Anniversary of 1981 Brixton Riots

 On Saturday 11th April 1981, Brixton was set ablaze as hundreds of local youth fought with the Metropolitan Police. The country was in recession, unemployment amongst African Caribbean  members of the community was high, and the quality of housing was poor. In the week preceding the Brixton Riots, Operation Swamp 81, saw over 1,000 people ( mainly  from the  young black community) being stopped and searched adding to the increased  frustration of the local people. Tensions were high.
What happened next was to become one of the most significant outbreaks of civil disorder in 20th Century London. Police continued operating their hated 'sus' laws,  where in order to stop someone, police only needed suspicion.  At the time the police were exempt  from the Race Relations Act, and many people targeted  were from  the ethnic community, which  led to accusations of racial prejudice.
After arrests were made  tensions rose again, igniting violence which spread across  the streets. The streets  of Brixton became a battle zone. After police arrived in  full riot gear, people started gathering to throw makeshift petrol bombs and set light to police cars. 
By the  time hostilities  had ended,  over 360  ppeople had been injured,  28 premises burned and another 177 damaged and looted. The police arrested 82 people. 
After the riots a police enquiry was held under Lord Scarman that held that policing in a civil society can only succeed with  the  consent of  the community. But 4 years later the Police  shot Mrs Cherry Grove, , causing again disturbances  in the area. There have been many many miscarriages of justice since.
34 years later there are many lessons to be learned.  Police racism continues, as does unemployment and poverty. Capitalist society still suffers from a sickness that breeds ,the big criminals of the land get rich and fat, get rewarded for their crimes (ie the bankers) whilst the poorer members of our communities are stigmatised, getting poorer, punished because of the greedy.  Sadly conditions in  Brixton are not vastly better than  over 30 years ago. Unrest can easily be fermented, when conditions on the streets are ignored. Riots that have happened since, like those seen in Brixton do not happen without a reason.

Guns of Brixton  -the Clash,  with collage of Brixton riots.

This Farage Twit

I happen  to think that Nigel Farage is a twit of the first order. Many of his supporters though idolise him, on social media they don't  seem to like any criticism,  let alone  any satire, despite a whole host of mishaps and blunders. I have had people trying to have a 'pop' when I have tried to spoil their gilded view.
They claim  that UKIP is a libertarian party, all I see is  xenophopbia, authoritarianism and the whiff of racism. But  his supporters, carry on gleefuly, dancing to his chorus, carry on being misinformed , claiming media bias, and misrepresentation, but  their policies are  dangerous and blinkered that seek out to divide communities,demonising people , whilst creating stigma too.With their chief political philosophy  being that  immigrants are to blame for everything. This Is why I will personally keep taking the piss, as above Nigel Farage gets Dr Seussed. We must keep challenging their brand of intolerance, keep on questioning their point of view.
When people excuse, dismiss or are silent, about racism and hatred they contribute to the acceptance  of a more racist society. We should not forget the strong connection that exists between UKIP and extreme  far right fascists.
Oh Nige was said to be a bit tired a couple of days ago, after he bonded with Joey Essex, over their secret love of fish, after boarding a boat in Grimbsy.

At the end of the day, the picture below captures my feeling entirely. after hanging around with Joey he was caught standing behind the most appropriate sign. Ah a picture can help paint a thousand words.

Two years after Margaret Thatcher's death, time to bury her legacy once for all

For all the gushing plaudits  and tributes dedicated to Margaret Thatcher, upon her death, she still remains an extremely divisive figure. This is because  many people are still  living with the dire consequences of her actions. As election time approaches, her breath and twisted ideology still lingers among all the mainstream parties.
Many of us are still unable to forgive her for the devastation she wrought to our communities, the damage  she caused to our industries, our whole way of life. She fought against the miners, not giving a hoot, or  an inch of compromise, then   put her sights on our welfare state, whilst leaving an entire generation to be thrown on the scrapheap.
Her whole twisted ideology  was to try and tear up the post 1945 consensus and privatise our public services, sell of our nationalised industries, whilst smashing up Trade Union rights, embarking on a systematic  path of of destruction. Carving up the land, shifting  the balance of social economic wealth between the rich and poor, very much  detrimental  to the latter.
Being kind, she was just a sower of destruction,  not  an ounce of compassion within her, a creator of mass unemployment too, a fosterer of division with her cruel policies. A liar too, about Hillsborough, who also bombed retreating ships.
While she shafted all and sundry she still managed to be friends with right wing dictators like Pinochet and P.W Botha. I can never forgive her.
She is still hated and always will be, despite her pulse stopping, her  awful legacy lives  on, in the  toxicity that is Tony Blair who called her after her death, " a unique and towering figure" then their is the rotten tory party, still here today preaching  the same stinking doctrine. The scars and pain she caused remain.
The witch might be dead, but the stench of Thatcherism still unfortunately, fills the air it is time I think, that we bury her awful legacy, once and for all,

Some earlier thoughts.

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/no-to-margaret-thatcher-memorial.html

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/margaret-thatcher-her-legacy-personal.html

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-witch-is-dead.html

Everything wrong, with humanity in one short animation.

The above  film, old that it may be,still relevent, though  looks at mans relationship, with the natural world,  addresses us  with issues that remain today, as urgent today, as they have always been.
At the end of the day, all are horizons can look much clearer, everything is true, everything is happening.
Patriarchy too, continues its' desire to conquer,and destroy, but out  of of control, enslaves hungry thirst and thought. Everythings wrong, everythings right.
Don't let the world hold you down. keep  releasing thought, seeds of survival, at the end of the day , don't  just sit there, look for answers,  solutions, when everything seems so wrong, keep on looking, keep searching for some  possibility.

Happy Easter/Eostore

                                 Michael Sowa, Eater Bunny, 1996
,
Ah  Easter seems to come round quicker each year, that's a sign I guess. This morning I crawled out of bed,  but so far, even though the day is buzzing, no sign of any easter bunny yet,  but whats that towering above?
I guess this weekend, will be for some, a time to wind down, take some time of work, or business as usual, or eat, consume, eat consume,  for many a time of celebration, David Cameron has  been busy writing us his own Easter message, where he sets  about his belief  in the importance of Christianity absolutely clear, saying " It's the principle  around which the Easter celebration is built. Easter is about remembering the importance of change, responsibility, and doing the right thing for the good of the children. And today, that message maters more than ever." http://www.premierchristianity.com/Topics/Society/Politics/David-Cameron-S-Easter-Message-to-Christians
Actions speak louder than words I guess, hey I'm no christian, but I don't think it is right for him to preach to us about values, when up to now what he represents seems to be devoid of it in any shape and flavour. He does not seem to mention  social justice, or even mention the resurrection,  which for some marks one of the greatest acts of disobedience in history, since once you've been  executed by the state, your supposed to stay dead. So for many its about resistance and renewal, a powerful revolutionary faith, M'mmm don't worry am not about to have an announcement of a new direction in faith, I still follow no  particular  religious bent, well the  flow of nature, and  the power of words, but believe it is more than time now for the people of the world to rise too. It will be a case of the risen people not the risen lord.
Sadly though too, across this weekend, across the world, assault, torture, genocide and a range of other depravities will be committed in the name of a so called God.
So since its resurrection time, lets try to carrry on, with selfishness and passion, with a glint of rebellion in our eyes, and tomorrow hopefully paves a way  for revolutionary, insurectionary acts, against the conformity and consensus that has been created.Anyway Happy Easter all, depending on who you are and what you believe in, remember that  Easter has pagan roots too,  named originally in honour of Eostore, the teutonic dawn goddess. Also known as the spring goddess of fertility. In ancient times our lands fertility was the key to its survival, heddwch/peace. We ll keep walking our different paths.Keep on keeping on. Find the joy that makes you, you.
Ah the public library will at least reopen on Tuesday.

Leaders' Debate - Heckler Explains Why She Interrupted David Cameron

Watch Victoria Prosser an audience member who spoke out during the leaders debate last night - fantastic, she allows me to keep faith - well said.
If  I voted she would get my vote. Speaking the truth is easy , shame politicians do not seem able to do it most of the time.

The race is on!

Ah, the race is on, Parliament has dissolved, as it sinks into an archaic cesspit of corruption . Oh it's going to be a fabulous 6 weeks, we will have to endure a lot of bluster and hot air,  false promises, and bare faced lies between the ever so slightly different  factions of the austerity partys'. It will resemble  more of a pantomime than an actual election. It will be a  a bit like tea verses coffee, or the drip, drip, drip of distraction. The choices are not really that much different, if it actually changed anything, they would probably make  it illegal. We desperately however need genuine changes to help disabled, ill people, children who are hungry  because the only food  they eat is from bloody foodbanks.  We need  long term solutions that will help the homeless and the destitute. We need to shift the power back,  remove the politics of blame from our lives. But saying that ,it should be noted that M.Ps will escape  investigation into dubious  expenses claims because authorities have destroyed all the evidence. At the end of the day they will again  be allowed to  pick from our pockets on  a pretty frequent basis. But  there is nothing like a good old vote to sort out the corruption, after all we're all in it together. It should also be remembered that every single government since Thatcher has  caused this country of ours, economic damage, while allowing bankers to dictate their policies.Through their friends in the media I guess,  they will be very successful at  diverting attention from them and on to the poor. The conservatives if they succeed will carry on carving up the country, as I speak planning a further £12 bn in welfare cuts, will carry on their creeping privatisation of the N.H.S, the Labour Party  sadly up to now have been rather lacklustre in their condemnation, will they save us money in scrapping trident, does not seem  that they will, and despite some fine words, do not  seem to offer us  much of a radical alternative. Just  the familiar pattern of gesture politics.
 Will a change of government actually change a thing. We keep getting caught in the same trap, thinking that if we put  our faith in the power of the state, everything will turn out allright.
At the end of the day we will still be screwed. The system was never broken, it was built this way. We need to keep struggling for a  new order based on truth, social  justice, equality, accountability, give power back to the people. I don't  however hold my breathe that this will happen any day soon, unfortunately. Neither will the current constitutional framework  rescue us from the darkness of capitalism.
Whatever the end result, for many people across the land, I am sorry to say there will be no happy ending.

To Our Land - Mahmoud Darwish

A poem by the great Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish,  to mark  the 39th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, which is marked by Palestinians by protesting and planting olive trees near the so called buffer zones of Gaza. 
Today commemorates the day when Israeli forces carried out a lethal and brutal  military attack on unarmed Palestinians in 1976, who were peacefully   protesting against Israeli apartheids land grab policies.  

To our Land

To our land,
and it is the one near the word of god,
a ceiling of clouds
To our land,
and it is the one far from the adjectives of nouns,
the map of absence
To our land,
and it is the one tiny as a sesame seed,
a heavenly horizon ... and a hidden chasm
To our land
and it is the one poor as a grouses wings
holy books . . . and an identity wound
To our land,
and it is the one surrounded with torn hills,
the ambush of a new past
To our land, and it is a prize of war,
the freedom to die from longing and burning
and our land, in its bloodied night
is jewel that glimmers for the far upon the far
and illuminates whats outside it . . .
As for us , inside,
we suffocate more !

Translated by Fady Joudah

Mike Vaughan-Jones - End Of The Show/ Piano Player

 Today we say goodbye ,to Mike, legendary local keyboard maestro, jazz  aficionado, potter of great delicacy. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Safe travelling.

Piano Player

Keys play their notes,

melodies, soar through the sky,

fingers dance along the keys,

energy rises and plays with beats,

surrenders minor chords,

pours soul over the land,

scales to trickle from the sky.

Scattering jazz like rhythms,

blues soliloquy,

seas of improvisation,

send us songs without words.

Gregory Corso (26/3/30 - 17/1/01) - I Held A Shelley Manuscript/Transformation and Escape

Today would have been the birthday of one of my favourite beat  Poets Gregory Corso,11 years after his death I still remember him, here's two poems by the great man, I thought I'd share.

I Held A Shelley Manuscript

My hands did numb to beauty
as they reached into Death and tightened!

O sovereign was my touch
upon the tan-ink's fragile page!

Quickly, my eyes move quickly,
sought for smell for dust for lace
for dry hair!

I would have taken the page
breathing in the crime!
For no evidence have I wrung from dreams-
yet what triumph is there in private credence?

Often, in some steep ancestral book,
when I find myself entangled with leopard-apples
and torched-skin mushrooms,
my cypressean skein outreaches the recorded age
and I, as though tipping a pitcher of milk,
pour secrecy upon the dying page.

Tranformation and Escape


1

I reached heaven and it was syrupy.
It was oppressively sweet.
Croaking substances stuck to my kness.
Of all substances St.Michael was stickiest.
I grabbed him and pasted him on my head.
I found God a gigantic fly paper.
I stayed out of his way.
I waled where everything smelled of burnt chocolate.
Meanwhile St.Michael was busy with his sword
hacking away at my hair.
I found Dante standing naked in a blob of honey.
Bears were liocking his thighs.
I snatched St Michael's sword
and quartered  myself in a great circular adhesive.
My torso fell upon an elastic equilibrium.
As though shot from a sting
my torso whizzed at God fly paper.
My legs sank into some unimaginable sog.
My head, though weighed with the weight of St.Michael,
did not fall.
Fine strands of multi-coloured gum
suspended it there.
My spirit stooped by my snared torso.
I pulled! I yanked! Rolled it left to right!
It bruised! It softened! It ould not free!
The struggle of an Eternity!
An eternity of pulls! of yanks!
Went back to my head,
St. Micael had sucked dry my brainpan!
Skull!
My skull!
Only skull in heaven!
Went to my legs.
St Peter was polishing his sandals with my knees!
I pounced upon him!
Pummelled his face in sugar in hioney in marmalade!
Under each arm I fled with my legs!
The police of heaven were in hot pursuit!
I hid within the sop of St Francis
Gasping in the confectionary of his gentility
I wept, caressing my intimidated legs.

2

They caught me.
They took my legs away.
They sentenced me in the firmanent of an ass.
The prison of an Eternity!
An Eternity of labor! of hee-haws!
Burdened with the soiled railment of saints
I schemed escape,
Lugging ampulae its daily fill
I schemed escape.
I schemed climbing impossible mountains.
I schemed under the Virgin's whip,
I schemed the sound of celestial joy.
I schemed to the sound of earth,
the wail of infants,
the groans of men,
the thud of coffins.
I schemed escape.
God was busy switching the spheres from hand to hand.
The time had come.
I cracked my jaws.
Broke my legs.
Sagged  belly-flat on plow
on pitchfork
on scythe.
My spirit leaked from the wounds.
A whole spiri pooled.
I rose from the carcass of my torment.
I stood in the brink of heaven.
And I swear that Great Territory did quake
when I fell free.

So thank you Gregory, and happy birthday, hope you're sleeping ok, whichever place the ride took you, running wild on Rabelsian spree, still mixing with the sharpest heads, still playing with misadventure.
Earlier post by me on Gregory here
http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/gregory-corso-wayward-geniusan.html

Conversation with Gregory Corso,
music by Calexico.
(from the late 1980's)