Our Movement

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We thought we’d try and gather all of the independence movement projects in one place. Here’s our list, let us know what we’ve missed?

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 23.03.41Yestival – from the national Collective – Yestival will be the centre of the cultural campaign for independence – a month-long national grassroots festival taking place across the whole of July.

From large events, pop-up street performances and guerrilla happenings, we hope to showcase the best of Scottish culture with help from communities across the country. National Collective will be touring Scotland’s cities, towns and villages from the Borders to Shetland with a few surprises along the way. Yestival will help to engage and inspire people in Scotland to imagine a better country and to vote Yes.” More here.

Aye Inspired – a guerrilla art exhibition of artworks inspired by the referendum. See all the details here.

The Bus Party – The Bus Party is a touring group of artists, listening across Scotland in the run up to the Referendum, and asking, “What kind of Scotland do you want?”

See James Robertson’s ‘The News Where You Are’ here.

Hour Scotland – focused on undecideds and inviting people to take one hour to have a think: ‘Please take 60 minutes to decide on the independence debate. No politicians, just people who care’. Details here.

p57NbSbH_400x400Aye Talks – Nineteen speakers, each giving a 10 minute talk on a different subject, themed around independence.

A project inspired by and dedicated to Margo MacDonald, includes Miriam Brett, Kieran Hurley, Jim Sillars, Jeanne Freeman, Isobel Lindsay, Patrick Harvie, Cat Boyd and many more. Details here.

RIC Mass Canvass – possibly the most exciting development of the indy movement,  check the site for all the details for the mass canvass on 22 June.

iPoster – a poster competition to find the definitive image of the referendum with £1000 prize. More details here.

Bq2Xl4xCMAAFYonScotland Yet – a feature length documentary film about independence from Jack Foster (he of the sonorous voice overs) and Christopher Silver . The dynamic duo raised the funds through crowdsourcing and describe it as:

“An accessible, engaging and upbeat documentary from the makers of The Fear Factor about the most interesting year in Scotland’s history… Blissfully free of soundbites, spindoctors and statistics, Scotland Yet will ask a range of experts, activists and artists, how they think a Yes or a No vote will change their part of Scotland. Provocative, insightful, and sprinkled with dry Scottish wit, this film will be no less than an epic journey into a land that’s beginning to see itself in a whole new light…”
See here.

Five Minute Theatre – The National Theatre of Scotland and The Space present the Great Yes, No, Don’t Know, Five Minute Theatre Show.  24 hours of live five minute theatre from hundreds of actors. CREATED BY ANYONE, FOR AN AUDIENCE OF EVERYONE. Co-curated by David Greig and David MacLennan.

Scottish T-Shirt Uprising – all movements need good tshirts. Thankfully we have the wit and wisdom of Fergus Walker, multi-talented designer.

Get great slogan t-shirts here.

typewriter_1_mdCloser –  four limited edition print magazines dedicated to the wider issues of independence. Each issue has a limited edition print run then articles are re-released on line for a new life. We publish beyond the usual suspects with #1 featuring Jose M Ramos and #2 featuring Smari McCarthy alongside a crowd of original thinkers.

See Issue 2 here.

If you want to get involved contact us here and become part of the distribution network.

_2014PURETHE_8WThe Pure, the Dead, and the Brilliant – What would happen if the bogles, banshees, demons and selkies of Scots folklore were involved in the independence referendum? Elaine C Smith leads a cast of some of Scotland’s finest actors, and surprise cameos, in Alan Bissett’s sparkling satire.

Warning – contains some ******* swearing. Go here for tickets.

Commonweal – arguably the book that’s more influential than the White Paper. It’s the result of We-Think, a year-long project involving 50 policy papers by some of Scotland’s most innovative thinkers.

‘Commonweal – practical idealism’ – buy it here.

Lady Alba – (the phenomenon that is Zara Gladman) welcomed the Tory Party to Edinburgh this March with Irn-Bru rollers and a strorming dance on the castle ramparts, and everyone went mental for it.

See it again here. More musical mayhem is in the pipeline we’re told.

Indy Live – an immense collection of video content: interviews, public meetings, lectures, debates from across the country.

This is so good at capturing the campaign for posterity but also to allow people to access the great speakers that are coming here to contribute.

Watch it here.

Black Triangle Campaign – “This group is established to galvanise opposition to the current vicious attack on the fundamental human rights of disabled people by the Government of the United Kingdom utilising “Work Capability Assessments” (as administered by ‘AtoS Healthcare Ltd’ on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions ‘DWP’) to re-classify sick and disabled individuals as “fit for work” – in flagrant violation of all  accepted medical, and human, ethical standards.” They have morphed into a specific Pro Yes Disability group.

Connect with them on facebook here.

all-back-to-bowie-s_2014DAVIDBO_AENAll Back to Bowies – ‘David Bowie said ‘Scotland, stay with us’. At the Fringe, a group of Scottish artists take him up on his kind invitation. So pull up a futon, it’s all back to Bowie’s for an #indyref mix of politics, poetry, polemic and pop.’

Get your tickets for the hottest show on the fringe here.

Solidarity With Scotland – as the UK govt pulls out all the stops to entice foreign govts to denounce independence, this projects calls on folk across the world to show us some solidarity … go here to take part.

Songs for Scotland – promising to tap into the rich folk heritage, SfS is to add the song and soul to the facts and figures of the indyref movement.

The project will host a concert on 3rd September at Oran Mor in Glasgow featuring a host of Scotland’s finest musicians foollowed up by a downloadable album of tunes.

More here.

a
Atlas of Productivity
– ‘”An Atlas Of Productivity” Is the first dedicated atlas of Scotland since the 19th century and perhaps the first ‘atlas of productivity’ anywhere in the world. The atlas maps not just Scotland’s landscape and towns and cities but seeks to maps as many of the aspects of national productivity as possible. ‘ See Lateral North for all the details.

Indy Media – as the debate rages about the quality of the BBC or the bias of the print media, new radio like Bateman Broadcasting, now well established output like the Scottish Independence Podcast (listen on Speaker), or the brilliant new Indy Scot Radio, or Stephen Paton’s weekly news roundup, or our own new broadcast wing on vimeo: Bellavision .

See also Aye TV Yes Clydesdale’s Scottish Independence video channel. Subscribe and follow them here.

Of course there’s hundreds of blogs – to view check our blogroll for a full list and if you’re missing we’ll add you.

See also 500voicesforYes – which uses Souncloud and Pinterest to capture ordinary people’s opinions in a mass vox-pop. Or, in more traditional format, Indyposterboy, who provides free downloadable posters and leaflets. See also KILTR connecting the diaspora.

Scotland 44 – the Post Collective is publishing its first book. You can find out more about their work on www.postmag.org , or follow us @postmag

Independence Live – provides live footage of key events and captures them for broadcast after too. See here for their archive of previous live events.

9780745334752New publishing – from Luath Press with Gerry Hassan’s Caledonian Dreaming: The Quest for a Different Scotland, the Arts of Independence by Alan Riach and Alexander Moffat and much more (plus their Referendum Fest 2014)

See also Pluto Books with Yes, the Radical Case, by Peter Ramand and James Foley:

“An accessible polemic written for progressives both north and south of the border, Yes argues that independence can reinvigorate campaigns against austerity across Britain and deal a blow to the imperialist ambitions of the British state.

An urgent and invigorating political intervention, Yes argues that even if the referendum result is ‘no’, a progressive independence campaign will alter the political landscape.”

9781782111696Word Power Books has been at the heart of Scottish radical thinking for decades. Support your independent bookshop – Don’t buy from Amazon – buy from them. There’s far too much to chose from but why not try…

for history …The Liberty Tree by Murray Armstrong, or A People’s History of Scotland by Chris Bamberry, and for all other subjects political and cultural …

Inspired by Independence by National Collective (forthcoming), Independence, an Argument for Home Rule by Alasdair Gray, The Case for Left-Wing Nationalism by Stephen Maxwell, The Artist and Nationality by Meghan Delahunt (part of the excellent Saltire Society series), the inspirational Blossom by Lesley Riddoch, which has become an epic summer book tour touching all parts of Scotland.

There’s countless more and more to come – it’s an outpouring of intellectual thought and creativity and the ultimate response to the dreary moan about ‘the quality of debate’.

 

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  1. Karen Dietz says:

    Hi! There is also the Independence Choir based in Edinburgh, which has other offshoots in Glasgow, Perthshire, and one starting up in Inverness, and interest in Ullapool!

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Great, thanks. Have you got a link?

  2. campbell71 says:

    Visions of Independece, 100 Reasons to Vote Yes, and 500 Voices for Independence are the three that I run.

  3. Thistle says:

    Don’t forget us 🙂

    We do live stream events and will help anybody else interested in this technology to get setup.

    If you do live streams let us know and we will list your event.

    http://www.independencelive.net

  4. Chris Law says:

    There is another about to launch anyday now featuring a 1950s fire engine, on a momentous tour round Scotland with the most amazing graphics,stuffed with campaign materials, that it’s driver will be talking at many events and video blogs of the event being uploaded every day

  5. Lesley Riddoch’s Blossom Tour

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      added

  6. lizard100 says:

    Brilliant. If only the media would show both sides in a balanced way.

  7. Watch out for “Scotia Nova: Poems for the Early Days of a Better Nation”, edited by Alistair Findlay & Tessa Ransford, from Luath Press later this month.

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Thanks, maybe I should update with key books published this year and last

  8. Blizzard says:

    There’s also Aye TV from YES Clydesdale. Just Google Aye TV to find it on YouTube or go through YES CLydesdale. Great selection of videos of speakers at live debates some including Q and A sessions.

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Thanks

  9. Blizzard says:

    Also Yes to an Independent Scotland https://www.facebook.com/SaorAlbaGuBrath?sk=wall
    has a community including detailed question and answer factsheets on common areas of concern raised by members of the public.

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Thanks, will add

  10. Susie kemp says:

    Veterans for Scottish Independence (they have a Facebook page)…

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Thanks

  11. Dawn Macfarlane says:

    Perhaps add wee ginger dug to your blogroll.

  12. Julian Gibb says:

    I thought we had a new group “Lawyers for independence”

  13. bampots utd were a world wide football and celtic nations discussion blog and were in the yes camp all the commenters back the yes campaign and promote any topic concerning any of the celtic nations politics food sport equality history of movement over the last few hundred years good luck Scotland . Our debaters are teachers farmers builders business men from all over the globe on all things Celtic good luck to you all in the quest for freedom and self rule

    1. Remember as well as telling friends and family about the good news of Indy and it’s benefits spend time online correcting fear .

  14. Marcovaldo says:

    orkney & shetland islands might want a mention…..

    1. McDuff says:

      Marcovaldo

      I agree, why no Shetlands on the map?

      1. Rosie says:

        Orkney and Shetland are right in the heart of the map – not forgotten, just not quite where you would expect them to be!

  15. roddymacdonald2014 says:

    I do wish Yessers would stop producing cartographic memes which omit the Northern Isles.

  16. There’s also the Why Aye Man, Pet association based near Jedburgh and founded by exiled Geordies who chose to live on the right side of the Border in the hope of one day cutting loose from London rule.

  17. Zara Gladman says:

    I’m planning a third (final) Lady Alba video and looking for as many people as possible to be in it! Prep in July, filming mid-August. Sign up at tinyurl.com/ladyalba

  18. Zara Gladman says:

    I’m making one more Lady Alba video and looking for as many people as possible to be in it! Prep in July, filming in mid-August. Sign up at http://www.tinyurl.com/ladyalba

  19. Could our Facebook page with 819 members and constantly rising, be added to this list? Women for Scottish Independence Debate. Many thanks

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      We won’t!

  20. tiggsy says:

    Love the graphic, but you appear to have missed out English Scots for Yes and also the Irish contingent (can’t remember their exact name, but they just had a really pretty logo designed)

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Hi Tiggsy – its not our graphic but we’ve updated it with a more recent version. The ‘problem’ is new groups are forming every day …

  21. You’ve missed the SDA:

    http://scottishdemocraticalliance.org/

    …. And. Is there not a YES Canada?

  22. That list adds weight to the opposition’s oft spouted ‘tribal’ claim – we have split into a welter of groups each to his own, all the more difficult for Westminster to aim their cannon balls. Very reassuring.

  23. MoJo says:

    even better if the graphic could have clickable links to relevant sites…..

  24. Thank you very much, Mike. Really appreciated this! Go for it Scotland! 🙂

  25. Tom Platt says:

    There’s English Scots for Yes

    Here’s a Holyrood launch photo and some thinking:-
    https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2014/06/27/why-i-changed-my-mind-from-no-to-yes-for-scottish-independence

    1. Dod says:

      I love the graphic on this piece. It’s starting to get a bit cramped now though with all the added groups being shoehorned in.

      Would it be possible for someone more computer literate and artistic than me to do a BTNT graphic as a vivid illustration of the difference between the two movements?

      (I’m thinking of the usual, weather style, skewed map of the UK with Scotland half its actual size with motifs from the supporters of the union – BBC, every newspaper, Tory party, BNP, SDL, VNOB, UKOK, Orange Order, titled individual donors, donor companies, CBI, etc.?)

      Stick the two side by side on a poster or billboard and ask “Who’s side are you on?”

      Personally I think it would be thought provoking to undecideds at least.

      Just a thought.

      G

  26. jdman says:

    I couldn’t post this o/t on the latest article as no one has yet posted any comments and it wouldn’t be fair to go o/t with the very first comment so I’ll just put this here. 🙂

    This comment from Dr. Azeem Ibrahim could be quite THE most bizarre comment from anyone in the ridiculously over hyped debate over Scotland’s democratic right to determine its own future,

    So what we have here is a DR who thinks the single country in the world that holds middle east peace in its hands is Scotland?

    The Edinburgh agreement between David Cameron and Alex Salmond brokered a deal to allow the Scottish people a democratic mandate to hold a referendum into whether it continues to be governed buy governments who have no support in Scotland or be independent and elect governments They choose and not the country south of them with 10 times the population,

    At present Scotland is governed by a conservative party who have one yes one MP, in Scotland while they impose welfare and benefit cuts on Scotland which we did not vote for to support the bankers in London who caused the derailment of the UK economy go merrily on coining it in,
    the (Tories) are evicting disabled people from their homes after imposing the most hated tax since the poll tax yes folks I give you THE BEDROOM TAX where it is deemed that even though there are no smaller houses for people to move to the are deemed to be over housed when a grownup child leaves home and leaves behind a spare bedroom.

    So what we have is people who (generally) live in mansions with dozens of rooms telling people who live in a two bedroom house where one of the rooms isn’t being used that they cant expect to be allowed to stay in such spacious surroundings that they will pay a rent supplement or move out, and for the bulk of people neither is an option,
    they cant afford the extra charge, and there is nowhere for them to move to, (catch 22)

    These tory toffs do not care,as long as the ordinary people do not get ideas above their station!

    Then we have the symbol of Great Britain’s greatness, the great white elephant, TRIDENT and being a symbol of such greatness you would think Westminster would want those lovely weapons right where they could see then and show them off to visitors wouldn’t you?
    wrong they don’t want those weapons of mass destruction anywhere close to civilisation so they park them in a picturesque loch in Scotland far from the people who REALLY matter to Westminster, the English,
    so what we have is a huge target painted over the central belt of Scotland while Glasgow (the biggest city in Scotland ) is on 30 miles away from the submarine base where they are situated,

    Then we have the oil, which we’re constantly being told that uniquely is a burden for the poor Scots who don’t have broad enough shoulders to support the machinations of the oil markets (prices can go down as well as up) so we should leave the disposal of such a desperate burden to our betters who’ll know what to do with it.

    And then we have the old chestnut that Scotland is a “subsidy junkie” (quoting lord Moncton)”Scotland is a subsidy junkie whinging like a trampled bagpipe waiting for the next delivery of English money”

    When in fact for every year where there are measurable numbers Scotland has contributed more per head of population to the Exchequer in London than any other part of the UK apart from London, so in reality Scotland is not subsidised by England but the other way round and THIS is the REAL reason they so want us to stay part of the UK its got nothing to do with making family in other parts of Britain foreigners (which strangely for such a supposedly outward looking country is seen as a dirty word)and everything to do with the loss of one third of its landmass the huge income from renewable energy whisky, tourism ,electronics, research,fishing, forestry, food and drink exports, farming and oil, need I go on?

    and to the point on my question Continuator state?
    this has been the singlemost arrogant assumption made by the establishment in England and my question is, SAYS WHO?
    The union of the crowns of Scotland and England were just that a union of two equals, the idea that Scotland was somehow “subsumed” by England is risible nonsense!

    It is worth noting the good Doctors words at this point
    “Similarly, the rest of the UK would eventually have to start scaling down its defence spending and its overseas deployments. It simply wouldn’t be able to afford its current ambitions. In terms of foreign policy, it is likely that it will become even more reliant on its alliance with the United States, while conversely becoming less useful to them. If this will prompt the UK to also retreat from the Middle East just as the U.S. is, what will happen to the region?”

    What will happen to the region Dr Ibrahim is that a great many people who are alive just now will stay that way,
    rather than face the ultimate sacrifice of giving up their lives to bombs dropped from western aircraft in the search for a reawakening of the British empire while we involve ourselves (yet again) in conflicts that have nothing to do with us, Britain got involved in Iraq in the early 20th century and we can see how well that went down cant we?
    This world can do without men in the UK foreign office sitting with maps and pencils drawing arbitrary borders on them which are completely at odds with the people and countries who’s futures they are dictating, no my friends, what you are witnessing is the last throes of an empire whose time has come, like the Romans before them the British Empire has come to an END.

    original article here
    https://archive.today/bLl3i

  27. Philippa Whitford says:

    I can’t see that you have NHS for YES in the poster and, as I am always banging on, it is an important issue!

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