleuze, a French philosopher, and Félix Guattari, a French psychoanalyst and political activist, wrote a number of works together (besides both having distinguished independent careers). Their conjoint works were '' Capitalism and Schizo ...

, and

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

. Unlike other club or party series, Dead by Dawn was conceived to be unique in its combination of discussions, videos, films, exhibitions, Internet access, and stalls. The first Queeruption festival was held at 121 in 1998. The centre was set on fire during a rise in right-wing violence in 1993.

Eviction

The

Lambeth London Borough Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Ha ...

obtained a court order to repossess the building in early 1999. The squatters responded with multiple actions to rally opposition: modifying billboards,

wheatpasting Wheat paste (also known as flour and water paste, flour paste, or simply paste) is a gel or liquid adhesive made from wheat flour or starch and water. It has been used since antiquity for various arts and crafts such as book binding, découpag ...

protest fliers, publishing the ''South London Stress'', and occupying

Lambeth Town Hall Lambeth Town Hall, also known as Brixton Town Hall, is a municipal building at the corner of Brixton Hill and Acre Lane, Brixton, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Lambeth London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building ...

with a "drink-in" protest of a new law against

drinking in public Social customs and laws concerning drinking alcohol in public vary significantly around the world. "Public" in this context refers to outdoor spaces such as roads, walkways or parks, or in a moving vehicle. Drinking in bars, restaurants, stadiums ...

. ''

The Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after bei ...

'' reported their campaign as "highly efficient". As the eviction date approached, the squatters barricaded themselves inside and held an all-day street party in April. An armed police force later removed the remaining occupants. Rising property values were a core impetus for the building's repossession.

Legacy

The

collection is now held in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

References

External links