Hi, I’m Ben Smoke, welcome to the good fight.

Here is an obligatory photo of me.

I’m a journalist and activist from London. In one way or another, I’ve been involved in ‘the movement’ for about half my life. From organising at my sixth form around the fees increase to anti-austerity to anti-war, pro-Palestine, climate action and more I’ve been to, organised, spoken at and reported on my fair share of demonstrations, actions and protests.

I helped found Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants and in 2017 was one of 15 people who broke into Stansted airport to blockade a deportation flight (an action that resulted in a conviction for terror related offences which, thankfully, was later overturned on appeal). I’ve reported live on the ground from BLM marches, COP26, XR, the Kill the Bill movement and much more. I’ve helped organise vigils for those lost trying to cross the channel and spoken on stages to 1,000s of people. I’ve been sat in a police cell for hours on end, and I’ve stood outside cop shops, waiting for others, also for hours on end.

All of this is to say - I truly, deeply believe in the power of people to change things. I believe that when we come together, in a whole plethora of different ways, we are mighty and, more importantly, we win. I am constantly in awe at all of the incredible work that is going on across the country, and indeed the world, in the name of making things better. From those taking action on the genocide in Gaza by shutting down weapons factories here in Britain to the quiet, constant work of organisers, administrators, support workers and more behind the scenes and everything in between there is so much to feel hopeful, empowered and energised by even in the darkest of moments.

I wanted to create a place to celebrate those people, groups and organisations. To show the true breadth of the movement(s) and the myriad of ways people are using their talents, skills, time and resources to fight for something better. For a long time I’ve wanted to create a space that joins up the dots between different struggles. Somewhere anyone - from the most hardened, gnarly activist to someone who has never even seen a placard - can get good, easy, reliable information, advice, insight and more.

That’s why I started the good fight.

It’s a place for people already doing the thing - to learn about and from one another, and also for those who have never been involved who want to know more. There will be reports from demonstrations, actions, trials and more; interviews with interesting people doing amazing things; guides on everything from your rights, how to organise, even down to how to make placards. As much as possible I’ll also use this space to break news from inside the movement as it happens, and to list public actions, demonstrations and protests to help you work out how and where to get involved.

The content here will always be free but, I am also just one person who needs to eat, put my house plants through university etc. so any contribution that you can make by becoming a paid subscriber would be greatly appreciated and allow me to dedicate more time to this space!

I hope you find this place useful, inspiring, enriching, educational and other good adjectives. I am always very open to hearing suggestions for content - things you want to learn or know about, people you want to hear from so please do get in touch below. Likewise if you’re organising a demonstration, an action or a protest that you want covered or publicised drop me a note!

For now, that is everything. Thanks so much for reading, for subscribing, sharing, interacting with and engaging with the content and, most importantly, for fighting the good fight.

See you on the streets x