Past midnight, I went for a walk
down to the estuary to roam alone,
under the moonglow, where thoughts alighted
anquished anger welcomed strangers kindness.
It was cold but clear, and a freezing hum spoke to me
I have long believed in prophecy,
remembered beginnings, passing its time
between the gnarled roots and the shadows,
brooding upon heavy lidded eyes
shoots shouting, yes you can,
breath congealed, confused murmours
returned to me , again and again,
like a shaman, that had hit me full force,
then tumbled away. moved downstream
as the burnt clearing of memory
penetrated into the bowels of the earth.
Headed home, to plant seeds
chant some passionate verse,
to stubbornly repeat, the science of practice
pray to an unfathomable god
that has vanished from this world.
This heart gulped a glass full of wine, left out
concealed myself in another constellation
slowly dissapeared, underneath, unseen.
Silouettes
the afternoon rolls on, we follow the testimony of brothers and sisters, tonight, we will bask in defiant
thoughts, step by step, the same night fall, we speak to all or nothing at all, at first we tried to be
different, some of us boiling were left unattended, but hopefully now we share, hearts content with
nothing short of justice, joining hands, outside the world is ours.
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Mary Harris Jones. Dressmaker and militant activist. In her autobiography she claimed she was born on May 1 1830, though others have put her actual birth as August 1 1837. What is undisputed is that she was born in North Cork, Southern Ireland, her grandfather having been of Welsh stock, who had been hung for fighting for the cause of Irish freedom. Her own father was a Richard Harris, a Roman Catholic tenant farmer, who was forced to flee with his family to Toronto in Canada because of getting into trouble for political activities at the height of the Great Hunger. .
After leaving school at 17, Mary taught for a while before leaving Canada and moving to Chicago and becoming a dress maker. Going back to teaching, she moved to Memphis where she met and married the Welsh American George E Jones in 1861. He was an iron moulder who was an active member and organiser of it's union.
However tragedy struck because her husband and their four children, all under the age of five died in an outbreak of Yellow Fever. Mary tried to recuperate by moving back to Chicago, to become a dressmaker once again, but yet again another misfortune occurred. In the great Chicago Fire of 1871, she lost everything she ever owned. On her own in the world, she decided to dedicate herself to the labour struggle for human working conditions, and so began a life of relentless campaigning against suffering and exploitation.
She said "I would look out of the plate glass windows and see the poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry, walking alongside the frozen lake front. The contrast of their condition with that of the tropical comfort of the people for whom I sewed was painful to me. My employers seemed neither to notice or care.'From then on Mary became a voice for social justice, quitting her job and travelling the country assisting and organising labor strikes and unions.
She joined the Knights of Labour Movement and was to become involved in just about every major industrial dispute in the next half century. From the 1870' to the early 1920's she travelled to many strikes up and down the country, earning respect and admiration wherever she went, she became known for her passionate eloquent speeches, that she delivered to encourage the strikers, taking part in many militant actions, running educational meetings for the workers and their families. She lived amongst the workers, treating them all as equals, inspiring them. Coal miners and their families called her " the miners angel" and such was her empathy for the workers she began referring to the miners as "her boys" and then they started referring to her affectionately as Mother Jones.
She developed a confrontational style, refusing to compromise on behalf of all that she considered suffering from oppression. In 1877, she was involved in the Pittsburgh Railway Strike, when twenty strikers were killed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877. She showed no fear to the intimidation and violence that was being perpetrated by the authorities, at a time when many radical leaders in the Labour Movement were being harassed, detained and silenced. Despite all this Mary Harris Jones carried on defending.and became involved in the strikes that led to the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886.
In 1898 she helped found the Social Democratic Party, which 3 years later became part of the Socialist Party of America. In 1905 she helped start the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). She was the only woman among 25 delegates, who called for a convention to organise all Industrial Workers. Known as the Wobblies, their famous motto was ' an injury to one, is an injury to all' https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/06/wobblies-happy-birthday-their-legacy.html
Famously she organised the childrens crusade of striking children from the textile mills of Kensington, Pennsylvania, across New Jersey to President Theodore Roosevelt's own front door in Long Island , New York in 1903. Though the President refused to meet the protestors, this crusade bought the issue of child labour to the national attention.She made frequent stops to give speeches and tell the public about the effects of this exploitation, and her actions paved the way for the eradication of child Labour in the Unite States. Here she was at 73, still fighting for better conditions, you did not mess with Mother Jones.In 1903 the West Virginian District Attorney, Reese Blizzard dubbed her ' the grandmother of all agitators, and the most dangerous woman in America.'
Typically clad in a black dress, her face framed by a lace collar and black hat, the barely five-foot tall Mother Jones was a fearless fighter for workers’ rights. She rose to prominence as a fearless organizer for the Mine Workers during the first two decades of the 20th century.Her size and grandmotherly appearance belied her fiery nature. A charismatic speaker, she was adept at staging public events to get publicity for striking workers and her physical courage was legendary. When she stepped on a stage, she became dynamic. She projected wide variations in emotion, sometimes striding about the stag in a towering rage. She could bring her audience to the verge of tears or have them clapping or bursting with laughter. She was a good story teller and she excelled in invective, pathos and humor ranging from irony to ridicule.
Mother Jones's low pleasant voice had great carrying power. It was unusual because it did not become shrill when sh became excited, but rather dropped in pitch so that the intensity of it became something you could almost feel physically. When she rose to speak, Mother Jones seemed to explode in all directions and suddenly everyone sat up alert and listened. No matter what impossible ideas she bought up, her energy and passion inspired men half her age into action and think she and they together could do anything and also compelled their wives and daughters to join the struggle. If that didn’t work, she would embarrass men to action. "I have been in jail more than once and I expect to go again. If you are too cowardly to fight, I will fight," she told them.
Mother Jones' organizing methods were unique for her time. She welcomed African American workers and involved women and children in strikes. She organized miners’ wives into teams armed with mops and brooms to guard the mines against scabs. She staged parades with children carrying signs that read, "We Want to Go to School and Not to the Mines."
She was like an anchor to the workers, such was her dedication to their cause, arrested many times, using fearless tactics, with words and deeds, using revolutionary ideas, driven by her underlying passion. She got increasingly involved in the plight of the miners, becoming an organiser for the United Mine Workers Association, the miners themselves started to refer to her as their angel, such was their love for her. In 1911 she was involved in the Paint Creek Cabin Strike in West Virginia. In 1912 she was leading a march of miners children in Charleston, West Virginia. She was back again the next year, this time leading to her arrest. She had become a militant matriarch, uniting the family of labour through her words and her courage.
September 23, 1913 marked the beginning of a massive coal strike in Colorado, she brought news of the strike to the nation, and after the infamous Ludlow Massacre,when twenty people were machine gunned down by guards after a walkout by about ninety percent of the workers she made sure that the truth of this got out and that the news was not suppressed.
Woody Guthrie - Ludlow Massacre
When in January 1914 she tried to return she was arrested again. She was convicted by a military court of Conspiracy to murder and the 83 year old was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Thousands gathered to protest which led to the commute of her sentence. Above all she had once again drawn the press into the plight of the miners and by her actions the Senate ordered an investigation into the conditions in the coalfields.
She went to Pittsburgh in 1919 to support the steelworkers,throughout the 1920s, her fight did not cease, still embracing the movement to her heart,supporting dressmakers in Chicago in 1934, supporting the Revolutionary cause in Mexico. In 1925 she published her autobiography. In it she defiantly wrote 'In spite of oppressors, in spite of false leaders the cause of the workers continues onward. Slowly his hours are shortened, slowly his standards of living rise to include some of the good and beautiful things in life. Slowly, those who create the wealth of the world are permitted to share it. The future is in labour's strong rough hands.' She remarkably continued making public appearances and fighting for the causes she believed in right into her 90's. Determined and strong to the last, when once introduced as a "humanitarian, " Jones argued, "I'm not a humanitarian, I'm a hell-raiser"
She died on November 30th 1930. She is buried in the Union Miners' Cemetery at Mount Olive, Illinois, alongside the 4 victims of the 1889 Virden, Illinois, mine riot. Mother Jones , the Miners angel had been asked to be buried here. Her 80-ton granite monument was erected there in 1936, dedicated before a crowd of 50,000 people, 32,000 of whom had marched to the cemetery.
After her death the American authorities tried to erase her imprint from the history books, they still found her dangerous. But her memory and spirit was impossible to erase, she had overcome personal tragedy to raise peoples hopes , a spark in the name of solidarity and resistance. She had become the mother of the downtrodden,and the voiceless, who had fought against suffering and exploitation. Across America, today, people still fighting for decent lives, fighting for social justice, raising their voices in defiance. This is Mother Jones's legacy, long may it be honoured. She is now memoralized through the non-profit publication " Mother Jones"
Mother Jones Speaks filmed on the occasion of her 100th
birthday 1930
The Most Dangerous Woman
- Ani di Franco & Utah Phillips
Further Reading:-
Autobiography - Mary Harris Jones
Mother Jones: The Most Dangeerous Woman in America - Elliot J Gorn.
Mother Jones speaks: Speeches & Writings of a working Class Fighter -Mary Harris Jones/ Philip S Glover (1995)
'Pray for the dead & fight like hell for the living'. - Mother Jones
Hey we all kind of do funny things from time to time, seriously, we can get confused, we get invited to things, and the offer seems irresistable to refuse. You have just been invited to play for an upcoming Gala, in support of the Friends of the Israel Defence forces (FIDF) organisation. An annual event. It is held this year on December 6th at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Guaranteed to be a glitzy affair, their will be lots of other guests and will probably raise millions of dollors not for charity but to support the Israeli army.
You probably did not want to turn down the invitation, because this gig is a must attend event for the Los Angeles community, and you would not want to be accused of being anti-semitic. It is not being anti-semitic to not want to support the activities of the IDF however, or the policies of the state of Israel. You might , after standing up against racism and injustice, and against apartheid South Africa, be accused of a little hypocricy , since lets face it the IDF are mainly known as the force that maintains Israels occupation of the West Bank, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the area, whilst propping up apartheid policies, taking part in land grabs and other war crimes. The IDF are terrorists, who have been responsible for the demolishment of 200 houses in Gaza and seriously damaged 8,000 more. Coming a week after Operation Pillar of cloud, your timing is impecabble.
Will you be playing 'I just called to say I love you', if so I am definitely feeling a little ' uptight'.
Did you not used to talk about Martin Luther King and did you not used to share his ideas, walk along the same paths, with a man who lived and died trying to break the chains of oppression and injustice.
Stevie the parallels between apartheid south africa and Israel are clear to understand. An apartheid society is much more than just a 'settler colony'. It involves specific forms of oppression that actively strip the original inhabitants of any rights at all, wheras civilian members of the invader caste are given all kinds of sumptuous privileges.
The apartheid wall which the I.D.F prop up is designed to crush the human spirit as much as to enclose the Palestinians in ghettos. Its route cuts huge swathes into the West Bank to incorporate into Israels illegal settler colonies.
The New Black by the Mavrix ( a collaboration between South Africa and Palestine)
South African band, the Mavrix and Palestinian Oud Player
Mohammed Omar
It's never to late to reconsider, and I'm talking as a fan, I remember how you supported the international call to boycott south africa and your refusal to perform in their at the time of apartheid, so why would you support an apartheid state now, which side are you on , how come you now seem to be supporting the oppressors? Their is always time to wrestle with your conscience, identify with the struggle, ,not to get carried away, time to admit, perhaps, that if you did this one gig, that you might have something to regret. I really hope so , because their is no one blinder than those who REFUSE to see between right and wrong.
Thought I'd end with a video of an old song you used to sing, that has much resonance with what you might be about to do, and a link to two petitions that perhaps someone could have a look at for you, a lot of fans are signing, they've respected you for a long time, I do hope for a long time to come, so please I am urging you to cancel this performance and stand with the values of justice. You have used your wonderful singing voice to spread messages of hope and love, so please Stevie, don't sing for Apartheid.
a "colonization of the mind" whereby the oppressed subject comes to believe that the oppressor's reality is the only "normal" reality... and that the oppression is a fact of life that must be coped with.
Those who engage in normalization either ignore this oppression, or accept it as the status quo that can be lived with.
In an attempt to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights, Israel attempts to re-brand itself or present itself as "normal" - even "enlightened" through an intricate array of relations and activities encompassing hi-tech, cultural, legal, LGBT and other realms.
Normalization applies to relationships that convey a misleading or deceptive image of normalcy, symmetry, or parity despite a patently abnormal and asymmetric relationship of colonial oppression and apartheid.
For more infomation on cultural and academic boycott in the US please visit http://www.usacbi.org/
Remi Kanazi - Coexistence (taking to the stage Nablus 2010 )
His only Welsh date on his upcoming UK tour is at the Ebbw Vale Institute, Church Street, Ebbw Vale NP23
Saturday December1st 2012.
Supported by the award winning poet Patrick Jones.
Tickets cost £5 Advance £6 OTD
Box Office- 01459 708022
or online at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/192455
Doors open 7.00 p.m, start 7.30 p.m
Will be off to see new film by director Owain Lyr tonight about my old friends band Datblygu.One of the main reasons I started learning the Welsh language. The premier is in Theatre Mwldan's new digital cinema, in Cardigan/Aberteifi . 23 Nov, 24 Nov, 25 Nov, 26 Nov at Mwldan 3
You can book your tickets herehttps://mwldan.ticketsolve.com/shows/873486242/events?locacle=en-GB
Born in a bedroom in Cardigan thirty years ago, the band Datblygu were hailed as the first truly modern Welsh-language group, their uncompromising, immense music has been described as genius, and their influence on Welsh music as immeasurable. Fronted by the charismatic and anarchic rebel poet David R. Edwards, the group came to define what T Gwydwr's Gareth Potter calls 'the soul of the Welsh underground scene in the 1980s. Datblygu's acidic take on modern Wales - the artistic bourgeoisie and politicians were typical targets - liberated a whole generation of bands and artists. Five Peel sessions with legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel is some measure of the effect they had on the converted. Championed by Peel but ironically ignored by mainstream Welsh media, the band was part of an energetic underground scene which also included Y Cyrff, Yr Anhrefn, Ffa Coffi Pawb and Llwybr Llaethog, in a random alliance which re-defined Welsh language popular music. This new independent film from Director Owain Llyr celebrates 30 years of Datblygu, and features extensive interviews with David R.Edwars and Patricia Morgan from the group, as well as notable others who remember this anarchic ensemble in its prime. Prosiect Datblygu premieres at Theatr Mwldan. SUBTITLES
Spoke to Dave the other night , both he and Pat are hoping to make an appearance. It coincicides too with the release of a new four track E.P, which on all accounts ( haven't heard it yet) recalls the classic Datblygu sound and line up of Pat and David. Looking forward to getting hold of it.
This limited edition release will be on sale tonight and through the ankst websitehttp://www.ankst.net/.
They're being called 'killer robots' - machines that decided independently on targets to strike without being told to any human.
Alhtough they do not exist, the world's most powerful armies are taking steps in that direction - and are believed to be available in the next few decades or sooner.
A report this week by Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic titled " Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots" outlines the danger of these fully autonomous weapons
Once upon a time this was a thing I would read about in Science Fiction novels. Asimov comes to mind who wrote a story back in 1950 called I robot. In his story he chronicles the development of the robot, from its primitive origins to its ultimate perfection in the not so distant future, a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.
I find it strange that we never take note of warnings from the past even if it is a work of science fiction.
In an earlier short story from 1942 ,called "Runaround" he introduced 3 principles of the robot. They were:-
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
The prospect of developing autonomous wearpons with the capacity to evaluate targeting options themselves is now a distinct possibility. On a personal note , humanitarian considerations should be put before any military ones, we have so much to lose and much to fear. The technology is already out their, we have drones used to kill, unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely operated killing machines, raining hellfire missiles on inncocents in Pakistan and the Middle East. Since 2008 remotely piloted U.S drones have killed up to 3,000 people in Pakistan alone. I guess all wars lead to the erosion of ethics, and humanity seems to have developed an inate ability to keep killing one another. Perhaps it would be a better idea, that humanity seeks ways to control their own actions and feelings without developing robots that can carry out our destructive needs without feeling. After all, certain military strategists aided by politicians have probably worked out that they can create machines that make less mistakes, but can carry out nevertheless, more deadly precision killing. I strongly feel that the devlopment of and use of autonomous weapons or killer robots should be explicitly prohibited, because I feel they are an abuse of humanity's real needs. Otherwise I fear, it really will be too late. Humanity should be seeking ways to find peace, and getting rid of existing injustices, instead of marching onwards to a dystopian world, that would mean that we all cease to exist.
There's something in the air, as sirens sing The pavements twisted with broken embers of peace, A prism of shimmering emptiness as promises lays cursed
Shoes speckled with ichor, abandoned and bereft, The sad drumbeat of humanity's curse
Tiny hands, rigid fossil like, as fire breaths from a blood
red sky,
The taste of despair drips on tonques
While the dead lie in waves of decaying flesh and bone,
Prayers on all sides, succumb to deep shadows As sunset descends, into deep labyrinths of hell, The velocity of winds gather up storms
We maintain vigil, take sides, proliferate opinions,
As the reverberations of suffering and sorrow grow
This experience of darkness,impossible to erase
like black mountains, glimmering across the night sky,
Dreams sealed in chasms of gloom
Ensnared among webs of hopelessness.
In the morning, the chants still ring out
Inshallah, Inshallah, as the weeping mother buries her dead.
As the military bombardment of Gaza increases. Medical Aid for Palestinians are redponding by helping the victims of tose attacks. As the death and casualty toll increases, including children, we are working with the main hospital in Gaza to ensure that they have the medicines and medical equipment needed to respond urgently and effectively to this emergency situation. But we can't continue in this emergency aid without your help now. We need your help to raise £100,000 immediately. Your support will enable MAP to buy life saving drugs and medical equipment to save lives in Gaza. In addition to buying medicines and medical supplies we are also preparing Disaster Survival and Hygiene kits throughout Gaza to protect children and vulnerable civilians displaced by the bombardment. With your help we will be able to help Palestinian children, women and men who need emergency help now. Please Donate now. Medical Aid for Palestinians - Donate - Emergency Gaza Disaster Appeal
Sitting in the library, thoughts as yesterday, with the beleagured citizens of Gaza. A place that I have never been to, whose language I cannot speak, whose heartbreak I have not even come near too, whose oranges I have never picked, whose sky I have never touched, whose air I've never inhaled. But long has their story touched me, their struggle held much resonance. In their history of hardship and struggle, these people have never given up hope, even when they are daily besieged, imprisoned. And now Israeli are launching a series of deadly attacks against this giant open air prison camp, resulting in the deaths of many innocents with many more left injured. The BBC and the mainstream media does not seem to highlight the grief that Israel is bringing to the innocent, we must be made to comprehend and speak out. Anyway some time for some reflection, so here are the words of one of Palestinians greatest poets Mahmoud Darwish.
Think of Others
As you fix your breakfast, think of others. Don't forget to feed the pigeons.
As you fight in your wars, think of others. Don't forget those who desperately demand peace.
As you pay your water bill, think of others who drink the cloud's rain.
As you return home, your home think of others. Don't forget those who live in tents.
As you sleep and count planets, think of others. There are people without any shelter to sleep.
As you express yourself using all metaphorical expressions, think of others who lost their rights to speak.
As you think of others who are distant, think of yourself and say "I wish I was a candle to fade away the darkness.
Yes Israel has been attacked by rockets, not after Palestinians had fired rockets into civilian areas, but after Palestine resistance fighters targetted Israeli forces enforcing the siege and occupation of Gaza. So Israels response has been totally disproportionate. Remember Gaza is an occupied area, daily under siege, would you not retaliate in some way.
Lets put it in context.
On November 9, 2012 Israel's army killed a teenage child playing soccer, then launched an unprovoked bombardment of the Gaza strip which killed 7 Palestinians and injured more than 40, and to which the resistance responded. Subsequent Israeli attacks led to more deaths and injuries, and culminated yesterday with the assasination of Ahmed Jabri, second in command of the military wing of Hamas, and many others , many of whom were civilians throughout Gaza. Further, Israel formally launched a ground invasion of the Gaza strip, saying they would be in Tal Alhawa within 24 hours. This is an area in the middle of densely populated Gaza City.
I think anyone with conscience should be oppossed to Israels actions and would urge them to urge the foreign office, to call Israel to account, and if possible to attend any emergency demonstations in support of the besieged.Israel must end their siege of the Gaza strip and grant immediate access to all food, humanitarian and medical relief supplies without restiction, or their could be a humanitarian disaster. The strip is home to 1.5 million Palestinians, 80% of whom are refugees, denied by Israel the right to return to their homes and lands of origin from where they were expelled by occupation in 1948. Nearly half of the Gazan population are children who along with the elderly and ill remain completely deprived of food water, fuel, elecricity, humanitarian relief and medical supplies or facilities.
The Palestinians are in constant daily fear of bombardment.They are a largely civilian population trapped in the largest outdoor prison in the world, daily they face the risk of indiscriminate killing.They cannot run or hide or escape. They have no army, airforce or navy to speak of.Sitting targets for Israels War crimes. Since yesterday the death toll has risen to 15,and what should also be remembered is that the mainstream media never report the whole picture. It is important that we remember, it is the Palestinians that are under siege and not the other way round. All the Palestines want is to be free .
Gaza after attack yesterday.
Here is a list of protests and demos I am aware of
London: Thursday 15 November: Opposite Israeli embassy 5.30-7pm ( nearest tube High St Kensington
Edinburgh: Saturday 17 November: Assemble at Charlotte Square 122 pm for march to the Scottish Parliament
Manchester: Thursday 15 and Friday 16 November: Picadilly Gardens 5pm
Aberystwyth: Friday 16 November Vigil 6pm Clock Tower, Great Darkgate Street.
Cardiff: Sat 17th November Queen Street 2pm
Swansea: Sat 17th November Castle Square 2pm
Aberystwyth: Friday
And in all corners of the globe.
Le Trio Joubran - Safar ( with the voice of Mahmoud Darwish) live
