( Earlier I heard that Thomas Mair, right wing extremist had been found
guilty of murdering Labour MP Jo Cox, a mother of two young children, a
wife and tireless campaigner. The following unashamedly raw poem is
dedicated to her memory and all other victims of the ideology of
fascism.)
The Spectre of Fascism is haunting the World
They call themselves the 'alt right'
they are given a platform by sites like Breitbart,
now they're in the bloody Whitehouse
fascism that's swapped its jackboots for business suits
if you're not worried yet, you're not paying enough attention!
on the brink of World War Three
do we ignore lessons from our history,
as the spectre of fascism haunts the world again
Le Pen, Trump, Farage all cut from the same cloth,
bringing no fresh light for us to consume
complacently deciding who to pick on next,
aiming at all they consider, less than them
hatred breeding, running amok.
The fascist logic is cruel follows all seasons
knows no reason it is inhumanity's curse
orders genocide and feels no remorse
asphyxiates and destroys freedoms torch,
lets the cruelty of abuse loose
for truth to be buried and hidden,
tears to flow with the weight of knowing
as they blame their victims, insisting they are grateful,
we should always listen to the voices that survived
tortured and abused, tongues of masses silenced,
threatened, shaken, shackled,shat upon
corrupted, stamped left crying in rain,
women and children raped to stigmatise
left abandoned drowning in vomit, smeared in blood.
We all place ourselves in danger
when we refuse to condemn,
viruses spread when not confronted
and authoritarianism is a very ugly disease,
from flag waving bigoted fascist bastards
to
right wing suited neo-liberal managerialists,
their free speech treats you like a subhuman
teaches others that you should not exist,
remember terrified people are easily controlled
easily abused, easily conquered, taken over
so inhale the future, exhale their poison
resist them with all the strength you've got
all of them can be beaten, they shall not pass.
(Increasingly I am being bombarded at home on telephone by cold callers, asking me to respond to lifestyle surveys, despite being ex directory, and not being subscribed to any of their services. This is a poetical response.)
I lose my head often in the midst of thought
I feel no sudden loss or
unexplained pain
The telephone rings, disconnects the silence
Are they tapping into my attitude
As I lose my resolve in the middle of day
Answer a cold caller going by the name
of pest.
Good day sir, he says
I'm with opinion research
I would like to ask you a few questions
It will only take a few minutes
And then we will be done
Promise wont ring again
But its never really that simple
Because once bitten, they return again
Usually at a time of most inconvenience.
I simply have no urge to participate
Or time to lose my patience
Its just another boring distraction
They want to know what I consume
What flipping things I like the most
As the world continues to burn.
But there's nothing new to be said
I tell them not to worry or fret
Try not to lose too much sleep
Every day is full of surprises
Consumer lifestyle choices
Really are not my bag.
In the face of social decay and vast corporations
Eating away at the future of humanity
There's enough pesky problems in the world
From birth to death, bitter pills to taste
So please can you stop pestering me
as the phone line goes dead, peace is restored.
This poem can also be found at I am not a silent poet
Answering the call by Neil Young to "Share the News" - this video was
compiled to do just that - fill in the void left by the media's lack of
comprehensive coverage of this most troubling and dangerous situation.As
he has done for more than a half century, Neil Young has answered the
calls for help from the Sioux Tribe. "Indian Givers" was written and
recorded within hours in reply to the encroachment on sacred native
lands by oil companies planning to lay a pipeline.
(The music used here is from a live performance in Pomona, California by Neil Young and Promise of the Real.)
This
would cross sacred burial grounds and the largest water aquifer in the
United States. This also is in direct opposition to a treaty that the
Sioux received from the U.S. government.People now standing up, resisting corporations , protecting turtle island and mother earth, peacefully and unarmed water protectors facing daily police brutality.Water is life, we stand together, we share the news.
Meanwhile when the whole wide world was watching - Hundreds of water protectors were injured at the Standing Rock encampments when law enforcement blasted them with water cannons in freezing temperatures Sunday evening. The attack came as water protestors used a semi-truck to remove burnt military vehicles that police had chained to concrete barriers weeks ago, blocking traffic on Highway 1806. Water protectors' efforts to clear the road and improve access to the camp for emergency services were met with tear gas, an LRAD ( Long Range Acoustic Device), stinger grenades, rubber bullets; and indiscriminate use of a water cannon with an air temperature of 26 degrees Faranheit. Some flares shot by law enforcement started grass fires which were ignored by the water cannons and had to be extinguished by water protectors. Law enforcement also shot down three media drones and targeted journalists with less lethal rounds.
Read More here :-
There's a battle raging on the sacred land
Our brothers and sisters had to take a stand
Against us now for what we all been doin'
On the sacred land there's a battle brewin'
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
Now it's been about 500 years
We keep taking what we gave away
Just like what we call Indian givers
It makes you sick and gives you shivers
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
Big money going backwards and ripping the soil
Where graves are scattered and blood was boiled
When all who look can see the truth
But they just move on and keep their groove
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
Saw Happy locked to the big machine
They had to cut him loose and you know what that means
That's when Happy went to jail
Behind big money justice always fails
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
Bring back the days when good was good
Lose these imposters in our neighborhood
Across our farms and through our waters
All at the cost of our sons and squaw daughters
Yeah our brave sons and daughters
We're all here together fighting poison waters
Standing against the evil way
That's what we have at the end of day
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
I wish somebody would share the news
The BDS movement, in
partnership with other organisations including the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign are calling for an international week of action against Hewlett Packard
over its role in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. The week of
action will take place November 25-December 3, which includes the UN Day
of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29.
Hewlett Packard split into two companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise
(HPE), last year, and two more spin-offs are projected. The various HP
companies share certain logistical infrastructure, governance, supply
chains, and technologies with one another, and they all draw on the HP
brand’s long history of close connections with the Israeli military and
occupation.They may be best-known for their laptops and printers, but they also profit from Israel's illegal occupation and oppression of Palestinians.Hewlett Packard is the second largest investor in Israeli Information
Technology (IT). Their biometric system is used for control and
surveillance of the Palestinian population both inside Israel and in the
occupied Palestinian territories. HP provides services and technology
for Modi'in Illit and Ariel, two of the largest illegal settlements in
the occupied West Bank. HP's Basel system is installed at Israeli
military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. HP supplies computer
systems for the Israeli Ministry of Defense and provides IT
infrastructure for the Israeli Navy, thereby helping enforce the illegal
blockade of Gaza, they also provide for Israel's discriminatory checkpoint and
ID card systems; and continue to profit from
Israeli prisons where7,000 Palestinian political prisoners are held where use of torture is systematic.
While claiming to uphold values of social
responsibility, HP companies are notorious for involvement in oppressive
practices worldwide,HP also contracts with US prisons
and Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE), enabling deportation,
mass incarceration, and solitary confinement in America. It is is high time HP withdrew from their contracts with Israel –
and stopped profiting from discrimination, occupation and human rights
abuses, so from the United Kingdom to Malaysia, from the United States to Italy,
from Germany to Palestine, organizations in cities worldwide are
organizing campaigns and actions to hold HP accountable, and so can you. The Palestinian BDS National Committee and the US Campaign for
Palestinian Rights have launched an international pledge. I personally will not be buying anything from HP for the forseeable future unless they clean up their act and stop profiteering daily from Palestinian humiliation.
We call on Hewlett Packard companies -- including HP Inc., Hewlett
Packard Enterprise, and all spin-offs -- to end all participation in the
brutal oppression of the Palestinian people and other targeted
communities worldwide. We pledge not to purchase products -- including
printers, computers, and ink -- from complicit HP companies, and we call
on retailers, universities, schools, faith communities, investment
funds, municipalities, governments, trade unions, and other institutions
to boycott and divest from HP companies until they cancel all contracts
that supply Israel with technology, equipment, and information used in
its ongoing violations of Palestinian rights and international law.
Join the Global BDS Week of Action : Protest HP Nov 25 - Dec 3, 2016
With forty years of fighting, of exile, of jailings, of living underground, of strikes, and of insurrection, Beunaventura Durutti, the legendary Spanish revolutionary and Anarchist lived many lives. Uncompromising, intransigent revolutionary, he travelled a long road from rebellious young worker to the man who refused all bureacratic positions, honours, awards, and who at death was mourned by millions of women and men. Durutti believed and lived his belief that revolution and freedom were inseperable.
He was born 14 July 1896 in León, northwest Spain, as the second of eight boys born to Anastasia Dumangue, and Santiago Durruti, a railway worker and self-described socialist. Aged 14 he leaves school to become a trainee mechanic in the railway with his father. The pair became members of the UGT, Unión General de Trabajadores (socialist General Workers Union). This quiet start to life changed in August 1917, when the UGT took part in a strike, when the government struck down an agreement between unions and their employers. This soon became a general strike throughout the area. The government brought in the army and within three days the strikers had been crushed. The troops behaved with extreme brutality, killing 70 and wounding 500 workers. 2,000 strikers were jailed. without being tried for any crime.
Young Durruti managed to escape the fighting, and exiled himself to France for safety, where he came into contact with exiled anarchists, whose influence led to him joining the anarchist CNT union upon his return in January 1919. He joins the fight against dictatorial employers in the Asturian mines and is arrested for the first time in March 1919; he escapes and over the next decade and a half he throws himself into activity for the CNT and for the anarchist movement.
These years see him involved in several strikes and being forced into exile. Unwittingly the Spanish government ‘exported’ rebellion, as Durruti and his close friend Francisco Ascaso happily joined the struggle for freedom wherever they ended up, in both Europe and Latin America.
The Spanish monarchy fell in 1931 and Durruti moved to Barcelona; accompanied by his French companion Emilienne, pregnant with their daughter Colette. He joined the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), a specifically anarchist organization, and together with other militants they form the ‘Nosotros’ group. These were members within the CNT of a radical tendency that harboured no illusions with respect to the recently proclaimed Republic, maintaining that the moment was ripe for continued progress towards a social revolution.
With the electoral victory by the liberal/reformist Popular Front in February 1936, Left and Right were on a collision course, initiated very rapidly by Franco’s military rebellion on July 19th 1936. The CNT and the FAI confronted the army with courage, organization and mass mobilizations.
They triumphed in much of Spain despite the fascist superiority in weapons and resources. The anarchist contribution was decisive in resisting the fascists throughout the country and in Catalonia defeated the rebels singlehandedly, Durruti being one of the boldest fighters in this battle.
Jose Buenaventura Durruti, always fought for the poor and downtrodden, and against the State, whether of the social democratic, fascist or marxist varieties When Spanish fascists attempted to overthrow the Republican government on July 19th 1936, Durruti and other comrades helped put down the uprising in Barclenoa. He became a member of the Anti fascist Militia Committee and led the "Durruti" Column an almost mythical group of CNT militants to the Zaragoza front. The Durruti column was able to liberate much of Aragon. He was an inspiration to many as a partisan of the Spanish people with an internationalist vision, who for him personally revolutionary thought and action went hand in hand.
In 1936, after the liberation of Aragon from Franco's forces, Durruti was interviewed by Pierre van Paasen of the Toronto Star. In this interview he gives his views on Fascism, government and social revolution despite the fact that his remarks have only been reported in English - and were never actually written down by him in his native Spanish, well worth reading and can be found here https://libcom.org/history/buenaventura-durruti-interview-pierre-van-paasen
At the beginning of November 1936, Franco's four armies, made up mostly of Moroccans and Legionaires, converged on Madrid. The battle began on November 8th. It was basically a struggle between a well-equipped army supported by German and Italian bombers on one side, and an ill-armed mass of urban workers on the other. There were many women fighting on the republican side. Moreover, in Madrid the Communists were relatively stronger and better organised; they were also supported by various International Brigades.
The battle continued unabated. Franco said that he would rather destroy Madrid completely than leave it to the Marxists. German Nazi troops of the Condor Legion planned to set the city on fire, quarter by quarter. On 14th November Durutti arrived in Madrid from Aragon,by air with 5,000 men (numbers vary according to different accounts).
The column had to go by train as all the railway tracks had been bombed. He went to the frontline on the 16th. From November 16th onwards Madrid was bombed by German planes day and night. In three nights alone over 1,000 people were killed by the bombs. Furthermore, Madrid was cut off from the rest of Spain. In this situation of desperate crisis, Durruti decided to move 4,000 members of his Column from Aragon across the country to help relieve Madrid.
His arrival had a tremendous effect on the besieged workers of the city. It saved Madrid, at least for a while. But tragically on November 19th, just as he was getting out of a car, he was shot by a sniper, receiving a bullet to his chest, as he rallied his militia to continue their resistance after days of fighting without respite. he died the following day, at the age of 40. His death was a tragedy for all free thinkers, in the fight against fascist tyranny. His death was also a turning point in the Spanish Revolution and one of the events that lead to the defeat of the revolution.
His body was returned to Barcelona accompanied by a number of his closest comrades. with over 500,000 people taking to the streets on November 22 1936 to follow his funeral procession, the biggest funeral in Spanish history, a tribute to the place he played in peoples hearts, his coffin draped with the familiar diagonal red and black flag. A hero to the Spanish working class ,and today Durruti remains a lasting icon of anarchism, both in Spain and around the world, a man who.was determined to leave this world a better place than when he entered it. With the rise again of the far right, no better time than to remember this inspirational man who died fighting against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Many years later "we carry a new world, here in our hearts."
Durruti's grave at Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona
Further reading:-
Daniel Guerin - No Gods, no masters; 2006
Durruti - The people Armed - Abel Paz
Durruti in the Spanish Revolution - Abel Paz
Spanish Civil War (1936-37) (Buenaventura Durruti)
The film above shows the period of revolution that gave in Spain in the
years of civil war, and highlights the hero killed by the
bourgeoisie (Buenaventura Durruti).and how social peace was achieved thanks to the collectivization of land and the elimination of social classes.
Living Utopia - The Anarchists and the Spanish Revolution
Living Utopia is a unique documentary that blends the historical account of the origins and development of the Spanish anarchist movement, focussing on the 1936 war. A reflection on the philosophical underpinnings of such a movement and their practical application. As both an informative and inspiring piece of research it is considered a jewel amongst historians and rebel hearts. This documentary-film by Juan Gamero consists of 30 interviews with survivors of the 1936-1939 Spanish Revolution, and is one of the best documentaries dealing with the theme. The testimony of the anarchist militants are very moving indeed, and are showing the constructive work of the social revolution in Spain. This "Anarchy in Action" meant: on the land around 7 million peasants form collectives, in the city 3000 workplaces collectivised, 150 000 join the anarchist militias to fight fascism, as well as cultural activities and the movement of the Mujeres Libres to free the women from patriarchy.
Spanish with english subtitles
" We have always loved in slums and holes in the wall. We will know how to accommodate ourselves for time. For you must not forget we can also build. It is we who built the palaces and cities here in Spain and America and everywhere. We the workers, can build others to take their place. And better ones. We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing every minute."
On 19 November 1915: Swedish songwriter, cartoonist and itinerent worker, Joel Emanuel Hagglund, aka Joe Hill,
was executed by firing squad in Salt Lake City, Utah, for a crime he
didn't commit. Joe was an organiser and songsmith for the anarcho-synicalist Industrial Workers of the World. The Wobblies as IWW members were called, were unrepentant revolutionaries, calling for ' one big union' and for the overthrow of capitalism. Swedish born, he
emigrated to New York aged 23, with his brother Paul, after the death
of his parents, spending his time as a wandering itinerant and musical
troubadour, engaging in the struggles of his time, hopping from one
freight train to the next, working as a labourer, washer of dishes,
sweeper of floors, moving cargo on docks, picking crops and working in
construction. He was later to adopt the name Joe Hill after being
blacklisted after trying to start a union in Chicago. Joe Hill active in the Labour movement throughout his live,he would go to Mexico at the time of the revolution in 1911, fighting with his comrades under a red flag like the true rebel that he was, tryng to overthrow the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Next stop onto San Diego in 1912vto support fellow workers protesting against police banning of street meetings. Then onto British Columbia helping organise a national construction strike, then on to San Pedro to help dockworkers. Joe saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail.Hill had taken popular songs of the day and inserted his own
lyrics,satirical, irreverent, often humorous,commenting on the plight of
the working class in America. He would inspire many, his fellow workers and comrades, but to the bosses he was someone to be feared, someone they considered dangerous, he was in their eyes a marked man. In January 1914, he
was arrested in Salt Lake City on trumped up charges and accused of murder.On the evening of 10th January 1914 in Utah he sought medical
treatment for gunshot wounds, he claimed they had been inflicted upon
him after quarrel with a man over a woman, and refused to elaborate
anymore, earlier that evening in another part of town, a grocer and his
son had been shot and killed. One of the assailants was wounded, so
Hill's injury implicated him in the incident. Yet despite the
uncertainty of witnesses, no one coming forward to identify him as one
of the assailants at the scene of the crime no blood of Hills found at
the scene a local jury was convinced of his guilt. No physical evidence
linking him to the murder he was accused of. He was scheduled to be shot by firing squad, this caused outrage
across the world. an international campaign to exonerate him was
launched, from Britain to other European countries and even President
Woodrow Wilson calling for a retrial. Those looking at the case
eventually declared its willingness to hear testimony from the woman's
husband, but Hill loyally refused to identify his alleged assailant in
case it damaged the reputation of the lady involved. Sadly the eventual day came and he was executed and shot down by firing squad on this day 19th November 1915. Whilst waiting his execution he wrote the following words which were later turned into song :- My will is easy to decide for I have nothing to divide My kin don't need to weep and moan Moss does not cling to a rolling stone My body? oh, If I could choose I would to ashes it reduce And let the merry breeze blow My dust to where some flowers grow Perhaps some fading flower then Would soon grow up and grow green again This is my last and final will Good luck to all of you, Joe Hill
In his final letter to IWW leader Bill Haywood he wrote: "Goodbye Bill.
I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning.
Organize." He died
proclaiming his innocence and just before he was assassinated in reply to a question if he had anything further to say he answered "Fire" unfortunately they did. Up to 30,000 people would attend his funeral, he was subsequently
cremated and his ashes divided into 600 envelopes, that were sent to IWW
branches across the globe. From his conviction to his death he became
an icon for workers everywhere, and his subsequent execution sent
echoes around the world. For many his spirit and his legacy lives on.
Yesterday it was announced that the royal residence of Buckingham Palace is to undergo a major refurbishment to the whopping estimated cost of £389 million,at a time when there is a national housing crisis, the NHS is in crisis, austerity is forcing cuts in many front line services.
In these hard times how many hungry mouths could be fed, instead of wasting it on these parasites.Currently Liz and her family are currently extremely wealthy individuals living rent-free, whilst many of the Queen's subjects are increasingly finding it hard to get by. Britain is going through a time of national economic and social stress due to Brexit, austerity and so on.The Conservative Government currently imposing a draconian, financially-crippling
sanction system on jobseekers because they don’t want to pay any money
to people who are out of work and simply don’t care if those people come
to harm as a result.I'm sure the oldest and most vulnerable in our society are happy Liz is having her house
refurbished at tax payers expense, when they cant afford to heat their homes or put enough nutritional meals on the table.Over a million Brits were forced into using foodbanks last year, the NHS is in ".5bn of debt, with hospital chiefs warning us its capacity is stretched to breaking point.And if the public wasn't angry enough already, despite their being no money in the pot for a collapsing NHS, the government have managed to find an extra £389 million down the back of sofa for repairs to flipping Liz's 775 extravagant pad.
The
royals think Buckingham Palace is theirs to use and ours to pay for,but
its time they were told to look after the buildings themselves, raise
their own revenue to fund maintenance or time for them to give the palace back to the people. It would probably be far less expensive to actually knock the run down
building down, it is not fit for purpose anyway , a relic of another age, Liz does not
even spend much time there anyway, over at her other modest pads,
windsor or balmoral. We could alternatively replace it and build much needed affordable social
houses on the site and simply abolish the monarchy at huge savings to
the whole country and the public purse. It's not even the most beautiful
building to look at , just an extravagant untidy mess.
In terms of public perception. the timing of this announcement could not have been worse,thousands of people seem to think,that it is the royals themselves who should foot the bill for Her Maj’s luxury pad.A petition
suggesting The Crown and its estates should pay for the renovations has
received just shy of 15,000 backers. I would urge you sign it , the
British monarchy have sponged of us long enough. While they keep
receiving more free money from tax payers while there are cuts to
NHS, cuts to ESA and other disability benefits, homelessness and poverty
are rife and we are told this is austerity. This latest announcement is
immoral and obscene.It is vile that we are even considering this at
all. Public money should not be wasted away for this purpose when there
are so many more pressing needs of much more deserving urgency. Whatever your beliefs about the monarchy, it
is a slap in the face to
know that due to financial mismanagement within the Royal Household
that their buildings have fallen into such states of disrepair. It is time to stop using public money to prop up them up,the decision to give away our money wasn’t actually made by the royals ,it was
made by Theresa May and her Conservative
Government, their handing the royals £396m for a makeover of Buckingham palace is simply scandulous and outrageous.
The Queen using some of her vast wealth to pay for the upkeep of the
Palace - would be an act that I could support and one that would create
greater national unity.I just don't want the funds to come out of benefits for pensioners
struggling to pay heating bills, single-parent families, funds for the
NHS etc at this difficult time.
Inspiring music video from the Gaza strip which allows us to see this place from a different perspective. In this place where electricity flows for just eight hours each day, in this open prison where 1.8 million Palestinians are now contained. Many young Gazan musicians and singers are starved of permanent performance spaces,but despite bombardment, explosions, rockets, violence, struggle, terror, borders, all these restrictions, increasingly many are now using the internet ,when that is they can access it ,to display their talents and share their messages of hope, peace and freedom to the world. Awesome. May they keep on singing.
Director Yousef Nateel Art Supervisor
Abd Alrahman Alsabbah Director of photography Hussien Jaber Camera Cast Hussien Jaber Khalid Tuaima Youssif Almashharawi Camera Assistant Marwan Alsawaf Mohammed Nateel Khalil Nateel Drone Rushdi Alsarraj Editing Yousef Nateel Color Correction & Grading Mahmoud Abu Zayda Music arrangement Mohammed Salem Music Supervision Alaa Shublaq Mohammed Albaz Mixing and Mastering Ali Aljojo Recorded at Mashael Studio Oud Player Mussa Abu ZanounaReem AnbarGuitaristMohammed AlbazAya Mghamis Cajon DrumSaid Fadel Performers by order Khaled Abu Ramadan Ameer Abu Mualiq - CAMP’S SON Mahmoud Salman - INTIFADA Iyad Zorob - RIOTS Mohammed Lafi - RIOTS Zina Abu Al Ouf Abd El Monem Awad AKA FAWDA Mahmoud Almughrabi – Almughrabi Mohammed Alaidi – Handala Sari Ibrahim Ayman Mghamis – Abu Joury Hadeel Fawzi Mohammed Albaz General Supervisor & Coordinator Ayman Mghamis aka Abu Joury Special Thanks Montaser Alsabe Hazem Alabyad Hussein Owda Anas Alnajjar Mohammed Almadhoun Fares Anbar Special Thanks To Marna House Hotel Produced by Riksteatern logo Funded by Postkodlotteriet logo
On June 27th, 1905, The Industrial Workers of the World , also known as
the wobblies was founded at a twelve day Convention in Chicago.In the belief that industrial unionism, could it come into being, would tend to be revolutionary.The wobbly
motto is ' An injury to all is an injury to all.'
They were noted for their use of poetry and song to promote their
radical ideas, publicise strikes and other protests and generally
present the case that still holds up today,
that there can be no solution to industrial warfare, no end
to injustice and want, until the profit system itself is
abolished.In striving to unite labor as a class in one big union. The
IWW also seeks to build the structure of a new and better
social order within the shell of the old system which fails
to provide for the needs of all.Combined with a commitment to workers solidarity which they have a rich history off, along with their militant tactics.
Their work was designed to provoke thought,
and was deliberately immediate in its message, in order to get it across
to as many people as possible. In the present moment progressives- and in fact, all people of good will- need to reassert and embrace the political, social and economic case for, “An injury to one is an injury to all.” We need to explicitly and loudly embrace a movement across the divides
of race, religion, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity against hate
and greed.
The wobblies are still going strong , still organising, still resisting.In these divided times,of economic despair, they continue to be a strong radical voice that stands defiantly, on
behalf of the people, following an old tradition of solidarity that does
not seperate along lines of nationality, race or gender, speaking too
to the unemployed, the sick, and the marginalised spreading messages
of hope among the carnage that is currently being unveiled.
I happen to be a member, an organisation that I believe does not condemn the actions of its membership, that listens and understands.
One of Woody Guthrie's greatest protest songs,is Deportees.It details the tragic event of January 28, 1948 and the crash of a U.S Immigration Service plane near Los Gatos Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) west of California, carrying undocumented
immigrants who were being deported from California to Mexico. During World War II there was a shortage of farm workers in California
so the federal government set up the braceros program which allowed
Mexican immigrants to legally come to California and relieve the
shortage. A common trick of the time was to bring the low-paid workers over the
border from Mexico with contracts that were intentionally flawed (in
English) so that they would have no legal force.Following a season of
backbreaking work in California's orchards and fruit fields, the braceros would at times be rounded up as illegals because of the invalid contracts and deported without being paid at all. Once their contracts were up, they were, in a sense, taken back to the border.The Mexican workers were fine to be used as cheap labour and then simply cast aside when they were not needed anymore.After the war, the California growers liked the cheap labor so
much that they encouraged (bribed) congress to keep it in place. It
wasn't ended until 1964.
Subsequently all 32 people on board this plane
were killed. But while news accounts listed the names of the four people
in the flight crew, the 28 undocumented victims were just listed as
Mexican deportees.
This upset folk musician Woody and inspired by what he considered the racist mistreatment of the passengers before and after the accident, (who were buried in a mass grave and not given individual
gravestones, just marked by a single plaque, which read only : “28 Mexican Citizens
Who Died In An Airplane Accident Near Coalinga California On Jan. 28,
1948 R.I.P.”) to explode into anger and write a poem entitled "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos." It wasn't until nearly 10 years later that a Martin Hoffman , a teacher put the words to music.Becoming known the world over as "Deportee".Woody humanised the dead migrants as only he could.To Guthrie, they are not merely deportees: They have names (Juan, Rosalita, Jesus, Maria) and families.
Tim Z. Hernandez, a California poet and author, was also offended. In
late 2010, while researching archives for his novel “Mañana Means
Heaven,” he came across the headline “100 Prisoners See An Airplane Fall
From the Sky.” A story about the crash, and it changed the
course of his career. He grew up in the farming communities of the San
Joaquin Valley, and he connected with Guthrie’s poem because it echoed
his own feelings of injustice for the 28 Mexican men and women who were
left unnamed. As he continued to read about the incident, Hernandez realized that this
plane crash and the crash mentioned in Guthrie’s song were one and the
same.But instead of simply lamenting the loss, Hernandez embarked on a nearly two-year quest for the long-forgotten names.Teaming up with the Diocese of Fresno to track down the workers' names,
their family members and their stories. While the diocese's church
register had partial, misspelled names, the writer and diocese officials
pulled death certificates for all the workers and reconstructed their
full names. With the help of Carlos Rascon, Director of Cemeteries for the Diocese
of Fresno, he obtained lists from the Fresno Hall of Records, the Deparment of Labour and St.
John’s Cathedral, where the original funeral mass was held. The lists
matched, and the two worked to adjust misspellings of the names. Hernandez also decided to write “All They Will Call You,” a book about the
tragedy to try to bring attention to those who were forgotten which hopefully will come out next year.
Also with the solidarity and help from the folk and grassroots community was able to amass enough money for a new headstone to mark their memory. Like Woody Guthrie before him he knew that immigrants were more than just labels like “illegal” or “deportee,” they were human beings that deserved to be treated with respect and dignity.The victims were honored in September 2013 by more than 600 people who had gathered at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno for an elaborate memorial service and the
unveiling of a large headstone that lists each victim.Renditions of "Deportee" were performed at the memorial.
Their names read thus :-
Miguel Negroros Alvarez
Francisco Llamas Duram
Santiago Garcia Elizondo
Rosalio Padilla Estrada
Tomasa Avena De Garcia
Bernabe Lopez Garcia
Salvador Sandoval Hernandez
Severo Medina Lara
Elias Trujillo Macias
Jose Rodriguez Macias
Tomas Padilla Marquez
Luis Lopez Medina
Manuel Calderon Merino
Luis Cuevas Miranda
Martin Razo Navarro
Ygnacio Perez Navarro
Roman Ochoa Ochoa
Ramon Ramirez Paredes
Apolonio Ramirez Placencia
Guadalupe Laura Ramirez
Alberto Carlos Raygoza
Guadalupe Hernandez Rodriguez
Maria Santana Rodriguez
Juan Valenzuela Ruiz
Wencealado Ruiz
Jose Valdivia Sanchez
Jesus Meza Santos
Baldomero Marcas Torres
Others aboard the flight:
Francis “Frank” Atkinson, Long Beach, pilot
Marion Harlow Ewing, Balboa, co-pilot
Lillian “Bobbie” Atkinson (married to Frank), Long Beach, stewardess
Frank E. Chaffin, Berkeley, immigration guard
It is the power of a song that has kept this tragedy of this incident alive, long after all the participants and witnesses have died.After stealing Mexican and Native American land for years, despite this history of injustice a certain
politician now wants to build even more walls of oppression. This song continues to reminds us that the immigration problem isn't new, but has a long history. Woody's song, and the wide variety of musicians who have covered the song over the years reflects the sense of loss inspired by the story, and serves to remind us of the many immigrants who have
worked, suffered, been deported and continue to do so.Mexican farm workers, both legal and
illegal, still being used in great numbers. Many of them commute between
Mexico and California annually as work comes and goes. Woody's words can still move us, raising attention of the many neglected, disadvantaged, downtrodden people who are effected by American Governmental policies in our present times.
I am currently delighted however that every morning I wake up I get to read about the fantastic anti Trump demos taking place across the U.S and the amazing people that still manage to find the courage to stand up and speak out for a world where security is based on cooperation and community. And a world where all people are able to reach their full human potential and are treated with respect. No human is illegal. Love trumps hate and so does human dignity.
Here is a link to Tim Z Hernandez own website that offers much more additional information to the event that inspired Woody Guthrie's poem and song :- https://timzhernandez.com/
Deportees
Words; Woody Guthrie
Music; Marty Hoffman
The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be "deportees"
My father's own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters come working the fruit trees,
And they rode the truck till they took down and died.
Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract's out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts,
We died in your valleys and died on your plains.
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes,
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, "They are just deportees"
Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except "deportees"?
Here are some of my favourite versions of this song.
Pete Seeger - Deportee
Christy Moore - Deportee
Ani di Franco and Ry Cooder - Deportee
Outernational with Tom Morello and Cuentame - Deportee with moving video that highlights the continuing struggle of migrants and deportees cross this great nation.
