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Arkangel

Arkangel, Periodicals
Arkangel #10-11
07.03.14 | Permalink | Comment?

Arkangel #10-11 (1993-1994. London, England.)

The early 1990s were a tumultuous time for the movement in England. Hunters began hiring professional security services to beat and harass saboteurs, the violence became so extreme that when Tom Worby was murdered by a hunt masters vehicle, the hunters nearby laughed and mocked his death. The hopefulness of the 1980s was fading away, and campaigners were becoming more hardened, which in turn led to a decline in public support as groups like the Justice Department began sending out small mail bombs. Many organizations were mired in infighting over strategy and issues of class and race. And then there was the problem of repression. Scotland Yard’s Animal Rights National Index had gathered detailed profiles on over 21,000 animal liberationists by 1990, and their spying on the movement was only set to intensify.

Through it all a dedicated core of individuals forged ahead and took animals from places of abuse, educated others about the plight of non-humans, and spread the message of compassionate action across oceans and artificial borders. Arkangel tells the story, and we are happy to continue our posting of the complete set here on TALON.

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Arkangel, Periodicals
Arkangel 8-9
12.10.12 | Permalink | Comments Off on Arkangel 8-9

Arkangel #8-9 (1992. London, England.)

After serious problems with police raids and repression, Arkangel managed to produce two issues in 1992. The focus of the magazine was still the networking of local grassroots organizations and opinion pieces by members of the movement, but some wonderful morsels of history pop up between these covers. Beyond the charm of finding out where the graphics that we’ve been reprinting forever come from, you will also learn about the early days of the McLibel case, how the British government prepared for Ronnie Lee’s release from prison, and many other interesting tidbits.

What was of greatest interest to me, however, was a short article in issue #9 written by Sue Smith. Sue is an unsung hero of the animal liberation movement, one of the founders of the Band of Mercy, and an original ALF activist. She was never caught for illegal activity, and it was only after her death that her participation in direct action became known. There is little written about her, but her brief article gives us a tiny sense of her level of compassion and concern. If any of our readers have more information about Ms. Smith, please contact us.

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Arkangel, Periodicals
Arkangel #4,5,7
01.02.12 | Permalink | Comments Off on Arkangel #4,5,7

Arkangel #4,5,7 (1990-1991. London, England)

Our posting of the complete Arkangel continues into the 90s with issues 4, 5, and 7. The omission of issue 6 is not an oversight- it was never printed. Arkangel was founded by Ronnie Lee, who was serving a 10 year sentence during the magazines early years, and edited by Vivien Smith, who found herself in a jail cell by the time issue #6 was scheduled for release. Sensing the possibility of shutting down this crucial publication, law enforcement in England ransacked the Arkangel office just before the layout of issue #6. It was lost to the ages, and with Vivien facing serious charges a new team of interim editors anonymously produced Arkangel #7, causing a slight decline in the publication’s overall quality.

The history covered by these three issues is tremendous. The death of Mike Hill, Animal Aid’s disastrous labeling of direct action as “terrorism,” and the return of the ALF Press Office are all reported upon, along with updates from groups around the world. Amidst the columns reporting on the actual work of activists though is a disturbing amount of debate, much of it centered on whether animal rights groups should allow participation by racists, nationalists, and separatists. The back and forth articles from one issue to the next mostly fail to recognize the most offensive nature of the argument – that there should even be an argument! It boggles the mind that anyone could see a benefit to taking on the baggage of these far right lunatics and their disgusting politics. During a decade where skinhead violence claimed the lives and dignity of so many it is particularly disheartening that some in our movement saw fit to offer these thugs a place at our table.

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Arkangel, Periodicals
Arkangel #1-3
03.14.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Welcome to the first three issues of the influential British publication, Arkangel. We’ll be posting more of these in the future.

Ronnie Lee was kind enough to write an introduction for their re-release on TALON. We accidentally bumped into him online while emailing the UK ALF Supporters Group asking for back issues of newsletters, and were heartened to see that one of the grandfathers of the direct action movement is still involved with activism and outreach.

“The idea for Arkangel came to me in 1989 while I was serving a 10 year prison sentence for involvement with the Animal Liberation Front. I thought it was important for there to be a magazine which provided news coverage of all aspects of the animal protection movement (public education, political campaigning, direct action etc.) from a radical perspective and which also provided a forum for rational debate/discussion.

Vivien Smith, whom I had previously worked with in publishing the ALF Supporters Group newsletter, had recently been released from prison and we teamed up again to produce the first issue of Arkangel, with me doing most of the writing and Viv typing it out and putting it together with artwork to create the magazine.

The second issue was produced in a similar fashion but, after that, everything had to change, as the prison stopped me from sending out articles, following complaints from the vivisection industry, and Viv was put in prison again for ALF actions.

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