When there’s someone, one someone, who makes your days brighter,
makes your joys greater, makes your heart lighter…Someone, one someone,
you want to share with, do everything with, go everywhere. Someone, one
someone you want to live for…You have something called love.”
- Kahlil Gibran
Today would have been my beloved's birthday, she would have turned 58years young, nevertheless her spirit and magic I still feel on every
sunrise, in the early morn, after the moon has set , arriving every
dawn, neither west, east, south or north, her petals following no
borders,her footsteps still following rhythmic beats of the world,
dancing freely, I still see her holding out her hands, in these days of
confusion her words still clear, I tell myself she is free, where skies
gleam and trees sway ,a drifting peaceful beauty.I offer to sweet Jane
this poem.
Accordian Player
With delicacy her hands played
tunes of light and magic,
gently squeezed through her fingers
made dreary days get filled with light,
deeply concentrating,she would release a smile
intricate notes casting joy, melodious accord,
bouncing bellows, jigs and reels
bringing the lungs of her instrument to life,
weaving music, stitched in time
dissipating sadness, releasing endearment,
my mind's eye will always honour
a once familiar sound and sight so loved,
I carry her memory deep in heart
Rays of warmth will never depart,
I miss her greatly but am out of tears
this vision soars now forever over summer skies.
Under the glowing sun
my garden is quilted
by memories of angels
who drifted far away,
but underneath a painted sky
bluebells dance,and earth vibrates
releasing her shouldering power
growing stronger as afternoon passes
shaking the waking steam of thought
chaos bubbles into order.
Embracing the magic of summer
arms outstretched, inner peace is released,
in reflective moments of tranquility
surrender to natures beauty,
enchantment bringing happiness
I light a jazz cigarette, feel at ease,
in calmness, forget the worries of the world
in this peaceful space, nourishment sipped.
"Die Religion ist das Opium des Vokes" "Dir Religion ist das Opium des Vokes" "Dir Religion ist das Opiun des Volkes"
Happy birthday Karl Marx, shame about the millions, who died in your name, however lets allow some of your thoughts, to grow, beyond sectarianism, you who believed that religion was the opium of the people, meaning that it was imposed upon the ordinary person in order to control him. Who personally believed in no such thing as God or Gods. Born into a middle class jewish family came to believe that religion was basically used to suppress people, with a complete negation of reasoning. Who wanted a society based on reality, on truths, a society where the individual took responsibility and did not leave everything to a belief system or a supreme being. Personally speaking, it feels like in a lot of cases religion can make you a puppet, I believe in science, but sometimes when feeling irrational the supernatural, I do though carry a political faith. And a drug that can keep people happy in the short term, has the potential of appeal, any numbness of pleasure in this world, that gives immediate pleasure, that is a quick fix, a short cut to immediate pleasure, can it all be roundly condemned? Consequences can be quick, but in the long term consciences can deaden. Some say the internet and facefuck does this every day. Hey ho. One day soon we might have a chance to overthrow the capitalist system too, before it's to late. Power to the people, create your own illusion. Do it yourself.
The following is an extract from Karl Marx's introduction to the critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, first published in 1844.
" For Germany, the criticism of religion has been completed, and the critisism of religion is the prequisite of all critisism.
The profane existence of error is compromised as soon as its heavenly oratio pro aris et focis (" speech for the altars and hearths," i.e, for God and country) has been refuted. Man, who has found only the reflection of hiimself in the fantastic reality of heaven, where he sought a superman, will no longer feel disposed to find the mere appearance of himself, the non-man, where he seeks and must seek his true reality.
The foundation of irreligious criticism is : Man makes religion , religion dos not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man - state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because thet are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their conditions is to call on them to give up a conditon that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
Criticism has plucjed the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. The criticism of religion disillisions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.
It is therefore, the task of history, once the other-world of truth has vanished, to establish the truth of this world. It is the immediate task of philosophy, which is in the service of history, to unmask self-estrangement in its unholy forms once the holy form of human self-estrangement has been unmasked. Thus the critisism of Heaven tirns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics."
They teach us to be subservient and respectful
To obey their rules, which they change whenever they choose,
Treat us with hatred and derision, humiliation and disrespect
Destroying communities, continuing to insult and neglect.
They teach us about pain and desperation,
Tell us everything's alright when it isn't,
Turning a blind eye for their own means
That we've been conditioned not to notice.
They teach us, about broken promises, desolation
Ghost like towns, where hope and love has gone,
Levels of greed everywhere, forces of negation
As we stumble and fall, all they offer is rejection.
They teach us, about abandonment and disillusion
Hatred and division seeping daily through our lives,
Barbarism and racism swallowing up hearts and mind
Time to depart this darkness, these tides that bind.
They teach us, how to question, rippling waves bursting through
With different rays of possibility,for the many not the few,
Springing back with resilience,bringing a splash of hope
In our country sinking in the mire, with faith we can delope.
The above image of the hoisting of the Red Flag over the Reichstag 2 May 1945, has come to represent the total victory of Soviet Russia however the red flag was actually first raised on the Reichstag on April 30 as the Red Army and the Nazis were still fighting for control of the building . Erected in 1894, the Reichstag's architecture was magnificent for it's time. The building contributed much to German history and was considered by the Red Army the symbol of their enemy, and the heart of Nazi Germany
On May 2, two days after Hitler had killed himself and the same day that General Helmuth Weidling, the last remaining commander of the Nazi forces defending the German capital, ordered ' the immediate cessation of resistance, and thus surrendering the city to the Red Army, Yevgeny Khalder a 28 year old -photojournalist and Red Army naval officer (1917 -1997) was ready to record the symbolic image of Germany's capitulation after days of intnense fighting.
The above photograph was actually staged for propaganda purposes, but nonetheless became an iconic symbol of the Soviet Union's triumphant victory over Nazi Germany.Next to Joe Rosenthal's photo of raising the flag on Iwo Jima, Khaldei's photo, is perhaps the most famous of Worf War 11, But unlike Rosenthal's his was both staged and doctored. Noting the publicity the Iwo Jima photos had recieved , Soviet officials, ordered Khaldei to fly from Moscow to Berlin in order to take a similar photo that would symbolise the Soviet victory over Germany. Khaldei carried with him a large flag, sewn from three tablecloths for this very purpose, by his uncle. When Khaldei arrived in Berlin he had considered a number of settings for the photo, including the Brabdenburg Gate and Temelhof Airport but he decided on the Reichstag, even though Soviet soldiers had already succeeded in raising a flag over the building. He met a young comrade in the burnt out parlament building and persuaded him to pose on the roof with the flag, Two other Red Army soldiers joined them to recreate the scene above..
Before the photo's first publication in Ogoniok, a Russian magazine, Khaldei realised that one of the three Soviet soldiers on the roof was wearing two watches, one on each wrist, a clear sign of looting which did not fit into the heroic image of the Red army. He scratched the second watch from the negative. Dark billowing clouds of smoke were added also to a later version of the photograph for more dramatic effect.
Another picture of the same scene
German magazine Der Spiegel wrote, "Khaldei saw himself as a propagandist for a just cause, the war against Hitler and the German invaders of his homeland," When asked about the manipulation, Khaldei responded, " It is a good photograph and historically significant. Next question please."
In the years before his death in October 1997, he liked to say: "I forgive the Germans, but I cannot forget."His father and three of his four sisters were murdered by the Germans. As a war photographer from Red Square to the Bhudapst Ghetto, to Yalta and the Nuremberg trials Khaldei chronicled many of the world's most important events with an artist's eye and a journalist's timing. However after the war Khaldei became the victim of anti-Semitism in Stalin's totalitarian dictatorship and struggled to remain employed., but somehow he continued to photograph, now working as a freelance photographer for Soviet newspapers and focused on capturing the scenes of everyday life, In 1959, he got a job again at the newspaper Pravda where he worked until he was forced to retire in 1970. His wartime photographs were later collected in a 93 page book ( Ot Murmanska do Berlina / From Murmansk to Berlin) published in 1984.
Happy May Day/ Beltane. As humanity continues to move in a very funny direction, here is a message of hope and positivity, a retelling of the traditional folk tale Tam Lyn, by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah who cleverly rewrote the tale for a project called the Imagined Village, with a superb backing of electro-reggae from Transglobal Underground, plus a a haunting accompanying
melody from Eliza Carthy. All in all,a pretty good way to start the
month. Solidarity and love.
Tam Lyn (retold)
Don't be scared
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility
It was the first of May
She stepped into the club
Lookin' for the holy herb
And a magical dub
A virgin full of rhythm
Her passion shining bright
Her future in her hand
And she was holding it tight
So she found that holy herb
It was sweet Carribean
She burned that holy herb
In an organic chillum
And she moves to the bass
She retold to creation
They was time and space
For this heavenly maiden
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility
He was a mover and a shaker
Who was prone to temptation
He stepped up in the angel
And made his objection
Saying "Woman was not made
to partake this herb"
He cursed and she was humble
And she called him absurd
Then she took him to a place
That was not very far
They connected at the waist
In the back of her car
Her innocence was gone
In just under an hour
He was forced to hang on
While she flashed her girl power
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility
Love is impatient
It ignores tradition and convention
It is not bound by human constructs
Jurisprudence and the laws of men
Love reaches out and holds open-hearted
It demands attention
It is in a world of its own
Yet it connects worlds that will forever
Be set apart
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Oh I know I have and I feel I have
A sweet hope of glory in my soul
Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war
This is how we go
Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war
This is how we flow
Make love not war
Our man had moved on
Said he was wild
Then our lady found
She was heavy with child
When she told her father
He said go seek him out
She found him six months later
Down town hangin' about
He said who's the daddy
She said you are the one
He said I am an alien
And quite soon I'll be gone
'Cos the land immigration
Want to get rid of me
There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee
There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee
There are people in uniform
Out to get me
There's no peace in my nation
There's nowhere I can hide
If you really do love me
Will you stay by my side?
I can groove on the dance floor
But my baby's quite clear
I don't know all the answers
But I'm trying to relate
Since I've been in exiled
I just don't know my fate
And a best-selling tabloid
Always reeling with hate
There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee
I'm surrounded by war
But there's war inside me
"There's no peace in my nation
and I'm feeling downhearted
When the Beastie Boys get me
I'm told I'll be deported
S"So I need you to hold me tight
For tomorrow in court
And I need you fill yourself
with positive forces
'Cos I wanna be wich' yu
And I wanna live
So I need you to give me
All the love you can give"
So the next day in court
She held him really tightly
Just fifteen minutes before
He went in the dock
So the next day in court
She held him really tightly
Just fifteen minutes before
He went in the dock
And her positive thoughts
Made her touch the almighty
And our brother shivered
From his toes to his locks
He turned into a victim
He turned into a loser
He turned into a pimp
And a real mister mean
But she kept holding on
And when those demon were gone
He turned into himself
Just a cool human being.
And the judge said you can go now
The judge set our man free
He was free to be
Indefinitely
And the judge said you can go now
And our joyous refugee
Just said "Thank you, judge,
and now I plan to raise a family"
So he became a citizen
Our angel became a wife
And they had what modern folks would call
A pretty happy life
They met on the dance floor
On the first of May
And the baby that they had
Grew up to be a club DJ
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility
(For I know I have and I feel I have
a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
For I know I have and I feel I have
a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
This is how we do it
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
this is how we go
(Well I know I have and I feel I have
A sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love, not war,
This is how we go
Make love, not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war,
this is how we flow.
Amber Rudd has finally bowed down to the inevitable and was forced to resign yesterday after 200 MP's signed letter accusing her of making up immigration policy on the hoof. About time too.She was responsible for misleading the government over targets for the deportation of illegal immigrants. Rudd had claimed to a parliamentary committee that her department did not impose targets, but the Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday, that in a private letter to Theresa May in 2017, she had informed the Prime Minister that she intended to boost deportations by 10%.
Rudd's departure deals a further blow to the embattled Prime Minister's leadership, after a misjudged election last year aimed at "strengthening her hand" in Brexit negotiations backfired spectacularly when her Conservative party lost its parliamentary majority.
Theresa May may run but she can't hide. Rudd has shielded her from the Windrush scandal for too long. It's time now for the Prime Minister to take responsibility and consider stepping aside too,let's not forget that it is she that has been the leader that's presided over legislation that's discriminated against a whole group of people who came from the Commonwealth, who suffered racism when they first came over, and then had to relive the trauma all over again because of Theresa May.
Her apologies and excuses are hollow and shallow, and have come too late from the author of cruel and vindictive policy.During the past six years she has been responsible for the deportation of thousands of people. It was she who created draconian immigration rules. In 2013, May oversaw the whipping up of a climate of increasing state and media racism, typified by government sponsored vans featuring anti immigrant 'Go home'! adverts. Introducing the Immigration Act 2014, she boasted of how living in Britain would now' become tougher for illegal immigrants.' Most of the Act had nothing to do will illegal immigration but this did not prevent her using the word 'illegal' every time she said 'immigrant' and 'hardworking' every time she said 'taxpayer''
She was responsible for whipping up a climate of fear, the 2014 act that was draconian enough was swiftly followed by the 2016 Act, which was more of the same, but even harsher. Her apologies for the treatment of Windrush citizens and her assurances no one would be deported would have carried more weight if she had ackowledged her role in the shameful episode and past measures, that have caused so much damage. that she has not shown remorse for, or any regret. It was May who was determined to create what she termed a " hostile environment" for illegal immigrants which had such miserable consequences for the Windrush generation which has since mortified the country.
From the suffering caused by Home Office policies , under Rudd, and Theresa May that has caused such tragedy. From the Windrush generation to the women who've been on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood detention centre, and to anyone threatened by the racist 'go home' vans, these policies have spread misery across the country.What is clear and certain that the government under May will continue to wreck the lives of refugees, asylum seekers, low- paid workers and their families.
Rudd may have gone, but the real architect of these hostile policies remains in Downing Street and the blame for recent scandal remains firmly under her feet, which does not make her own position tenable. From bad to rotten now we have Sajid Javid a hard nosed Tory banker who bought into the Thatcherite philosophy that poor people deserve what they get - nothing, ,whose responses to the Grenfell Tower tragedy were simply appalling, who only a few weeks ago called a democratic grassroots movement " neo fascist" now traking over a Home Office which has inflicted inhumane treatment on British citizens, denied them medical treatment, imprisoned and deported them, who so far has done nothing to suggest that he plans to change immigration policy in any substantial from what happened under his predecessor.
And with Parliament set to debate a petition this week on the amnesty for " anyone who was a minor that arrived in Britain between 1948 to 1971." which would include the Windrush generation, May looks sure to face more difficult questions over her government's handling of the scandal. https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2017/windrush-amnesty-debate-17-19/
Many are now calling for Theresa May to quit too,shadow minister Dawn Butler said "Our Prime Minister Theresa May now has no human shield, it is time for her to follow suit and step down. Labour MP Rosena Allin- Khan added "Rudderless and without direction. Theresa May needs to do the right thing and step down!" .The clock is currently ticking for her , it's time for her to go, at the heart of this Tory Government is its incompetence, vindictiveness and intolerance, and callousness which has damaged the UK's standing and reputation across the world.
The Syrian war, as we all know too well, has been one of the bloodiest of the 21st century. It has bred the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, and the ever climbing death toll, sees no signs of abating. Despite this Syrian artists have managed to render their pain, and create art and to bear witness with artistic memory to this nation torn apart, conveying their hope and despair for the world to see.
The above picture depicting a Statue of Liberty-like structure,rising from the ruins of Syria has recently been doing the rounds of the internet. The image in question is from a work by Syrian Artist, Tammam Azzam, and is actually a digital composition in
which different parts of bombed out buildings are assembled together to
resemble French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s statue.The artist has been in the spotlight previously for addressing the Syrian tragedy through his work ( when he photoshoped in 2013 Klimt’s
“The Kiss” atop a war-ravaged building from Syria). It is one of many pieces created by the artist over the course of this long running conflict.
Another haunting picture of his shows a Syrian building floating on balloons out of the smoking hole in the side of the Twin Towers on 9/11.
One other shows a hand grenade made of brightly coloured flowers which Azzam captioned "Syrian Spring "
Tammam Azzam
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1980, Tammam Azzam received his artistic
training from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus with a
concentration in oil painting. Alongside a successful career as a
painter in Syria, Azzam was a prolific graphic designer. Forced to flee from his home and studio in Damascus at the start of the
Syrian civil war in 2011, Tammam Azzam left behind his painting
materials and reputation as one of Syria’s key artists. Restless in his
exile, Azzam could only watch the developments of the conflict stream
through his Twitter feed, increasing in number and devastation every
day. Anguished in his powerlessness, he could no longer withstand the
despair such destruction caused him. As a substitute for paintbrush and
canvas, Azzam adapted to a new medium: digital art in which to express himself and his sadness with the events that were unfolding in his homeland of Syria.
Henri Matisse, The Dance (1910)
The artist who is
not affiliated with or embedded in any opposition group, moved to Dubai where he spent the next four years. Here in a solo
exhibition held in November 2012 in Ayyam Gallery Dubai (Al Quoz),
digital artworks representing a location the Syrian Uprising has
affected were overlaid with the text, ‘In the revolution’, followed by
the name of the area that witnessed the revolution. Other examples took
the form of fractured and wounded maps of my country, stop signs covered
with bullet holes, bleeding apples, fallen chess pawns and puzzle
pieces, and symbols of peace reconfigured into targets, all symbolizing
the violence and suffering the Syrians are facing.
Azzam who is still an active Twitter user, takes advantage of his
international fame to share updates of the conflict, but he mainly
spreads messages of peace. The artist tweeted an article about the statue of Liberty image to clarify his position and the misleading associations that have been attached to it.
He said pro-Assad and regime loyalists were
sharing the picture and lying about its origins saying: “From a Syrian
artist to America, using his own destroyed home in Aleppo.”
He
said the work was done by a photomontage on the computer and not a real
statue. The Syrian artist explained: “The Statue of Liberty in New
York does not represent US politics and I used it only as the symbol of
freedom.” “The piece at the time was
carrying a message of optimism despite all of the destruction in Syria,”
he added “but that was a long time ago.”
Azzam said he doesn’t respond to people who were using his picture in a context that he had not intended. “I’m
an artist, and I’m busy with all my art work, and have no time to
respond to anyone, I draw people and their worries, and not about
politics,” he said.
Recently, he has returned to painting with Storeys, a series of monumental works on canvas, that show the magnitude of the devastation in Syria. The artist studied photographs from several Syrian cities, including Douma and Aleppo, on which to base the paintings, excavating the horrors of war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis, depicting scenes of massive neighbourhood devastation in which whole buildings are bombed or leveled..
Azzam is realistic about the impact of his artwork in the conflict. In
an interview he once said “I believe that art can’t save the country.
Bullets are more powerful than art, now. But I believe at the same time
that all kinds of culture, art or writing, cinema or photographs, can
rebuild something in the future.” Again through Twitter, he often
considers the power of political and protest art in a world where anyone
who has access to the internet is equal in their freedom to express
their discontent. This form of art will continue to define the conflict
in Syria and elsewhere in the world, as for the first time in history,
any protestor has the voice to address the global audience. Despite the
undeniable problems associated with aestheticizing protest by presenting
it as art, nothing can prevent the rise of artists like Tammam Azzam
and the place they are claiming for themselves in the violent and
complex dimension of conflict.
Whether made digitally or photoshopped his work remain powerful pieces of art, and through his eyes,as he sees it expresses a need for unity and the fact that human suffering is the same whatever part of this planet we are on. He remains an arresting visual chronicler of what remains when an entire people’s way of life is upended, possibly for generations to come, using the means available to him, to show the world what is going on in his country and reinforce that “empathy should not be limited to the first world”.My heart personally goes out to all those currently suffering the devastating impact of war.
Azzam currently lives and works in Deimenhorst, Germany and has contributed to large scale international exhibitions across the world.
The Easter Rising was launched in Dublin on Easter Monday April 24,war of independence, the civil war and ultimately the freedom of the Irish republic ( though minus the six counties.) 1916 when revolutionary socialists and nationalists attempted to to spark a general uprising across Ireland against British imperialism , beginning a process that would eventually lead to the Proclamation on behalf of the Provisional Government, proclaiming the whole of Ireland as a Sovereign Independent Republic. The background to the rebellion was the centuries of national oppression suffered and felt by Irish people by under British.domination and rule, and the intensification of the national question around the issue of home rule ( limited self-governmet for Ireland within the United Kingdom )
Three groups were behind the rising, but the most important was the
Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) which was formed in the mid-19th
century.Thomas Clarke and Seán Mac Dermot were the key figures in the IRB, which had been recruiting among Irish nationalists in Dublin ., many of whom were disillusioned to the extent of Ireland's support for Britain in the First World War.
The
Irish Volunteers were a military group formed in 1913 and its members
accounted for the largest number of men who were called out on Easter
Monday.
The Irish Citizen Army, a socialist militia, led by James Connolly https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/james-connolly-working-class-hero.html formed to protect striking miners in 1913 also played an important role.
The
key group was a seven-man IRB military council, drawn from those three
organisations, which planned the Easter Rising with complete secrecy.They were Tom Clarke, Sean McDermot, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Plunkett, James Connolly and Eamon Ceannt.
By 1914, the division over Home Rule had taken Ireland to the brink of civil war. Unionists had founded a 100,000 strong militia, the Ulster Volunteer Force, to resist its implementation, while moderate nationalists set up the Irish Volunteer Force in response.
But the outbreak of the First World War would see the two sides rally to the war effort,, which saw the majority of both militia enlisting in the British Army, making up a large compound of the 210,00 Irishmen who served. However a huge amount of around 13,000 dissident Irish volunteers remained in Ireland, rejecting the war.
The decision to rise was based on the traditional dictum that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity. But
it also reflected the military council's fear that Irish nationalism
was in decline, a concern reinforced by popular Irish nationalist
support for the aims of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the British
war effort.
On 23 April, the council agreed to proceed with the rising the next day, Easter Monday.
The drafting of a proclamation declaring a republic was one of the final steps taken by those who planned the rising. It
decided that the proclamation should be read to the public outside
Dublin's General Post Office (GPO) by the president of the Provisional
Government of the Irish Republic. It was agreed that Pádraig Pearse a poet and educator should act as president, and
Connolly as commander in chied, who in the run up to and during the rising itself, made political
concessions to the forces of nationalism he was fighting alongside,
setting aside some of the ideas and methods he had so carefully
developed during decades of revolutionary activity. This is best
reflected in the Proclamation he put his name to, which is,
notwithstanding the positives sentiments it contains, is a nationalist
document.
Shortly
after noon on Easter Monday, Pearse accompanied by an armed guard,
stood on the steps of the GPO and read the proclamation, signalling the
beginning of the Easter Rising.
Ireland's 'national right to freedom and sovereignty' was asserted, which was partly based on Robert Emmet’s proclamation
of Irish independence of 1803, enshrined equal suffrage and equal
rights. It spoke of “religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal
opportunities to all its citizens” and “cherishing all children of the
nation equally”.
The conflict that followed was largely confined to Dublin. The rising itself seemed doomed from the beginning. With only a small
number of fighters the rebels were militarily significantly outnumbered
and outgunned. The rebellion was largely confined to the fighting in the
four courts and General Post Office in Dublin although there was also
support from rebel forces in Galway and Wexford. As the week progressed, the fighting in some areas became more intense,
leading to several prolonged, fiercely contested street battles.
Military casualties were highest at Mount Street Bridge and fierce fighting also took place at South Dublin Union and North King Street. The suppression of the rising was immediate with martial law being declared on April 25 1916.
Under supreme Commander in Dublin Major General John Maxwell , the British forces had authority to punish the risings participants. They were determined to suppress and crush the new wave of Irish militant nationalism, arresting and rounding up many in the aftermath, along with leaders as well as suspected supporters in a nationwide sweep, aided by police. Over the following week, the British deployed over 16,000 troops, artillery and even a naval gunboat into the city at Liffey to suppress the rising.After five days of fierce fighting and the rebel headquarters at the GPO being heavily bombarded, the six-day-long Easter Rising, in which over 2000 Irish Republican Volunteers seized the General Post Office and other key points in Dublin, effectively ended with the surrender of the Irish Republican headquarters to British forces on April 29, 1916. Pearse surrendered unconditionally to prevent the further slaughter of unarmed people of Dublin , realising that his own forces were surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered.
A total of 450 people were killed during the rebellion, 2,614 were injured, More than 3,430 men and 79 women were arrested, over twice the number of people that had actually taken part in the actual rising.As far as Mawell was concerned the ringleaders of the rebellion and their supporters were guilty of treason in a time of war. It should be noted that the First World War, was taking place at the same time, and they should recieve the ultimate penalty - death. But the tremendous courage and self-sacrifice displayed by the likes of James Connolly and indeed the others who fought in the rising cannot be disputed. Let us remember. People gave their lives so that the religious and civil liberty, equal rights and opportunities of all its citizens would be protected.
Connolly was imprisoned, and despite his severe wounds, was tied to a chair and
executed by the British military on May 12th 1916 by firing squad to the
outrage of many people in Ireland and across the world.
With the subsequent execution of 15 of the leaders it would sow a wave of resentment, prompted by the general feeling that unnecessary severity had been deployed ,proving a catalyst in changing public opinion into away from a desire for Home rule and a demand for a fully Independent Irish Republic.
Even though the rising was thwarted five days later and Irish independence would not happen until 1923, many believe that the actions that began that Easter Monday helped inspire similar
rebellions in more distant parts of the British Empire, and internment camps such as Frongoch in North Wales became known as the University of Revolution. which would see a total of at least 30 men held here going on to become MPs in the new Irish parliament in Dublin that would be formed.
By the summer of 1916 the rebel leaders were viewed as heroes, and by January 1919 when a more concerted war for Independence broke out the huge impact of the Easter Rising would be seen. Sadly the vision of these brave men and women who had risen, has not been fully realised with fostering divisions, Britain's continuing claim to sovereignty over six counties in the north east of Ireland, and the failure to actually achieve a united Irish republic, means that the dream is still not complete, a conundrum than many still find troubling to this day.
A woman named Kate Middleton gave birth to a baby boy this morning, her husband William was by her bedside. It's their third child. As the BBC continues its sycophantic fawning and it takes over the news agenda to divert attention from Windrush and Syria. Here's a really
positive way to respond to the Royal Baby news. Donate to the Child
Poverty Action Group. Here's a link :- http://www.cpag.org.uk Remember any other family living this kind of life at taxpayers
expenses would be hounded by the press as benefit scroungers. No
bunting for me, but congratulations to the parents, but as we continue to face misery under the reign of Theresa May I can't though find much reason to get over excited . It just serves to remind us all of
the appalling inequality that still exists in our country, which is at the core of existence of monarchy. Nothing quite symbolises stagnation, immovable social barriers quite like the royal family. Amid growing austerity, these occasions should remind us too, that
in 2018 modern Britain the aristocracy still own more than one third of
the country continue to hold onto disproportionate power. This baby
will have every need pandered too, servants to make sure it goes for
nothing, while others are born into poverty, whose mums cannot afford
food or heating. Behind all the spin and the fairytale nonsense, we should recognise the sad fact that the gloss of inherited privilege, still shines,
I look forward to the day when, we are all born equal. Should not
every new baby born, be headline news. The upcoming May 2018 wedding of Meghan and Harry should also be seen in this context Austerity Britain and universal credit verses a pageant of the rich with expenditure being no object. There's a petition at the moment too asking that the BBC is fair balanced and proportionate, and avoids wild speculation and inaccurate claims about the royals and public opinion You could sign it here :- https://www.republic.org.uk/petition/bbc-coverage
Privilege Verses Poverty So a child is born the silver spoons are near for him to be fed, with all the vestiges of power that he could ever possibly eat, while media overdrive in frenzy gather outside, a life of privilege awaits.
Meanwhile the poorest among us born in chains, our voices go unanswered and in refugee camps across the world children choked in shadows of rubble and dust, their future already denied they are seemingly invisible.
Innocent children killed by drones the press ignores their story and people consigned to poverty and misery by tory austerity and welfare reform are expected to fawn whilst queing at foodbanks running on empty.
Daily we are manipulated and the benefit claimants, disadvantaged, and the underpaid workers are told to go to hell, Royal sprog does not have to worry though in the 21st century it seems, we're still born unequal, will be looked after by nannies, sent to public school look forward to a lifetime of pampering and advantage, and his grannies had a bloody pay rise too.
