Sebastian Słowiński

Sebastian Słowiński is a Polish poet[2] and minority rights activist.[3][4] In 2020 he became a founding member of the Consultative Council created on 1 November 2020 in the context of the October 2020 Polish protests.[5][1]

Sebastian Słowiński
Born1998  (age 23)
Poznań 
OccupationPoet, Human rights defender 
Known forfounding member of Consultative Council[1]

Childhood

Słowiński was born in 1998 (age 22–23) in Poznań.[2] He attended lyceum at the Wielokulturowe Liceum Humanistyczne im. Jacka Kuronia in Warsaw.[6] Słowiński identifies as pan-sexual.[2] Prior to his declaration of his sexuality, he experienced physical aggression for his appearance. After he outed himself, he was physically assaulted by his school friends in a bus.[6]

In 2017, Słowiński's final year of lyceum, he was a laureate of the Polish Philosophy Olympiad (national version of the International Philosophy Olympiad). After receiving his formal prize certificate from the Olympiad committee, he refused to accept a public prize for his win from the mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz–Waltz. Słowiński stated that he refused to accept the prize from Gronkiewicz–Waltz was because she had refused to participate in the Warsaw Equality Parade. He claimed that the Warsaw City Council was interested in gentrification of the city for rich residents and uninterested in the LGBT rights nor the rights of the poor.[6][3]

As of April 2019, Słowiński was a student in the Interdisciplinary Individual Humanistic and Social Studies (Polish: Międzyobszarowych Indywidualnych Studiów Humanistycznych i Społecznych, MISH) program at the University of Warsaw.[7]

Activism

In 2018, Słowiński was a member of the Student Antifascist Committee (Polish: Studencki Komitet Antyfaszystowski) group. On 1 March 2018, the group, including physics lecturer Rafał Suszka, blocked a parade in Warsaw by the National Radical Camp (ONR).[8] Słowiński stated that police physically assaulted him and other group members after the group had terminated their protest action, with violence including kicking the activists' legs, choaking them and punching their faces. Słowiński stated that he himself received a punch in the face and a kick in the groin from police officers.[9] Amnesty International listed the incident as part of a pattern of "alleged excessive use of force by the police" in Poland against protestors in 2017 and 2018.[9] A letter of support for the protestors and opposing police violence was later signed by 150 Polish and international academics.[3]

Słowiński stated that the Student Antifascist Committee was created in response to the distributions of fascist leaflets in the corridors of the University of Warsaw.[9] Some of the leaflets spoke positively of Benito Mussolini, stated that Mussolini was not an enemy of Poland, and that the Roman salute was acceptable because it was used by the Romans; some of the leaflest were antisemitic.[4]

In June 2018, Słowinski and other activists started a sit-in on the balcony of Kazimierz Palace at the University of Warsaw (UW) in protest against the major changes to the Law on Tertiary Education and Science (Poland) (Law 2.0, Polish: Ustawa 2.0), in defence of university autonomy. The UW Kazimiercz Palace balcony protest sparked off protests at universities around Poland.[3]

On 17 December 2018, Słowiński carried out an anti-clerical protest at UW by placing paper figures representing known figures of the Catholic Church, accusing them of pedophilia, hiding incidents of pedophilia, antisemitism and nationalism. MISH students lodged a complaint against him.[7][10]

Constitutional Council

Słowiński was a founding member of the Consultative Council created on 1 November 2020 in the context of the October 2020 Polish protests.[5][1]

Works

Słowiński's book Second Act, published in 2014, was described at the time by its publisher Warszawska Firma Wydawnictwa as "one of the most interesting debuts of recent years".[11]

Views

Alienation

Słowiński blames Adam Michnik and "other fathers of the Third Polish Republic" for alienating young Poles from political participation.[3]

Nationalism

Słowiński says that he accepts to call himself "anti-Polish". He argues that nationalism is "responsible for crimes against humanity, limits freedom, and is oppressive by being heteronormative and patriarchal. Słowiński stated that "national pride" is a fiction, but that many people in Poland wished to have such a myth. He cited the conspiracy theory of Turboslavs, a mythical Polish empire that predated the 966 Christianization of Poland, as an example of the effect of nationalistic desire.[4]

Antifascism

Słowiński views antifascism as "not an ideology". He stated that antifascists show that reality is complicated and that "diversity is a strength rather than a threat". He stated that antifascists see every individual as having the right to making his/her own choices, within a community spirit, and where people count as "much more than objects of neoliberalism".[4]

Personal life

Słowiński stated in 2018 that his parents and grandparents supported his human rights activism, but were worried about the personal risks.[3]

References
  1. Czarnacka, Agata (2020-11-01). "13 postulatów Strajku Kobiet. O co walczą?" [Women's Strike's thirteen demands. What are they fighting for?]. Polityka (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  2. "Akt drugi – Sebastian Słowiński" [Second act – Sebastian Słowiński]. Warszawska Firma Wydawnictwa (in Polish). 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  3. Gieczys–Jurszo, Aleksandra (2018-10-02). "Sebastian Słowiński". Archiwum Osiatyńskiego (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  4. Mierzejewska, Katarzyna (2018-03-19). "Sebastian Słowiński: Nie każdy narodowiec klęka do swastyki, ale nacjonalizm opiera się na nienawiści [wywiad]" [Sebastian Słowiński: Not every nationalist hails swastikas, but nationalism is based on hate [interview]]. Radio ZET (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  5. Karwowska, Anita; Paś, Waldemar (2020-10-27). "Dymisja rządu i Julii Przyłębskiej. Czego jeszcze żąda Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet? Co się wydarzy w środę 28 października?" [Government and Julia Przyłębska to resign. What else does All-Poland Women's Strike want? What will happen on Wednesday 28 October?]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  6. Korzeniowski, Paweł (2017-06-07). "Nie przyjął nagrody od Gronkiewicz–Waltz: warszawski ratusz ma w d*pie mniejszości, a ja nie mam zamiaru się ukrywać" [He didn't accept his prize from Gronkiewicz–Waltz: the Warsaw town council doesn't give a sh*t about minorities, and I don't intend to hide]. Noizz.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. Machcewicz–Grad, Agata; Kożuchowski, Łukasz (2019-04-11). "Studenci MISH w sprawie Sebastiana Słowińskiego: kto kogo dyskryminuje?" [MISH Students on Sebastian Słowiński: who is discrminating against who?]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  8. "The power of 'the street' – protecting the right to peaceful protest in Poland" (PDF). Amnesty International (in Polish). 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  9. Ambroziak, Anton (2018-03-04). "Kopniaki w krocze, uderzenia w twarz i krtań, podduszanie. Studenci o bezprawnym użyciu przemocy przez policję" [Kicks in the crutch, hits to the face and larynx, choaking. Students on the illegal use of force by police]. OKO.press (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  10. Leociak, Jacek (2019-04-15). "Profesor broni Sebastiana Słowińskiego. 'Zachowanie studentów, którzy go krytykują, to moja przegrana'" [Professor defends Sebastian Słowiński. 'The behaviour of students who criticise him is my loss']. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  11. Słowiński, Sebastian (2014). Akt drugi [Second act]. Polish National Library (in Polish). ISBN 978-83-7805-451-1. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
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