Thoughts on the death of Jo Cox M.P

I am deeply saddened by the tragic news of Jo Cox Labour MP's senseless horrific murder in her constituency in Birstal the North of England yesterday. My thoughts go out to her family and friends at this difficult time.
It appears to have been a right-wing politically fuelled hate attack, the alleged killer named as a local man named Thomas Mair, 53 is said to have shouted Britain First, a reference to a far right fascist paramilitary organisation of that name as he launched his attack. Piece by piece, a picture is emerging of a quiet, troubled man with a history of connections to far-right groups.Mair did have far-right affiliations, so this horrific attack can legitimately be called an act of terror, driven by an ideology of hate that grows from the fertile swamps of white supremacy and xenophobia, such as Nigel Farage’s new “breaking point” advert against the EU and refugees.
In my opinion we have far more to fear from nationalists than from immigrants. The latter often simply want a better life while the former tend towards reactionary xenophobia authoritarian thought and blaming others for their own failings.Their brains are almost devoid of empathy circuits and lack the capacity to feel genuine compassion. They therefore find it easy to dehumanize the "other" and treat their fellow human beings little different than used furniture. They place a high value on authoritarianism and care very little for fairness. At its very core, authoritarianism is a denial of the Golden Rule. They believe that any compromise represents complete capitulation. Their minds are sick having been poisoned by a steady diet of hate. Instead of making a better argument to counter yours, they try to silence you. in this tragic case sadly.forever.
Killing the messenger won't silence what she stood for, I am hoping that if anything, Jo's death would not have been in vain. She was a committed Bremainer and activist and on all accounts she was a wonderful, compassionate lady, mother of two , pro-equality MP who had made several superb speeches in Parliament, brilliant on immigration migrant issues. A rare kind of MP in days like these.. Her murder could well be a game changer for undecideds and those already considering Brexit. 
Cox, 41, was raised in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. Her mother Jean was a school secretary and her father Gordon worked in a toothpaste and hairspray factory in Leeds, the Yorkshire Post reported.
A mother of two, she was married to Brendan Cox, an activist and campaigner who was formerly a senior executive at Save the Children and was the adviser on international development to Gordon Brown when he served as prime minister. Jo Cox had studied at  Cambridge University before becoming head of global policy for the international aid organization Oxfam. She was the first in her family to graduate from university.Jo was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group and an active member of parliamentary groups working on issues involving Pakistan, Kashmir and Yorkshire’s regional economy. She was working toward trying to find a solution to Syria’s years-long civil war. Frequently speaking out about issues that concerned her like Palestine.
In a statement on Thursday following her death her husband said: "Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous."
Could the news this week get any sadder. From the numbed people of Orlando to the numbed people of Britain, we must continue to send our love, our support, our compassion and our solidarity in our grief and determination to overcome fear, ignorance and hate. It is also worth noting that mental illness seldom functions as a reason in and of itself, especially if the label is applied so selectively. Lessons need to be drawn from what is happening.
The dark  forces of isolation, fear, false bravado, and, above all, just plain cowardice must nor be allowed to win.
Rest in Peace Jo Cox.

In the clearness

The night was black as a raven's wing,
The sky felt tragic and undone,
Slicing through the power of reason,
The world  seemed split in two,
Like a heart when the love affair has ended
Too much darkness and hatred
Time now to turn untangle,
Find in contemplation,
The edges of the world,
where loves spirit never fades.

A point of focus to remind us,
To join  together as one in hope,
Clinging on, taking time.
Booking further reservations,
To look, seek and find,
Destroy the bad, the good to make,
To recount yesterday,
Extinquish desolation,
Igniting desire and emotion.

Peace comes quietly
But surge in spirit is clearly felt,
Carried on the healing balm of day
Delivering the bright bliss,
Of tomorrow's resurrection,
Fold up your calendars,
They will not be needed,
When our dreams become the future,
Walking beside us - unafraid..

Solidarity with Orlando

ISIS is above all a mentality, a result of an international system of fascism. Of course ISIS’s mentality is against a certain way of life – the explicit targeting of an LGBT venue by an individual inspired by their twisted ideology is illustrative of bigoted hate and fascism,. We must not be afraid to call out on its roots, when every day people are murdered as a result of this.
No false flags here, this was a deliberate attack on LGBT people in an LGBT venue. It was a homophobic terrorist attack. Omar Mateen  hated queer people and deliberately picked a club because it was full of people he regarded as deviants and committed a mass shooting. He was just another typical right-wing, homophobic, religious nut, sharing the same DNA with most of the Trump voter base. ISIS and Trump are two expressions of the same violent hate; this country, the United States, made this killer. It has been making killers like him since the Mayflower. The worst mass shooting in US history, if we can conveniently forget countless massacres perpetrated against First Nations peoples like the US Calvary’s massacre of 150 Lakota at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1890.

Omar Mateen is not a foreign threat. Omar Mateen is America. Yet again, an astonishing act of violence that has us wondering what has become of this society, and why it tolerates such easy access to firearms, this shooting exposes so many of America's faultlines :- http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/orlando-shooting-reaction-us-gun-laws-islam-homophobia?CMP=share_btn_tw
When people are considered deviants and deserving of a murderous assault for their sexuality, a trait all of us in the community share, we cannot but come together in sadness and in mourning.Stand in solidarity with the LGBT community who struggles for existence on an everyday basis, solidarity with unjustly targeted Muslims, solidarity with the brave heroes, especially women, who fight against ISIS fascism in the Middle East and remember that in the Muslim world, the Rojava Revolution shines out as a beacon of hope against its own local version of that bigotry - ISIS. The armed forces of that Revolution - the People's Protection Units or YPG, have of course issued their own heartfelt statement in solidarity with the dead, wounded and mourning of Orlando.

We must resist those that seek to use this slaughter to demonise and and scapegoat the muslim community, most of them deplore terrorism as everyone else. We must always stand up to hate. Whatever its motivations. Informed by values of reason and empathy, love and kindness,we can stand up to hate and bigotry. No matter how bigoted a person is we will continue to survive, we will continue to resist, we will continue to live. Together in global solidarity we shall not live in fear. A time for us to unite and stand firm against homophobia, racism and Islamophobia.

" There is no simple monoliths solution to racism, to sexism, to homophobia. There is only the conscious focusing within each of my days, to move against them, wherever I come up against these particular manifestations of the same disease." 

 - Audre Lorde

Rabbis powerful speech to humanity at Muhammad Ali's funeral.

At a time when there is so much hatred and fearmongering directed against Islam and American Muslims by prominent politicians, it took Muhammad Ali’s funeral to bring  humanity together.The world's richest countries can and should do much more to help the worlds most vulnerable people together to remind us of our higher ideals, reminding us of our society’s problems with racial and religious prejudice, opening our eyes to  racial and religious universalism. Am currently still blown away by the powerful social justice speech from a respected Rabbi that has taken world leaders at the memorial service of Muhammad Ali by storm.
Longtime interfaith activist Rabbi Michael Lerner sparked uproarious applause and repeated standing ovations when he addressed mourners at Muhammad Ali’s funeral on Friday with a rousing call for social justice, denouncing the occupation of Palestine, the U.S. drone war, rampant Islamophobia and the mass incarceration of African Americans.  had a hard time loving themselves” and calling for an end to Islamophobia. .
Thousands of friends, family, celebrities, and political figures attended Ali’s traditional Muslim memorial service in Louisville, Kentucky, which spanned more than two days.
  “If Muhammad Ali were here today, I’m sure his message small battles – put your life energies and money into fundamental systemic transformation,” said Lerner, who is also a
political activist and editor of the Jewish magazine Tikkun. Lerner also said that what made Ali a hero was his courage to stand up to the “immoral” war in Vietnam by proclaiming himself a
conscientious objector. Lerner was an anti-war activist along with Ali, who refused to serve in the US army and was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title in 1967.
“Knowing he would lose his title, knowing he would face the racism of American society that would be heaped upon him forsaying no to the crazy war in Vietnam,” Ali said no to the war,
Lerner said. “He spoke truth to power – we must speak truth to power,” he added.
 Lerner’s eulogy, and the entire memorial service, had a strong interfaith message:
To honor Ali, he said:
"We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims,"“Tell the one percent who own 80 percent of the wealth in this country that it’s time to share that wealth," he continued. "Tell the politicians who use violence worldwide and then preach nonviolence to the oppressed that it’s time for them to end their drone warfare and every other kind of warfare, to close our military bases around the world, to bring the troops home.”“Tell judges to let out of prison the many African Americans swept up by racist police and imprisoned by racist judges,” Lerner continued, raising his fist and pointing his fingers. “Tell the leaders of Turkey to stop killing the Kurds. Tell Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that the way to get security for Israel is to stop the occupation of the West Bank and help create a Palestinian state."
“The way to get security is for the United States to become known as the most generous and caring country in the world, not the most powerful,” he said. “We could start with a global and domestic plan to once and for all end global and domestic poverty, homelessness, hunger, inadequate education, inadequate health care.”
He ended by affirming his “commitment to the well-being of all Muslims on this planet, as well as all people of all faiths and secular humanists.” Said Lerner:
"We Jews, as well as our non-Jewish allies in all religions and secular humanists, wish to pay honor to the Muslims of the world as they continue today the fast of Ramadan, and join with them in
mourning the loss and celebrating the life of Muhammad Ali, a great fighter for justice and peace."
A Beautiful tribute, talking Islamphobia, Vietnam, Palestine, and justice. Ali's legacy will be kept alive by those who dream of  justice, equality and freedom for all. Ali knew the secret of the butterfly was to transform itself, we too have a continuing part to play in transforming the world. Catalysts for change that keep standing up for the most vulnerable among us, holding the powers that be to account.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they've been  given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's not a dare - Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." 

- Muhammad Ali 

Solidarity with the Burghfield Blockade

I sends congratulations to Trident Ploughshares and all those who have participated in the very successful blockade of AWE Burghfield this week. This is the site near Aldermaston which works on the development and production of Britain's nuclear warheads. The protest aims to raise awareness of the forthcoming parliamentary decision on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.
The new warhead factory at AWE Burghfield will cost the taxpayer almost £2 billion. Parliament has yet to vote on replacing Trident.
Campaigners have blockaded one of the gates, day and night, since Monday, stopping all traffic to and from the site in the process.
 Former Labour Euro-MP for Leeds Michael McGowan says
“At a time when people in our city are depending on foodbanks, it is just abhorrent that we should consider spending such astronomical sums on a weapon that we could never use. Nuclear weapons are not just immoral but totally outdated and it’s time that we got in line with most countries in the world and disarmed.”
During the day the blockaders have been joined by many supporters from across the country and internationally.Activists from France, Belgium, Germany and Finland as well as Scotland, Wales and England are continuing to block the gates to the construction site at AWE Burghfield in Berkshire. No work has gone on there since the action started on Monday morning. But the same group of people have been staying overnight to maintain the blockade. Now they need to leave! More people are needed at the site to take their place. Are you free this weekend and can get to AWE Burghfield, West Berkshire?

Love and support to all seeking to stop wars and bombing innocents.

If you can lend a hand please contact Angie on 07456 588943 or email admin@tridentploughshares.org

Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in joining the protesters.

Click here for more information on the blockade, which continues throughout the month.

Click here to see The Guardian's coverage of the protest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-h6fCNVEqI

Europe:- Should we stay or should we go?.

 
The EU is far from perfect, but there’s so much at stake in this referendum. Lots of our rights at work and many people’s jobs are dependent on the European Union, and leaving could even mean lower wages.
I have huge sympathy with the anti-capitalist  argument for leaving the EU, the EU like Westminster serving the vested interests of the rich representing the hegenomy of old, and we now have the opportunity to break it but am not sure about getting into bed with the xenophobes and racists either, like Farage and his dodgy crew and if we leave David Cameron will get rid of the human rights act, he's already tried. I don't want to give these other dark forces any credence.
On the one hand , remain to defeat the hard right, preserve rights enshrined in the EU and fight to reform the EU. On the other hand , leave to strike a blow to fortress Europe, and stand apart from a neoliberal alliance and organise on the basis of true workers' internationalism across and beyond Europe . I recognise that the EU is a rather undemocratic organisation, a flawed institution in serious need of reform , it was responsible for forcing austerity on the people of Greece and Spain, but has also been an influence in restraining our own far right Government from its worst excessess, which is why those from the looniest fringes of the right want us to leave. 
I acknowledge that thanks to the EU it does help protect workers rights, Maternity leave, health and safety legislation, holidays, regular breaks, things I don't trust the UK to keep up with. Certainly not under Cameron. Leaving the EU would put all that at risk. Would you trust the Tories to protect those rights if they didn’t have to? Ideally we shouldn't perhaps be at the mercy of the EU or the UK government.
At the end of the day none of this is the world I want, I don't want any borders and want freedom of movement, internationalism not based on national sentiment or interests. But I have to  admit I'm pretty foxed by it all so still pretty undecided.When you get down to the nitty gritty, there's many unanswered questions by Brexit. Leaving would be one hell of a jump into the darkness. We have to think long and hard about the future,and  not be seduced by the politics of fear. Yes  I don't have any concrete answers, hopefully though  have offered you  some food for thought.
Perhaps when it comes down to it, I will just draw a smiley face on the voting slip. At the end of the day the rich and powerful always seem to get what they want.

Hope is a thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson (10/12/1830 - 15/5/1886)

.Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Rest in Power Muhammad Ali (17/1/42 -3/6/16) - The greatest heavyweight poetical champion of our time

The lyrical heavyweight showman Muhammad Ali who thrilled the globe with his sublime boxing style, unpredictable wit, and gentle generosity sadly died yesterday after a long brave fight with Parkinson's disease. Tragic news. He was 74. Ali, the former Cassius Clay, was not just an athlete who embodied the times in which he lived. He shaped them. His conscientious objection to the Vietnam war, and reasoned rants against a country fighting for freedom on the other side of the globe, while its own black citizens were denied basic rights of their own, energized a generation. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam,and in 1967, three years after Ali had won the heavyweight championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges; he was stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was eventually successful. Ali had changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975. By the late 1960s, Ali had become a living embodiment of the proposition that principles matter. His power no longer resided in his fists. It came from his conscience. He would become a tireless human rights ambassador and philanthropist, his devotion to charitable causes would feature prominently for the rest of his life whose impact has been felt worldwide.Being a person who championed humanity, justice and civil rights.
Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were three with rival Joe Frazier, which are considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he finally regained his stripped titles seven years later. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, epitomized by his catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope. Ali brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he became the most famous athlete in the world.
Growing up Muhammad Ali had such a huge empowering impact on me . A beautiful man. His brave stand against U.S. imperialism and the vile institutional racism that was  in the U.S that still sadly exists, but Ali. was an inspiration for millions fighting injustice and oppression across the world. No doubt the U.S. establishment will now try and bury their systematic and brutal attempt to silence him.
Muhammed Ali belongs to the oppressed. Let's not let his oppressors rewrite our history.
"What Muhammad Ali did—in a culture that worships sports and violence as well as a culture that idolizes black athletes while criminalizing black skin—was redefine what it meant to be tough and collectivize the very idea of courage. Through the Champ’s words on the streets and deeds in the ring, bravery was not only standing up to Sonny Liston. It was speaking truth to power, no matter the cost." Dave Zirin (in the nation)
But for me he was also also a poet. His passing has reminded me of the time when I was about 7 or 8 in the mid 1970's when I first  first became aware of him, I remember his passion and energy his lyrical playfulness, and even though I subsequently never got that into boxing or fighting and have always tried to avoid violent conflict whenever I can, even though my nose is bent out of shape, and other tell tale signs , tells another story,of my own inability to duck and dive, I loved the fact that Ali was able to wax lyrical spontaneity without  rhyming in the usual traditional settings, using an almost beat phraseology to release  rhymes from his heart with an unpredictable wit that made him a lyrical heavyweight too. 
The world famous boxing champion when not jesting, could be undoubtedly serious too, who  once appeared in an interview which was televised in Ireland, in which he recited a poem he wrote about the 1971 Attica prison riots.
These  riots which took place 46 years ago resulted in the death of 39 people, including some prison guards. It all started on September 9, 1971, when a black inmate was killed while trying to escape the prison. Over the following four days, up to 2,200 black prisoners rebelled against the prison guards, taking 42 of them hostage. Nelson Rockerfeller, the then governor, refused to negotiate with the prisoners demands for better treatment and conditions. Soldiers raided the prison facility on September 13, dropping teargas and then shooting randomly into the smoke for two minutes non-stop. 29 prisoners were killed on the spot. 9 prison guards were also killed on that day, some with slit throats, suggesting that the prisoners had killed their hostages in retaliation for the raid. 1 hostage died of a gunshot wound later on.
After reading the poem, Muhammad Ali related the struggle of the Afro-Americans for freedom and justice to the struggle of the Irish against British imperialism. The transcript of the poem can be read as follows :-

Freedom - Better Now
Better far— from all I see—
To die fighting to be free
What more fitting end could be?
Better surely than in some bed
Where in broken health I'm led
Lingering until I'm dead
Better than with prayers and pleas
Or in the clutch of some disease
Wasting slowly by degrees
Better than a heart attack
or some dose of drug I lack
Let me die by being black
Better far that I should go
Standing here against the foe
Is the sweeter death to know
Better than the bloody stain
on some highway where I’m lain
Torn by flying glass and pane
Better calling death to come
than to die another dumb,
muted victim in the slum
Better than of this prison rot
if there’s any choice I’ve got
Kill me here on the spot
Better for my fight to wage
Now while my blood boils with rage
Less it cool with ancient age
Better violent for us to die
Than to Uncle Tom and try
Making peace just to live a lie
Better now that I say my sooth
I’m gonna die demanding Truth
While I’m still akin to youth
Better now than later on
Now that fear of death is gone
Never mind another dawn.

Powerful stuff indeed, which leaves me to remind you of his other often light hearted rhymes that he often used in his pre-match hype, to try and  'trash talk his opponents, which  I am grateful to an acquaintance named Barac Zita whose facebook post earlier today inspired this post :-

'Float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee
The hands can't hit
what the eyes can't see'



"Everyone knew when I stepped in town,
I was the greatest fighter around.
A lot of people called me a clown,
But I am the one who called the round.
The people came to see a great fight,
But all I did was put out the light.
Never put your money against Cassius Clay,
For you will never have a lucky day."

— In 1962, when Ali was still Cassius Clay.

 "Now Clay swings with a right, what a beautiful swing.
And the punch raises the Bear clear out of the ring.
Liston is still rising, and the ref wears a frown.
For he can't start counting 'til Sonny comes down.
Now Liston disappears from view.
The crowd is getting frantic,
But our radar stations have picked him up. He's somewhere over the Atlantic.
Who would have thought when they came to the fight
That they'd witness the launching of a human satellite.
Yes, the crowd did not dream when they lay down their money
That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.
I am the greatest."

— Part of a poem before his upset title victory over Sonny Liston Feb. 25, 1964.

"Joe's gonna come out smokin',
But I ain't gonna be jokin'.
This might shock and amaze ya,
But I'm going to destroy Joe Frazier."

— Before losing to Joe Frazier in their first fight March 8, 1971.

 "You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned?
Wait 'til I whup George Foreman's behind.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
His hand can't hit what his eyes can't see.
Now you see me, now you don't.
George thinks he will, but I know he won't.
I done wrassled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale.
Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick.
I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."

— Before regaining the title by upsetting George Foreman Oct. 30, 1974.

"I got speed and endurance.
You'd better increase your insurance."
— To Larry Holmes before his one-sided loss in a bid to become a heavyweight champion for the fourth time Oct. 2, 1980.

Then there is this one about his famous rumble in the jungle with George Foreman, Ali and Foreman may have been adversaries in the ring but became firm  friends.

Last night I had a dream - Muhammad Ali

Last night I had a dream, When I got to Africa,
I had one hell of a rumble,
I had to beat Tarzan's behind first,
For claiming to be King of the jungle,
For this fight, I've wrestled with alligators,
I've tussled wih a whale,
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I'm bad,
just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalised a brick,
I'm so mean, I make medicine sick,
I'm so fast man,
I can run through a hurricane and don't get wet.
When George Foreman meets me,
He'll pay his debt,
I can drown the drink of water, and kill a dead tree,
Wait till you see Muhammad Ali.

I'll leave you with this rather nice one :-

He took a few cups of Love - Muhammad Ali

He took a few cups of love,
He took one tablespoon of patience,
One teaspoon of generosity,
One pint of kindness,
He took one quart of laughter,
One pinch of concern,
And then he mixed willingness with happiness,
He added lots of faith,
And he stirred it up well,
Then he spread it over a span of a lifetime,
And he served it to each and every deserving person he met.

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision.” - Muhammad Ali

Undoubtedly the greatest, Boxing  poet, and champion of civil rights of our time. 

Rest in Power Muhammad Ali

Cofiwch Dic Penderyn/ Remember Dic Penderyn

                                                  image attributed to Dewi Bowen 
 

On the 3rd of  June 1831 working class martyr Dic Penderyn was hanged at the age of 23. on the gallows in St. Mary's Street, outside Cardiff gaol.

In the early summer of 1831, many of the towns and villages of industrial Wales were marked by political and social unrest. Terrible working conditions in the mines and iron works were made even worse by wage cuts, and in some cases by the laying off men as demand for iron and coal fell away.In Merthyr Tydfil there were serious riots in the streets, and on  3 June 1831 a mob ransacked the building in the town where court records of debt were stored. 
From May-June 1831, the Welsh working class exploded onto the pages of history in a ferocious uprising unprecedented in British history.  Its roots lay in the deep discontent which had been evident for many years,the preceding years had seen the emergence of popular protest movements like the Barley-Meal Riots of 1801 and the South Wales strike of 1816, which paralysed the coalfields. Against a backdrop of a collapse in living conditions, with lack of proper sanitation where disease was rife and life expectancy within a working-class household was low, this led to simmering resentment.
In 1829 depression set in in the iron industry which was to last for three years. As a result Merthyr Tydfil Ironmasters made many workers redundant and cut the wages of those in work. Against a background of rising prices this caused severe hardship for many of the working people of the area and, in order to survive, many people were forced into debt

Often they were unable to pay off their debts and their creditors would then turn to the Court of Requests which had been set up in 1809 to allow the bailiffs to seize the property of debtors. As a result the Court was hated by many people who saw it as the reason for their losing their property. The low wages of the industrial workforce, poor working conditions and the implementation of the 'truck'system' by the iron masters, in which workers were not payed real money, but vouchers and tokens valid only in their masters own shops, contributed to ongoing social unrest.
Against this background the Radicals of Merthyr, as part of the National movement for political reform, organised themselves into a Political Union in 1830 to lead the local campaign for reform. In November 1830 they called for demonstrations in Merthyr to protest against the Truck System and the Corn Laws. The campaign was actually supported by some local Ironmasters. William Crawshay of Cyfarthfa Ironworks and Josiah John Guest of Dowlais Ironworks, for example, both supported the campaign. By the end of the year 1830 the campaign had broadened to embrace the Reform of Parliament, and the election of a Liberal Government in Great Britain led to a bill being brought before Parliament to reform the House of Commons. The Bill was welcomed by the Merthyr Radicals as a step in the right direction, although it did not give Merthyr a Parliamentary Constituency and only extended the right to vote to the Middle Classes rather than the workers. In April 1831, however, the Bill was defeated in a House of Commons vote, the Government resigned and a new General Election was called to fight on the issue of Parliamentary Reform.
Despite Crawshay's support for the Reforms he was forced,in March 1831, to announce cuts in the wages of his workers and redundancies. In May the wage cuts took effect and he made 84 of his workers. It was this, combined with similar situations in other ironworks, the hatred of the activities of the Court of Requests, that saw the increasing tension come to a head,
On 30 May 1831 at the Waun Common above Dowlais a mass meeting of over 2000 workers from Merthyr & Monmouthshire discussed petitioning the King for Reform, the abolition of the Court of Requests and the state of wages in the iron industry.
Then on 31 May,  baillifs from the Court of Requests attempted to seize goods from the home of Lewis Lewis, known as Lewsyn yr Heliwr/ Lewis the Hunstsman, at Penderyn, near Merthyr. Lewis refused to let the take his property and, supported by his neighbours, prevented them from entering his home. The Magistrate, J.B.Bruce, was called and he arranged a compromise between Lewis and the bailiffs which allowed the latter to remove a single trunk belonging to Lewis.
The next day a crowd led by Lewis Lewis marched to the home of a shopkeeper who was now in possession took the trunk back by force, and prepared to march to Merthyr. On the march to Merthyr the crowd went from house to house, seizing any goods which the Court of Requests had taken, and returning them to their original owners. They ransacked the house of one of the bailiffs (Thomas Williams) and took away many articles. By this time the crowd had been swollen by the addition of men from the Cyfarthfa & Hirwaun Ironworks. They marched to the area behind the Castle Inn where many of the tradespeople of the town lived and in particular the home of Thomas Lewis, a hated moneylender and forced him to sign a promise to return goods to a woman whose goods he had seized for debt.
On the same day  Thomas Llewellyn, a coal miner, attempted to hold a rally advocating reform at Hirwaun Common. However, the reformers met with a more militant group who wanted to take more radical action. The radicals killed a calf and dipped the white cloth of a reform flag in its blood.On its staff was impaled a loaf of bread, the symbol of their slogan and the needs of the marchers, Bara neu Waed (Bread or Blood) creating a symbol of common suffering and of equality of humankind. They raised the flag on a pole and it was probably the first time the red flag of revolution was flown as a symbol of workers revolt.
Over the next two days some 7,000-10,000 workers marched on Merthyr Tydfil and the town was seized by the workers. After storming Merthyr, the rebels sacked the local debtors’ court and distributed the goods that had been collected. Account books containing debtors’ details were also destroyed. Among the shouts were cries of Caws a bara (cheese and bread) and I lawr â’r Brenin (down with the king).
The Magistrate J.B. Bruce arrived at the scene and realised that this was rapidly becoming a more widespread revolt against the Court of Requests. He and some other magistrates, quickly enrolled about 70 Special Constables, mainly from the town’s tradespeople, to help keep the peace, and then advised the Military Authorities in the town of Brecon that he may need troops sent.
Bruce, along with Anthony Hill, the Ironmaster of the Plymouth Works, tried to pursuade the crowd to disperse, but to no avail. He then had the Riot Act read in both English and Welsh. This also had little effect, and the crowd then drove the magistrates away and attacked Thomas Lewis’ house.
That evening, (the 2nd of June) the crowd assembled outside the home of Joseph Coffin, President of the Court of Requests, demanded the books of the Court and other books in the house, which they then burned in the street along with his furniture.
On hearing of this attack, Bruce decided that he would have to call in the troops after all, and soon, 52 soldiers of the Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry were despatched from Cardiff to Merthyr by coach, and a detachment of the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders were sent from Brecon.
Meanwhile the crowd had marched to the various ironworks and managed to persuade the workers to join them.On their march from Brecon, the Highlanders were mocked and jeered but eventually arrived at the Castle Inn where they were met by the High Sheriff of Glamorgan, the Merthyr Magistrates and Ironmasters and the Special Constables.
The crowd outside the Inn, now some 10,000 strong, again refused to disperse when the Riot Act was read for a second time and pressed ever closer toward the Inn and the soldiers drawn up outside.
Anthony Hill then asked the crowd to select a deputation to put forward their demands. They demanded higher wages, a reduction in the cost of items they used in their work and immediate reform.
The Ironmasters however flatly refused to consider any of these demands, and the deputation returned to the crowd. The High Sheriff then informed the crowd that if they did not disperse, the soldiers would be used against them. William Crawshay and Josiah John Guest also tried to get the crowd to disperse, but they became even angrier and the front ranks of the crowd tried to surround the soldiers. Lewis Lewis was hoisted onto the shoulders of some of the crowd and called for the soldiers to be disarmed by the rioters.The front ranks of the crowd surged forward and threw clubs and rocks at them and even managed to disarm some.
Soldiers fired into the crowd gathered around the Castle Hotel and over 16 rioters were killed and a great many others wounded, later to die of their injuries. Many injustices were committed by the authorities on that day. Not one of the soldiers received a bullet wound and the crowd was largely completely unarmed.The street outside Castle Hotel  was said to have been running with blood, women were screaming and desperately looking for their husbands and sons.
The authorities were certain that this was not the end of the rioting and they moved their headquarters to a safer position at Penydarren House.That night the rioters searched for weapons ready for an attack the next day. They also sent word to the Monmouthshire ironworks in an attempt to obtain furher support.By the 4th of June, more troops including the Eastern Glamorgan Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry and the Royal Glamorgan Militia had arrived in Merthyr. A troop of the Swansea Yeomanry Cavalry (under a Major Penrice) on arrival at Hirwaun, were ambushed when they stopped to rest, being greeted in an apparently friendly manner, but were soon surrounded, their weapons seized and they were forced to retreat to Swansea, where they re-armed and joined the Fairwood Troop for the march back to Merthyr.
A similar ambush was laid at Cefn Coed y Cymmer to stop ammunition being delivered from Brecon.
The Cardiff Troop of Glamorgan Yeomanry Cavalry (under Captain Moggridge) sent out to assist in the passage of the ammunition, was forced to retreat, being fired upon by the rioters and having rocks hurled at them from the hills above. Another troop of 100 Central Glamorgan Yeomanry (under Major Rickards) was sent to assist but were unable to break through the mob.
However Moggridge and the Cardiff Troop  managed to bring the wagons safely to Merthyr by a different route but despite meeting various deputations from the rioters the ironmasters had not managed to persuade them to disperse.
On Sunday the 5th of June, delegations were sent to the Monmouthshire Iron Towns to raise further support for the riots and on on the 6th of June, a crowd of around 12,000 or more marched along the heads of the valleys from Monmouthshire to meet the Merthyr Rioters at the Waun Common.
The authorities decided that rather than wait for this mob to attack them they would take the initiative, and 110 Highlanders, 53 Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry Militia and 300 Glamorgan Yeomanry Cavalry were despatched to stop the marchers at Cefn Coed.
Josiah John Guest tried to address the crowd but to no avail, the Riot Act was read but had no effect, and then the Highlanders and Militia were ordered to level their muskets at the mob and the Yeomanry to draw their sabres. Words of command were given clearly and slowly so that the mob could hear them.With this the crowd gradually dispersed, only a hardcore remaining. Eventually they too gave way. No blood was spilled that day.
After the uprising on the evening of the 6th of June the authorities began raiding houses and arrested 18 of the rebel leaders. Lewis Lewis was found hiding in a wood near Hirwaun and a large force of soldiers escorted him in irons to Cardiff Prison to await trial.
The rising at Merthyr caused shockwaves through the British Government, and it was decided that at swift, strong action must be taken against the ringleaders of this movement. The trials began on the 13th of July at the Cardiff Assizes. 28 men and women were tried, 23 of them ironworkers (12 colliers , 2 women, 2 shoemakers and one blacksmith).
John Phelps, David Hughes, Thomas Vaughan and David Thomas were all found guilty of attacks on the houses of Thomas Williams and/or Thomas Lewis. Phelps was sentenced to transportation for 14 years, the others were sentenced to death (but with a recommendation for transportation for life instead). 
Wounding a soldier received the death penalty, but soldiers could kill with no questions asked as long as the Riot Act had been read. Lewis Lewis and Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) a local miner, were charged with attempting to murder a soldier, a Donald Black of the 93rd Highland Regiment, by stabbing him with a bayonet attached to a gun outside the Castle Inn on the 3rd June. They were both sentenced to death.
Joseph Tregelles Price, A quaker Ironmaster from Neath, took up the case of Dic Penderyn and Lewis Lewis, and presented a petition to Parliament to have them transported instead. There was no evidence that Dic played any substantial part in the rising at all unlike Lewis who was definitely involved, and in fact many people stated on oath that Penderyn was not even present when Black was attacked, and that they also knew who had actually carried out the attack,
Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary, reprieved Lewis Lewis, who was certainly one of those who were most responsible for the riots, and accused of inciting others towards revolution and he was subsequently transported to Australia for the rest of his life, but would not even consider reprieving Penderyn, and sought to make an example out of him, who was clearly seen to have been much less involved. Many  believe that the  reason, Penderyn was chosen to be hanged, was precisely because he wasn't one of the leaders, but a typical worker in the town and was simply targeted  to show all other workers what would be in store for them if they stepped out of line.
Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) was taken from his cell at Cardiff Prison at Dawn on the 13th of August 1831, to the gallows at St.Mary Street, Cardiff and was executed before a large crowd, despite the appeal of thousands of people for his life. After he was cut down, his body was transported across the Vale of Glamorgan by his fellow workers and friends and thousands grieved and lined the route as Dic's coffin was taken from Cardiff to Aberavon where he was buried in St Mary's churchyard, Port Talbot where a memorial was placed on his grave by local trade unionists in 1966.. .  

Dic Penderyn was believed to have been innocent of the crime for which he was executed, and many people over the years  submitted petitions to the Home Office for a posthumous pardon, for the man who is still seen as, and will always be revered as the first Martyr of the Welsh working class people.

He is remembered as a symbol  of the working man who died protesting against oppression and is commemorated in books and songs. A memorial was unveiled outside the library in Merthyr Tydfil by the General Secretary of the TUC in 1977.

Outside the market on St Mary Street, Cardiff near the spot where he was executed, you will find a plaque in commemoration of his execution. To the last he protested his innocence, and his final words in Welsh were an anguished cry at injustice. “O Arglwydd, dyma gamwedd” “O Lord what an iniquity” he shouted, as the hangman’s noose was tightened.
In 1874, the Western Mail reported that a man named Ianto Parker confessed on his death bed that he stabbed the soldier and then fled to America fearing capture by the authorities, thus exonerating Dic Penderyn. Another man named James Abbott, who testified against Penderyn at the trial, also later admitted that he lied under oath.

In his death Dic Penderyn  in his martyrdom became a symbol of those who resist and fight oppression wherever it is found..
The Merthyr Rising of 1831 still resonates in both Welsh and British working-class history. As Marxist historian Gwyn Alf Williams  https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/09/gwyn-alf-williams-30-0925-161195.html argued, this was in no small part to Dic Penderyn himself, the Welsh working-class’s first popular martyr. The story of thousands of workers coming together to fight their bosses and rulers continued to inspire future generations, and that the events of 1831 in Merthyr were central to the emergence of a working class in south Wales:in that year its pre-history came to an end and its history began.
There is no doubt in the aftermath of the rising  it changed Welsh history with the growth of militancy among the workers of South Wales, with many workers joining trade unions to fight collectively for their rights. Resistance became more organised and militant newspapers flourished.The resistance articulated itself through the Chartist movement, which armed workers for the strike waves of the early 20th century.
It was also from this Rising that the red flag spread across the world as a symbol of the socialist and communist movement, inspiring  Jim Connell's lyrics in The Red Flag itself:

The people’s flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts’ blood dyed its ev’ry fold.

Sources; 

Gwyn Alf Williams - The Merthyr Rising, University of Wales Press

The following video tells the story of the execution of Dic Penderyn with music by Martin Joseph :- 

There's wisdom in her eyes

                       
               ( photo courtesy of Stephanie Burgess, a poem for Jane, the mighty furbster )

There's wisdom in her eyes,
Kindness in her heart,
Laughter and faithfulness,
She carries a familiar strength,
That urges sadness to depart,
Brings me peace and light.
This mighty furbster flower,
Precious loving being,
A dream within a dream,
Encourager and friend.
Dear gentle beautiful soul
Who in life has bought good fortune,
Many blessings delivered to my door,
Taught me how to remain positive,
Filled the days with grace,
Her presence makes the world,
                            a better place,
I will follow forever all her days,
The wisdom of her eyes,
Ever clear, ever sacred, ever bright.