We are the kids you see playing drums, shouting and dancing in your protests, and in other actions in Budapest. We want to tell you that we admire and appreciate your work and we are in solidarity with you and your movement. But we would like you to know us better, to know who we are and what are we fighting for.
We are called ‘rhythms of resistance budapest’, and we are not hungarian, american, british, brazilian or any other nationality. We don’t really like nations, or states, or any form of identity that has anything to do with borders between people. We only use english language because it’s a convenient way to communicate with each other and with people from other places. None of us uses her or his ‘native’ language. So if you ask us where are we from, we’ll just say ‘budapest’.
We dress in pink and silver and other loud colours because we want to be flashy and ridiculous. We want people to laugh at us, to have fun with us. But we are serious about our goals. We use our music, colours and dances to express our political ideas and to take action against the oppressions that happen in our lives and in our friends’ lives. We bring the idea of carnival to stiff and gloomy demonstrations, and with our rhythms we spread the musical wibes in order to attract the attention of passers-by. We channel the rage against the system into rhythms and resistance!
We stand for horizontality, and we don’t really like any forms of authority. That’s why we believe in consensus, mutual support and solidarity. We do not have any leaders. We believe in non-violent BUT confrontational direct action. We use creativity in our actions, and we strongly believe in do-it-yourself principles. That’s why we have no ‘sponsors’ or stuff like that. And we don’t play for any political party.
It is very important for us that our politics is feminist. We strongly reject any influence of patriarchal structures on our actions. This includes what we already said – nationality, hierarchy and authority. It also includes any ideas about gender roles and divisions, about gender binaries, or about marginalizing someone on the base of their gender. This is why we are strongly against any form of sexism, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny. Step aside, let women comrades speak!
We don’t pretend to be who we’re not, and we recognize our privileges – citizenship, income, class position, social capital, education and race. We fight against what bothers us personally, but we do understand that we cannot walk in anybody else’s shoes. That is why we are in solidarity with the struggles of homeless people, Roma people, illegal immigrants and asylum seekers who live in budapest.
The situation of these groups in hungary is desperate. The institutions of the state make it to be a crime to be anything else than ‘pure’ hungarian. We rise up against this purity! We shout out against any far right, nazi or fascist idea that comes from political parties, institutions of the state, or just people on the street.
Our politics is a fight against any forms of exploitation. budapest is one of the most policed cities in this region. The aim of the police is not to serve us, but to serve the state. The aim of the police is to control us. It is to put people in prisons: people who are poor, who do not have the right skin colour or the right ‘social’ behaviour. We are in solidarity with all these people!
We recognize that we are also privileged to be humans. In our society, to be anything else than human means to be treated as an object; to have no possibility of getting any rights and decent treatment, to be used as a commodity. We stand against the mis-treatment of our non-human friends! Animals, plants and nature are part of our lives, and the same system that destroys them will destroy us, if we don’t fight back.
So in the end we want to make it clear that we are not a samba music band. Music is just a tool for our political ideas. We are a political group, and we have our own ideas and agendas. with our rhythms we strive to stir up and revive any protest/demo we participate in, and be loud about what we stand for. we know that the organizers of the current student movement are similarly opposed to utilizing nationalist and/or male chauvinist rhetoric; we want to call for an increased awareness of how problematic speeches and methods can be avoided within future demonstrations and occupations. we are in solidarity with you!
See you on the streets! We have everything to play for!
>> lmv.hu
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