LUNk House Provides Public Space for Lincoln Activists

By Hilary Stohs-Krause

They’re not anarchists. They’re not socialists. They’re definitely not fascists.
   
“It’s an argument we have amongst ourselves, quite frequently,” said Andrew Losh, 26. “We don’t want to frame the house in political terms. It’s a non-exclusive space.”

The one thing members of LUNk House can agree on, however, is their goal of operating a public space for groups considered radical by mainstream Lincoln – groups like the Lincoln Secular Humanists, Animal Rights Advocates of Nebraska and Industrial Workers of the World.

   
“We’d try to have a movie show at a coffee house about atheism, and nobody would touch it with a ten-foot pole,” said LUNk member Jackson Meredith, 26.  “It was a source of constant frustration to us that we’d have an idea for an event, but we couldn’t find a venue to host the thing.”
   
Meredith, Losh and Brian Ellis, 30, opened LUNk House, or Lincoln’s Underground Network, in October 2009 at 1213 N. 12th St. in Lincoln’s North Bottoms.
   
It was inspired by the infoshop model, Meredith said, referring to spaces that host radical lending libraries and meeting areas.
   
“It’s very loose, it’s very informal, it’s very decentralized,” he said. “No two infoshops are the same.”
   
LUNk House features a lending library of books, movies, magazines, zines and pamphlets. There’s access to a computer with Internet and a printer, and a variety of spaces for groups without a home, including room in the basement for movie projections.
   
And then there’s LUNk Radio, 1580 AM.
   
LUNk Radio airs 24/7, with a repeating five-hour playlist of political music and the group’s original program “Communique.” The music includes bands like Bad Religion, Against Me!, Anti-Flag and the Dead Kennedys.
   
All 18 “Communique” programs, as well as a live stream of the station, can be found online at lunkradio.org.
   
LUNk House seeks to serve not only as host, but also as matchmaker.
   
“There’s a lot of single-issue activist groups out there which, quite honestly, don’t talk to each other,” Meredith said. “Even groups that have basically a similar message.”
   
Losh agreed.
   
“A big part of this house, at least to me, is the idea of cross-pollinating groups,” he said. “People in the Feminist (Reading) Group are going to be interested in environmental issues, the people in labor are going to be interested in things across the board. It’s about getting different people together, making these connections.”

But it’s not easy. Two-thirds of the cost of leasing LUNk House is paid for by boarders, the rest through donations; but the two rooms available for rent are currently empty.

Then there’s the upkeep of the house itself – washing the dishes after events, mowing the lawn, obtaining parade permits.

However, the founders say it’s all worth it.

It’s about bringing back the notion of the Commons, Meredith said, referring to large public parks shared by citizens, such as the Boston Commons.

“The Commons belonged to everyone,” he said. “It was a meeting space, a hub for the entire community. But this sort of capitalist existence has just separated everybody and everything.”

“You take everything of value in this culture, and you just parcel it up and assign it to individual  owners,” Meredith continued. “And I see this house as sort of reestablishing the Commons.”

LUNk House has weekly organizational meetings Wednesdays at 7 p.m. A calendar is available on their website here.

Anyone interested in LUNk House or seeking information on available rooms for rent can reach members at contact@lunkradio.org or at 402.817.4791. Rent is $250 per month, including utilities. LUNk House is a dry house.

Comments

[Brian]

Just to clarify: a lot of us ARE anarchists or socialists. At the very least our collective derives a lot of its inspiration from social anarchist ideals. We definitely run our organization according to these principles as well. This was the only inaccuracy in the article. - Brian of the LUNk Collective