Tuesday 18 June 2019

35th Anniversary of The Battle of Orgreave

 

Today I remember of one of the 20th Century's most brutal attacks by the state on its own citizens.The Battle of Orgreave,  which took place during the1984 Miners strike,which resulted in an all out military operation by Margeret Thatcher's Conservative cabinet. The miners' strike of 1984-85 was the longest lasting and most bitter industrial dispute of the second half of the 20th century in Britain. It had a huge impact on virtually every subsequent industrial and political development.
On June 18th  1984, 6 to 7,000  striking miners and their supporters gathered  to picket Orgreave  cokeworks  near Rotheram in South Yorkshire. The miners wanted to stop lorry loads of coke leaving for the steelworks. They thought that would help them win their strike, and help protect their pits and their jobs. The police were determined to hold them back. The number of officers was unprecedented. The use of dogs, horses and riot gear in an industrial dispute was almost unheard of. Some of the tactics were learned from the police in Northern Ireland and Hong Kong who had experience dealing with violent disorder.
During the subsequent court case a police manual was uncovered which set out the latest plans to deal with pickets and protests. Police vans and Range Rovers were fitted with armour so they could withstand the stones being thrown by some in the crowd. The miners suspected the whole operation was being run under government control.
Many believe Orgreave was the first example of what became known as “kettling” – the deliberate containment of protesters by large numbers of police officers. It marked a turning point in policing and in the strike. Police directed  pickets to an area of land which left them  hemmed in on three sides.Before this event the miners had been stoically out on strike for about 12 weeks, during which they had  been assaulted on picket lines, with individuals being handcuffed and beaten without  any cause or provocation.
At Orgreave  the miners after being herded together. were savagely attacked by Police cavalry  in full riot gear under the jurisdiction of Thatcher's Government attacking fleeing miners with long swaying batons as Miners ran for safety. It saw the police  going berserk under state orders, repeatedly  attacking  individuals  wherever they sought refuge,  as they fled into a nearby Wheatfield and into the community of Orgreave, where the police  carried on their pursuit through the streets. It resulted in scenes of ugliness, fear and menace, as  all concepts of Law and order that  the constabulary  were supposed to withhold were abandoned. The police frenzy at Orgreave was consciously designed to batter the NUM into submission.
Far from the liberal ideal of a politically neutral body serving the public the police were used at Orgreave to further the anti-socialist rampage which dominated Thatcher's 1980's. As Michael Mansfield QC wrote :"They wanted to teach the miners a lesson, a big lesson, such as they wouldn't come out in force again."


At the end  the day  95people were arrested, for no crime whatever, with over 39 strikers  being injured, many severely. Following Orgreave, the police  conducted a deliberate  and co-ordinated  attempt to frame arrested miners  for one of the most serious events  on the statute book - the offence of Riot. No police officer has ever been prosecuted or even disciplined for their role in the terrible events that occurred.
The  miners strike lasted until March 1985, during which it politicised a generation of people, sadly however at the end hundreds of mines closed afterwards and many miners faced redundancy. And dizzy with her own success, Thatcher began a policy of deindustrialisation of British industry and further impoverishment of working class and middle-class people.


The  miners  strike of 1984 was one of the longest and most brutal in British labour history. A heroic community fighting for jobs and survival was wholly denigrated and depicted as violent by the majority of the British media, at the time. Orgreave marked a turning point in the policing of public protest. It sent a message to the police that they could employ violence and lies with impunity. It was only a year after Orgreave that the so-called “Battle of the Beanfield” took place, with violent and unprovoked  attacks by the police on New Age travellers, followed by large-scale wrongful arrests. And more recently there have been examples of police “kettling” demonstrators in London for several hours – a kind of pre-emptive imprisonment. With the Government’s Trade Union Act aiming to further restrict picketing,  the right to protest in public is in serious danger.
In 2012, the  Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), was formed to campaign for a public inquiry into the policing of events at Orgreave following the success of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and revelations about corruption in South Yorkshire Police. But in October 2016 the Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that there would be no statutory inquiry or independent review.
In 1991, South Yorkshire police paid £425,000 in compensation to 39 miners who had sued for assault, false arrest and malicious prosecution, but the force still publicly denied any wrongdoing by any officer.In March the Right Rev Dr Peter Wilcox, the bishop of Sheffield, revealed that the Home Office had also declined to support his proposal for an independent panel to consider the Orgreave events.
In advance of the 35 year anniversary , he said: “Questions remain unanswered which are not going away. In the fullness of time, these questions must be addressed thoroughly and openly, so that wrongs can be put right and so that individuals and communities can move on from a deeply unhappy piece of history. I gladly repeat today my call for a formal, public and independent process of inquiry.”
Up to a thousand workers from both Yorkshire and across the country marched to the 35th Battle of Orgreave memorial rally on Saturday.They marched from Orgreave Lane in Sheffield across the bridge and past the farmland in which the state-orchestrated police attack on striking miners took place on on June 18th 1984.
Other victims of injustice marched with them: workers blacklisted in the construction industry, victims of the Grenfell fire disaster represented by the Fire Brigades Union and Shrewsbury 24 campaigners seeking justice over the imprisonment of striking building site workers in the 1970s were there.
Speaker after speaker at the rally expressed determination to continue the Orgreave campaign until truth and justice are achieved. Prior to speeches the Women’s Socialist Choir gave a rendition of their Orgreave song ‘Time for Truth, Time for Justice, Time for Peace,’ to warm applause.
A spokesperson for the Orgreave Justice Campaign then said: ‘Take note, we are not going away! We have been more active than ever in the last year and we had the biggest reception we have ever had at this year’s annual Durham Miners Gala.
‘We also had a guarantee from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that a Labour government would hold a workers inquiry into what happened at Orgreave in 1984.
‘So the international solidarity that was built up throughout that strike still prevails today. We’ve spoken at over 100 events and meetings – so don’t forget to keep asking us.
‘And now we know we’ll get an inquiry when we get a Labour government. Jeremy Corbyn told us: “The next Labour government will launch an independent inquiry – because there are so many questions that need to be answered”.
 Today I pay tribute to the miners who led the fight against the Thatcher government to defend jobs and trade unionism. After 35 years it is more important than ever to establish the truth about who was responsible for organising the police rampage on this day. Sadly for the 95 miners who were arrested, their families, comrades and others, injustice at Orgreave remains unresolved. Now is the time to keep demand an independent inquiry into the police brutality that happened on that day from home secretary Sajid Javid. Addressing the past is also a way of confronting the continuing abuses of the present.

Monday 17 June 2019

Refugee Week 2019 (17 – 23 June )



Refugee Week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20 June. In the UK, Refugee Week is a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities.
The main focus of World Refugee Week is to educate people about refugees, what brought them here and the challenges they’ve faced. By hearing their stories, we can appreciate who they are and think about how we can work together to make our communities safer and more welcoming for them.
Refugee Week started in 1998 as a direct reaction to hostility in the media and society in general towards refugees and asylum seekers, to try and look  beyond the stereotypical ‘refugee’ label and work  to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities. An established part of the UK’s cultural calendar, Refugee Week is now one of the leading national initiatives working to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities.
People escaping war and persecution have been welcomed by communities in the UK for hundreds of years, and their stories and contributions are all around us. From the Jewish refugees of the 1930s to people fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s, Kosovans in the 1990s to those arriving today; they are part of who we all are.
The theme  of Refugee Week 2019, is ' You, me and those who came before' an invitation to explore the lives of refugees who exhibit such adaptability, resilience and determination in rebuilding their lives in the UK, and who play (and will go on to play) an important role in shaping our future society,  and those who have welcomed them, throughout the generations and to celebrate the positive contributions refugees make to our society and show support for families forced to flee.
The aims of Refugee Week are:
1. To encourage a diverse range of events to be held throughout the UK, which facilitate positive encounters between refugees and the general public in order to encourage greater understanding and overcome hostility.
2.To showcase the talent and expertise that refugees bring with them to the UK.
To explore new and creative ways of addressing the relevant issues and reach beyond the refugee sector.
3.To provide information which educates and raises awareness of the reality of refugee experiences
The ultimate aim is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration, enabling refugees to live in safety and continue making a valuable contribution.
Many refugees and asylum seekers face severe difficulties once they arrive in the UK. Unable to work or support themselves, many struggle for basics such as food and shelter. Some of the key issues they encounter are the possibility of detention, living in destitution and contending with negative stereotypes.Most of those who are granted asylum are given leave to remain for only five years, making it difficult for them to make decisions about their future, including finding work and making definite plans for their life in the UK while it remains unsafe for them to return to the country they escaped from. As fellow humans we have a responsibility to respond to their specific needs in times of crisis. Many of these asylum seekers come to us as a last resort, having exhausted all alternatives, with nowhere else to turn. We should also remember  all those suffering abuse in detention centres and those facing repatriation despite the dangers that they face.
Refugee Week is an umbrella festival, with events held by a wide range of arts, voluntary, faith and refugee community organisations, schools, student groups and more. Past events have included arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings, theatre and dance performances, concerts, football tournaments and public talks, as well as creative and educational activities in schools.
Through Refugee Week  the aim is  to provide an important opportunity for asylum seekers and refugees to be seen, listened to and valued. We must continue to offer our love , solidarity, tolerance, warm welcome and friendship  to refugees who daily have to struggle, many of whom left feeling traumatised and marginalised. Refugees are ordinary people to whom extraordinary and often very horrible things have happened. Refugee Week is an opportunity to celebrate that.

https://refugeeweek.org.uk

Saturday 15 June 2019

Puma says its devoted to universal equality whilst supportng apartheid !!



Today, June 15, groups in more than 20 countries have been joining the #BoycottPuma International Day of Action. Palestinian sports teams called for a boycott of the German athletic wear manufacturer Puma, over its support for Israel’s illegal land grabs and its decision to become the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA) which includes six teams in settlements built on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank also allowng  IFA to provide equipment, including the kits, for all of Israel’s national football teams. In doing so they replaced Adidas, which had been the sponsor for the preceding 10 years until it ended its relationship with the IFA amid a similar campaign. 
After a petition that has been  signed by over 16,000 human rights supporters from across the world who said that the German brand’s deal with the IFA made in complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people,  the company responded  with the astonishing  claim  of their “devotion to universal equality.” whilst  at same time profiting from oppression.
This month marks 52 years of Israel’s brutal military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Puma is helping to whitewash Israel’s apartheid walls, military checkpoints, segregated Israeli-only roads and ever expanding illegal Israeli settlements that force Palestinian families  off their land and prevent Palestinian athletes from practicing sports.
The IAF has 6 teams playing in illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land. Israeli bombing in Gaza makes sport a dangerous pastime for Palestinians. This bombing has killed Palestinian national footballers and destroyed Palestinian football stadiums in Gaza. Palestinian footballers have seen ther carees destroyed by Israeli oppression, such as Mahmoud Sarsak. Other footballers have been deliberately shot in the legs at Israeli checkpoints, ending their careers.Palestinians have as much right as the Israeli’s to play sport without fear of serious injury and death.
Activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) have  today helped to organize protests at 30 locations across the UK with slogans such as “Give Puma the boot” and “#BoycottPuma”.
Palestinians like many peoples and communities across the world, are struggling to attain the fundamental right of equality. Puma should make a sincere effort to support that right rather than exploit it to deflect criticism as it profits from Israel’s apartheid regime. Let's to keep up the pressure as it continues to be involved in violations of international law and human rights.Please sign the pledge to boycott Puma. Companies like Puma cannot claim to support universal equality whilst being the main sponsor of the IFA, which operates on stolen Palestinian land with total impunity," said  James Tuite, campaigns officer at Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Friday 14 June 2019

Metamorphosis (For Ken)



I trust the depths of the nights
more than any single politician
even when tangled up in darkness
heart battered like the surface of the moon
among searching scattering conditions
one can often find much clearer ways
running the gauntlet of stars and stones
towards days of respite, certainty and care
from out of the black holes, the universe rings
in the morning we can run through woods
and the plum crammed orchards
our tears and our love  making prisms of hope
under sunflowers meta morphing
rhythms of the pulse awakening
busy like the blow flies
waiting for sunbeams
to warm flutterring wings
moments to sap the bleakness.

Tuesday 11 June 2019

Boris Johnson not a clown, but an intolerant dangerous individual.

 

Boris Johnson is the frontrunner in the Conservative Party leadership contest at the moment, but a trail of controversies have followed him. He has a very spotty record and in the past he has been called a "bigot" and "ignorant" by his critics. The former foreign secretary refuses to apologise however for writing that a Muslim woman wearing the veil resembles “a bank robber” and that it is “absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes”. He is now under investigation by his own party, which has received dozens of complaints.
 He has also criticised the police for spending money on historic cases of child sex abuse in comments deemed “disgusting, ignorant” He’s historically used racist language too. In 2002, Johnson wrote in the Telegraph: “It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-wearing picaninnies.” The word “picaninnies” is a racist term used to describe black children.
In the same column he also talked about then prime minister Tony Blair, and wrote: "They say he is shortly off to the Congo. No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and their tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down his big white British taxpayer-funded bird." Johnson later apologised for these comments.
While he was editor of The Spectator he was criticised for allowing a number of articles deemed racist by some, to make it on to the website, including one article about racial eugenics that said “orientals” had “larger brains and higher IQ scores” while “blacks are at the other pole.”Andrew Cooper, a Conservative peer and former No 10 director of strategy, tweeted recently that “the rottenness of Boris Johnson goes deeper even than his casual racism & his equally casual courting of fascism”. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has demanded an apology for his “gratuitously offensive” remarks. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, has said he will leave the Conservative party if Johnson becomes its leader.
In less than two minutes on 9 June, Owen Jones did more than the entire media has done in months to expose Boris Johnson. Speaking to Sky News, Jones left no stone unturned when combating the Conservative leadership front-runner:
Jones said:
"One of the… big faults at the moment, in this whole debate, is the lack of scrutiny of Boris Johnson… Why aren’t we asking – does he still think that gay people should be called ‘bum boys’? Does he still think that equal marriage should be compared to… three men marrying a dog? Does he still believe that black people should be called piccaninnies with watermelon smiles? Does he still think that it’s acceptable to compare Muslim women to bank robbers and to letterboxes?
Why should we trust somebody who was sacked twice for dishonesty, once by his newspaper and once by a Conservative leader? Is somebody who once conspired with a criminal friend to beat up a journalist fit for high office? Is somebody who wrote one column supporting Remain and another column supporting Leave, is that somebody who is driven by anything else other than his own career?"
The commentator continued, criticising the corporate media’s failings:
"But we are not having this discussion because all too often… and I speak as somebody who has worked in the British media now for the best part of a decade, Boris Johnson is treated as a bit of a circus… a bit of a laugh, but he is somebody who has peddled racism, he’s serially dishonest, he’s a charlatan. But we’re not having that conversation because again – and it’s worth emphasising this – if you are from a posh background you can more or less get away with anything in this country."
Jones pulled no punches in his critique of Johnson. The corporate media, meanwhile, appears to be treating the man vying to be prime minister as a bit of a joke. This is a rank dereliction of duty.
Johnson's manifesto is to cut taxes for the higher paid and leave the EU without a deal.Two of the most divisive ideas in our society at moment and would simply hit the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us.
Few British politicians evoke such dismay in Europe as Mr Johnson, a man whom many see as the mastermind of Brexit. He told two infamous lies while campaigning for Brexit, the first of which was so braen, he had it emblaoned acrss the side of a bus Johnson toured up and down the nation on this bus covered in lies and claimed that the NHS would be  £350 million better off if voters chose Brexit.https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/23/boris-johnson-will-find-fate-next-week-brexit-bus-lies-9666621/ Now he faces  a private prosecution to hold him to account for his  criminal lying.https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1130972/brexit-news-court-case-battle-bus-NHS-boris-johnson. As if lying about the NHS was ot heinious enough, Johnson perpetuated the racist myth that the Turkish people were foaming at the mouth to comee to the UK by their tens of millions, scaremongering and stoking up fears about "shared boders". 
What we are witnessing is a man who until very recently held one of the great offices of state claiming a jester’s privilege. When he writes or speaks, he does so as an MP and privy counsellor well known for his ambition to become prime minister in the near future. He borrows the  language of King Lear, to play the Fool but for many he is not a bumbling, affable, ruffle haired clown, but a calculating, ruthless, reckless, intolerant, utterly contemptible opportunist, and serial liar.
A product of Eton and Oxford and a member of the notoriously elitist and thuggish Bullingdon Club to boot  and furthermore a very greedy individual who seems more interested in feathering his own nest than furthering the national interest. While Mayor of London he continued to draw a retainer for writing a column for the Daily Telegraph worth £250,000 a year. He compared this amount to chicken feed and justified it on the grounds that his Mayoral salary was too little even though in reality it was way above the national average. In reaction to the backlash at such a flagrant act of brazen greed his media team persuaded him to donate a portion of his Telegraph earnings to charity. Johnson pledged to do this and then never did. Also, towards the end of his tenure as Mayor of London when he was re-elected to the House of Commons he continued to claim both his Mayoral salary/expenses and an MPs salary and expenses too.
After the Grenfell Tower tragedy, footage emerged of him as Mayor telling a politician who challenged the wisdom of his fire serice cuts to "get stuffed"
Johnson  also supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and refused to block UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying there is no clear evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen. In September 2016, he was accused of blocking the UN inquiry into Saudi war crimes in Yemen.
He made a joke about "dead bodies" in Libya, insulted people in Myanmar by reciting an "inappropriate" colonialist poem, and wrongly called  imprisoned Brtish-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe, a journalist, leading to her jail sentence being prolonged.
Do we really want a dangerous individual like this  as our future Prime Minister. Heaven' forbid it, it would be catastrophic.Johnson or otherwise, the Conservatives have no mandate to simply impose another prime minister on the country. Quite simply I personally  think all the current contenders are as bad as one another but none as rotten as Johnson.We need a general election now.

Sunday 9 June 2019

1984 at 70

 

George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 was published on 8 June by the socialist  publisher  Victor Gollanz. The book arrived at the birth of the cold war between the Soviet and American blocs, soon after Winston Churchill fixed the phrase ‘the Iron Curtain’ in the language and as a ‘Red Scare’ gripped American society. Orwell’s novel remained one of the most significant and contested cultural products of that era of ideological struggle between capitalism and communism, its influence surviving long beyond the actual year 1984. Translations and many different radio, film and television adaptations across the post-war decades testify to its continuing significance. The novel has since inspired movies, television shows, plays, a ballet, an opera, a David Bowie album, imitations, parodies, sequels.
This month  as it turns 70 years old, this seminal work with its themes of totalitarianism, repressive regimentation of the population, perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and propaganda  are now more relevant than ever in the age we currently live. Orwell's predictions were so spot on that is almost acts an instruction  manual for would be tyrants and many of the themes contained in  this amazing book are compelling and contemporary, foreshadowing the state of our world today, containing remarkable foresight and vision given that it was first published in 1949. Orwell began writing the novel in 1944, and wrote the bulk of it while residing on the Scottish island Jura  in the Inner Hebrides while battling tuberculosis during 1947-1948. Orwell  was recently widowed, his wife having died during a surgical procedure. He was left with his young son, and he was seriously ill with tuberculosis. There was not a known cure for TB in 1947, and physicians typically prescribed fresh air and rest. Orwell was given streptomycin, which was an experimental drug in the US, and after treatment, his TB symptoms disappeared. He raced to finish his novel, and upon publication it became an instant success. Orwell died shortly after of a brain haemorrhage in 1950 at age 46.
1984 has been in publication ever since, and has been translated into multiple languages, and is often heralded as one of the best novels of the 20th century. Still resonating in the times we live today, still worryingly reliable. Commenting on 1984, Orwell wrote, “I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive.”
 In the week of Donald Trump’s inauguration,  after the president’s adviser Kellyanne Conway used the phrase 'alternative facts,' the novel returned to the best-seller lists. A theatrical adaptation was rushed to Broadway. The vocabulary of Newspeak went viral. An authoritarian president who stood the term fake news on its head, who once said, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” has given 1984 a whole new life.
Censorship  sadly is  still the norm in this world, and is so extreme that individuals can become "unnpersons" and  removed from society  because their ideas are considered  too dangerous by the establishment. Take for example the likes of Julian Assange and other activists and independent journalists who are punished for continuing to speak out about government corruption. All over the world where tyrannies rule 1984 is banned.
The novel is set in 1984 in Great Britain, known as Airstrip One.The world has suffered through a global atomic war, and there are 3 superpowers called Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The standard of living is relatively low.The media is run by the government, which is known as Big Brother and the written word is perpetually changed to suit what the government requires. People  are controlled into what to think, how to act and how to live .It uses telescreens, fearmongering, media control and corruption to control the masses.
One of the Party pillars in 1984 is endless war on a global scale. The war, however, is a fabrication accepted and treated as fact. For, unreal as it is, it is not meaningless. World powers become enemies and allies interchangeably simply to keep the masses in perpetual fear, perpetual industry, and perpetual order. War provides outlet for unwanted emotions such as hate, patriotism, and discontent, keeping the structure of society intact and productive without raising the standard of living. The state of perpetual war described by Orwell is also reflected in the wars  that have raged since 1945, across the globe from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc etc.
Winston Smith the main protagonist is  an editor employed by the government and is one of many citizens responsible for rewriting history. In 1984, government surveillance is constant and at the forefront. The state knows every move its citizens make, including their habits, whom they talk to, and what they are doing at any given time. Big Brother is watching and running the show. The people are sheep who are herded and controlled. Winston Smith embarks on a clandestine love affair with Julia, a party member, and joins The Brotherhood, an illegal organisation dedicated to the overthrow of Big Brother. He is caught,and taken to Room 101, alongside everyone else who offended had been taken and subjected to torture and brainwashed . He along with everyone ends up loving Big Brother.
 It’s almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or perversions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984. Today across the world there are a lock-up concentration camp style jails where unconvicted, ostensibly innocent individuals are held and openly abused. Electronic surveillance in 2019 is a common and accepted government practice: cell phone listening, cameras on corners and traffic lights, and electronic toll payment system tracking are all everyday occurrences. By using our credit cards, shopping rewards cards, and even our driver's licenses, data are collected on all of us and sold and used daily, each of us daily profiled. Orwell’s book was supposed to be a warning, not a guidebook on how to create a surveillance state. It really is remarkable how the many tools that were used to suppress in 1984  are now part of our everyday lives.
Newspeak is the fictional language spoken in 1984. It is a controlled and abbreviated version of English.  Also  known as “doublespeak!”. As George himself said " Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.. "  Politicians continue to  use language to deceive and manipulate, through concealment or misrepresentation of the truth, desperately and deliberately using euphemistic or ambiguous language as they have been doing ad infinitum. One of the objectives of Newspeak is also to decrease self-expression. With the  popularity of texting, it would be fair to say that there are similarities. And today we are so busy Facebooking, tweeting, etc,  the following line  from one of the characters that works for Big Brother.  “The people will not revolt. They will not look up from their screens long enough to notice what’s happening.” is  still amazingly uncanny. Orwell may not have had a crystal ball, but  he did have was an understanding of the human condition and its weakness. And today it’s almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or perversions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984.
Orwell began writing the novel in 1944, and wrote the bulk of it while residing on the Scottish island Jura while battling tuberculosis during 1947-1948. Orwell  was recently widowed, his wife having died during a surgical procedure. He was left with his young son, and he was seriously ill with tuberculosis. There was not a known cure for TB in 1947, and physicians typically prescribed fresh air and rest. Orwell was given streptomycin, which was an experimental drug in the US, and after treatment, his TB symptoms disappeared. He raced to finish his novel, and upon publication it became an instant success. Orwell died shortly after of a brain haemorrhage in 1950 at age 46.
1984 has been in publication ever since, has been translated into multiple languages, and is often heralded as one of the best novels of the 20th century. Still resonating in the times we live today, still worryingly reliable. Commenting on 1984, Orwell wrote, “I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive.”
 In the week of Donald Trump’s inauguration,  after the president’s adviser Kellyanne Conway used the phrase 'alternative facts,' the novel returned to the best-seller lists. A theatrical adaptation was rushed to Broadway. The vocabulary of Newspeak went viral. An authoritarian president who stood the term fake news on its head, who once said, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” has given 1984 a whole new life.
 In some cases, what is happening in the world today is more draconian and invasive than anything Orwell conceived. The corruption of language described in 1984 is widespread in the media today, with "Newspeak" terms such as democratic, socialist, fascist, war criminal, freedom fighter, racist and many other expressions being used in a deliberately deceptive, propagandistic way to whip up mass hysteria or simply to ensure that people can never achieve even an approximation of the truth.
We are today all living in a massive prison and George Orwell predicted it. The ability of Big Brother government to observe our every activity is increasing week by week and soon each and every car journey we make, every financial transaction we undertake, everywhere we go will be fed into a computer and if there is a slight variance from what they decide is the norm then we will be taken in and questioned. Give the wrong answers and you could well end up in room like 101, or Belmarsh Jail, Guantanamo Bay etc. We should continue to be on guard, raise alarms, be objective, keep questioning and hold our individual Governments to account.
 As  free speech today is still under attack and the Trump administration preparess new charges against Julian Assange for exposing US war crimes and the French government is prosecuting journalists for reporting on France’s support for the Saudi war in Yemen, and Chelsea Manning remains locked-up for refusing to inform on Assange, 1984 can still serve as a handbook for our difficult times. Citizens today should support bona fide civil liberties groups and actively oppose government measures restricting basic freedoms. Freedom of speech is a basic civil liberty and people should fight to retain it. They should defy group pressure, think for themselves and speak out. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.We should continue to be on guard, raise alarms, be objective, keep questioning and hold our individual Governments to account.In 2003 a docudrama was released by the BBC, detailing the life and works of George Orwell. The documentary contains footage from his deathbed, and his final words are certainly chilling. You can here them in the following video. We can't say that we were never warned.


We  are the dead. Our only true life is in the future. We shall take part in it as handfuls of dust and splinters of bone. But how far away that future may be, there is no knowing. It might be a thousand years. At present nothing is possible except to extend the area of sanity little by little. We cannot act collectively.
We can only spread our knowledge outwards from individual to individual, generation after generation. In the face of the Thought Police there is no other way
.”    

- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty- Four

Friday 7 June 2019

Happy birthday Nikki Giovanni (b:-7/6/43) - Radical poet




Happy 76th birthday to Nikki Giovanni . Poet. writer, activist. Queer icon, Civil rights activist, Educator, Promoter of the Black Power movement.. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In all of her work, she challenges the racial and status quo,providing a poetry guided by a political aesthetic, still dreaming radical dreams of a society more equal for all.
As an African American woman, Nikki Giovanni has written many revolutionary poems reflecting on the culture and heritage of her race. Spending much of her youth growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni’s childhood has greatly influenced her writing. Nikki Giovanni, (Yolande Cornelia Giovanni is her given name) was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville Tennessee. As a child, she attended an Episcopal school, and when it came time for her to start college, she enrolled at Fisk University. As a freshman, Giovanni was a very rebellious student, ignoring many of the school’s social rules. This attitude led her to suspension from the university before her first year was even completed. However, in 1964 she returned to Fisk, and her writing career began.
Attitude and reality and honesty are all encompassed into the work of this fine artist. Speaking for all those that struggle, and who love fiercely, who  places an emphasis on the power of the individual to effect change in his or herself, as well as in others. She reminds me that words are our weapons, that we should not be afraid to use.
Nikki Giovanni doesn't think of writing as a profession. "I barely think of it as a career," she once said .  "I think of it as who you are.”To Giovanni, writing comes as naturally as breathing.  It has certainly defined her and given her  a strong voice. A survivor of  cancer, she battles on, sharing her light with the world. Happy birthday to her, blessed be. 

Choices

If i can't do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don't want
to do

It's not the same thing
but it's the best i can
do

If i can't have
what i want . . . then
my job is to want
what i've got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more to want

Since i can't go
where i need
to go . . . then i must . . . go
where the signs point
through always understanding
parallel movement
isn't lateral

When i can't express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal

I know
but that's why mankind
alone among the animals
learns to cry .


A Library (for Kelli Martin)
a Library Is:
a place to be free
to be in space
to be in cave times
to be a cook
to be a crook
to be in love
to be unhappy
to be quick and smart
to be contained and cautious
to surf the rainbow
to sail the dreams
to be blue
to be jazz
to be wonderful
to be you
a place to be
yeah… to be
Love is 
 
Some people forget that love is
tucking you in and kissing you
“Good night”
no matter how young or old you are

Some people don’t remember that
love is
listening and laughing and asking
questions
no matter what your age

Few recognize that love is
commitment, responsibility
no fun at all
unless
Love is
You and me

Revolutionary Dreams

I used to dream militant dreams
of taking over america to show
these white folks
how it should be done
I used to dream radical dreams
of blowing everyone away
with my perceptive powers
of correct analysis
I even used to think I’d be the one
to stop the riot and
negotiate the peace
then I awoke and dug
that if I dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does when she’s natural
I would have a revolution.
  

Tuesday 4 June 2019

30 years after Tiananmen Square Massacre


This week marks the 30th anniversary of the massacre of hundreds if not thousands of unarmed peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Beijing and the arrest of tens of thousands of demonstrators in cities across China.
The Tiananmen Massacre was precipitated by the peaceful gatherings of students, workers, and others in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and other Chinese cities in April 1989, driven  by the hope for a better future, they were simply  calling for freedom of the press and for some government accountability, and the imminent problems of corruption, and began the largest political protest in the history of Communist China. The government responded to the intensifying protests in late May 1989 by declaring martial law.Overnight on 3 to 4 June, the government sent tens of thousands of armed troops and hundreds of armoured military vehicles into the city centre to enforce martial law and forcibly clear the streets of demonstrators. The government wanted to 'restore order' in the capital.
As they approached the demonstrations, troops opened fire on crowds of protesters and onlookers. They gave no warning before they started shooting.A night of bloodshed on  June 3rd resulted  with over 2,000 of protestors being killed.As the troops kept firing into the crowds, some of those running away were shot in the back. Others were crushed to death by military vehicles. Brave, innocent, the Chinese government has never accepted responsibility for the massacre or held any officials legally accountable for the killings. despite individual souls, shotdown and massacred triggering shock and outrage across the world.

Tank Man

Tank Man image C. APGraphicsBank

The Tiananmen protests were immortalised in Western media on 5 June through the image of a lone man in a white shirt carrying shopping bags, facing an imposing column of military tanks sent by the government to disperse protesters. The man is known simply as Tank Man: his identity has never been confirmed.
Tank Man would not let the military vehicles pass. He succeeded. Eventually, he was pulled out of the way of danger by onlookers. But the image of unarmed man versus tank quickly came to symbolise the struggle of the Tiananmen protesters - peaceful protest met with military might.
'It demonstrates one man's extraordinary courage, standing up in front of a row of tanks, being prepared to sacrifice his own life for the sake of social justice' Stuart Franklin, Tank Man photographer
Stuart Franklin took the Tank Man photograph. In the short film below he talks about how he came to capture what would become one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century.

 
In the aftermath long prison sentences were given out, one  of which was for 17 years for  simply throwing paint at a portrait of Mao Zedong. We should take a minute and think about those sacrifices and all those who died,  so that their actions  have not been in vain. Sadly brutal suppression and censorship has continued to this day, that  condemns the Chinese nation and its people to a future without freedom.
Today many activists are still being  ruthlessly persecuted by the Chinese Authorities, and the climate of free expression remains stifling,  with scores of writers still being silenced, also many social media sites are still banned, and three decades later, China, under President Xi Jinping, is undergoing the worst crackdown on human rights since the Tiananmen massacre. Hopes that China would gradually liberalize politically as it opened up economically have been dashed.
The  Chinese regime to this day  continues to bury the truth of what happened in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Tiananmen remains one of the most censored issues in an internet and social media environment that has become increasingly restrictive  since Xi Jinping became president in 2012.Young Chinese below the age of 35 today either know nothing about it or believe that it was the protesters who were the criminals. A regime that sent tanks and guns to slaughter its people now seeks to hide the evidence, threaten its critics, eliminate alternative ideas and impose absolute control. Seeking to suppress every form of freedom, with Pro-democracy activists being jailed, and in every corner of China's territory, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong, that  has also seen critics abroad being intimidated, threatened and, in the worst cases, kidnapped.The Chinese government has never accepted responsibility for the massacre or held any officials legally accountable for the killings. It has been unwilling to conduct an investigation into the events or release data on those who were killed, injured, forcibly disappeared, or imprisoned.
For those who participated or observed the events of 1989, however, the search for truth goes on. Memories have not faded. Indeed, as the Tiananmen Mothers — a group set up by the mothers of some of the student leaders — said in a statement translated by Human Rights in China: "The hard facts of the massacre are etched into history. No one can erase it; no power, however mighty, can alter it; and no words or tongues, however clever, can deny it."
The Chinese government should acknowledge and take responsibility for the massacre of pro-democracy protesters in June 1989, Human Rights Watch said recently. Authorities should immediately release activists held for commemorating the occasion, and cease censoring discussions of the bloody crackdown.
"Twenty-nine years after the Tiananmen Massacre, President Xi Jinping's 'China dream' means getting the world to forget about it. But suppressing the truth has only fueled demands for justice and accountability," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "The only way to remove this stain on China is to own up to it."
The Chinese government continues to this day to deny wrongdoing in the brutal suppression of the protests. Authorities covered up the killings, failed to bring to justice the perpetrators, and persecuted victims and survivors' family members. Under President Xi Jinping, the government has further retreated from the democratic ideals the protesters advocated and is aggressively tightening ideological control, attacking civil society groups, and imprisoning rights activists. In March 2018, Xi eliminated term limits for the presidency, spelling an ominous future for the direction of the country.
As in the past, Chinese authorities are quashing efforts to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown:
Since late May, Beijing police have put a group of activists, including He Depu, Zha Jianguo and Xu Yonghai, under house arrest.
Activist Hu Jia said police informed him that between June 1-5 he would be taken to Qinhuangdao, 300 kilometers away from his home in Beijing.
In Shandong province in mid-May, authorities detained activists Li Hongwei and Yu Xinyong, accusing them of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Li and Yu were detained for two days last year for commemorating the massacre.
In June 2017, Beijing police detained activist Li Xiaoling after she posted photos online of her standing at Tiananmen Square and holding a sign that read "June 4th Marching to the Light." Li was later charged with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Li's lawyers alleged that Li has been tortured in custody and denied adequate medical treatment for glaucoma.
Activists Chen Bing, Fu Hailu, Luo Fuyu, and Zhang Junyong, detained since May 2016 for producing and selling a liquor named "Eight Liquor Six Four" – a homophone for "89.6.4," the numerical date of the massacre – are still awaiting trial. The four have been charged with "inciting subversion of state power."
Sichuan-based activist Chen Yunfei, convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in March 2017, is serving a four-year sentence for organizing a memorial service for victims of the massacre.
While the last individual known to have been imprisoned for his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy protests was released in 2016, many other participants have been re-incarcerated for their continuing pro-democracy work. Activists Liu Xianbin and Chen Wei are serving 10-year and nine-year sentences respectively on inciting subversion charges, while Guo Feixiong is serving a six-year sentence for protesting press censorship. Huang Qi, detained since November 2015 for "illegally leaking state secrets abroad," is awaiting trial. Huang suffers from several health conditions for which he has not been given adequate treatment.
Other prominent participants in the Tiananmen protests have passed away in the past year. In July 2017, public intellectual and Nobel Peace Prize Laurate Liu Xiaobo, a leader in the protests who was jailed for 21 months for his role supporting the students, died from complications of liver cancer in a hospital in Liaoning province while being guarded by state security. His wife Liu Xia remains under house arrest. Dissident writer Yang Tianshui, who participated in democracy protests in Nanjing at the time, died in November 2017, three months after being released on medical parole for a brain tumor. Prior to his release, Yang was serving a 12-year sentence for "inciting subversion of state power."Today sadly  the persecution  of the Uyghurs, Falun Gong and Tibetan Buddhists combined with the repression of Christianity contnues with an estimated one million or more incarcerated in prison camps.
"Chinese leaders travel the world touting their ideas for 'win-win' human rights diplomacy and a 'community of common destiny,'" Richardson said. "But until they account for past and present human rights abuses, those pledges are just empty propaganda promoting impunity for grave crimes."
The nongovernmental organization Tiananmen Mothers, consisting mostly of family members of those killed, has established the details of 202 people who were killed during the suppression of the movement in Beijing and other cities. Last year, more members of the Tiananmen Mothers have passed away without seeing justice, including geologist Xu Jue and music professor Wang Fandi. Xu's 20-year-old son Wu Xiaongdong and Wang's 19-year-old son Wang Nan were killed by troops.
Human Rights Watch urges the Chinese government to mark the 30th anniversary of the  Tiananmen massacre, by addressing the human rights violations pertaining to the event. Specifically, the government should:
Respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and cease the harassment and arbitrary detention of individuals who challenge the official account of June 4;
Meet with and apologize to members of the Tiananmen Mothers, publish the names of all who died, and appropriately compensate the families of the victims;
Permit an independent public inquiry into June 4, and promptly release its findings and conclusions to the public;
Allow the unimpeded return of Chinese citizens, exiled due to their connections to the events of 1989; and investigate all government and military officials who planned or ordered the unlawful use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, and appropriately prosecute them.
The spirit of the Tiananmen movement continues to burn in the hearts of veterans of 1989 and younger generations of activists who fight for a more just China. President Xi Jinping should acknowledge, even in the face of extraordinary persecution, that demands for accountability and human rights remain strong.We must continue to support all those that fight  against state  oppression and censorship and never forget the tragic  legacy of Tinanamen Square that continues to haunt us.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/31/china-answer-tiananmen-massacre-calls-justice

Sunday 2 June 2019

Dawn's Respite


After a night of endless agitation
A day that had become draining
The first sunrays come creeping
Glinting through my window
Life's breath stirring senses
Among testemants of existance
I chant declarations of  resolution
While millions  pray in lamentable discomfort
And ripples of power exude depravity
The morning light and its trilling melodies,
At least captures dreaming thought
As days remains uncertain, unwritten
Regenerative energies  rekindle
Removing the gags of suppression
Allowing voices to speak  truth
Spurring the spirit to unsurpassed horizons
Unblemished like the taste of freedom
As we navigate to desinations unknown
New dawn's can enrich, keep our hopes alive
In the dapple of an eye, not defeated yet.

Saturday 1 June 2019

The Merthyr Rising of 1831


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 creditirs 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 posession of his trunk, 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 pursuade 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 Wiliams 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 manypeople 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, where he was finally buried outside the chapel walls in his home town.(convicted criminals were not permitted to be buried in consecrated ground).
Thousands of people had lined the route as word of his execution had spread throughout Wales.
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 Wetern 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.
Yes Dic Penderyn was the innocent martyr and deserves recognition for this, but it was Lewis Lewis, who was the de facto leader of the workers uprising in Merthyr and also deserves recognition as a true working class hero.
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.
Unlike  events like the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 in Manchester where an unarmed crowd was dispersed by soldiers. the Merthyr Rising has been airbrushed out of history, apart from amongst socialists and labour movement activists in Wales. But fittingly, a group of socialists and trade unionists local to Merthyr came together, inspired by festivals such as Tolpuddle and the Durham Miners’ Gala, to create the Merthyr Rising Festival in honour of all those who fought in 1831. 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

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/06/cofiwch-dic-penderyn-remember-dic.html

https://libcom.org/library/1831-merthyr-tydfil-uprising?fbclid=IwAR2kZ5gMGJHat0duJCA6tOxct0caGqwmKMr5pqlU9dGqUA8wdT6OCoxEc6U