Marking the 203rd anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre

  

 

The 16th of August, marks  the 203rd  anniversary of the infamous Peterloo Massacre, one of the most significant atrocities carried out by the British authorities against their own people and one of the  bloodiest episodes and most dismal in British history. The massacre by official accounts is believed to have involved 18 deaths and injuries to as many as 700 protesters, including  many women who paid the price for exercising their democratic rights to freedom of assembly.Though the actual death toll was likely much higher.

Peterloo involved the assembly at St Peter’s Field in  post- Napoleonic Manchester (since renamed St Peters Square.)  a crowd of  60,000 to 89,000 peaceful working class pro-democracy (none of them were armed) and anti poverty protestors  had gathered, many in their Sunday best, proud and defiant  amid growing poverty and unemployment, mainly from the Corn Laws that artificially inflated bread prices, demanding the right to vote at a time when only  3% were on the electoral register.Manchester , despite its vast population, hadn't a single MP. Trade Unions were already widespread but illegal and were frequently suppressed violently.  

The first few decades of the 19th century, enshrined in public imagination as the elegant age of the Regency, were a time of severe political repression in England. The Tory government, led by Lord Liverpool, feared that the kind of revolutionary activity recently witnessed in France would break out in England – probably in Manchester, where social conditions were so desperate – and chose decided to stamp out all dissent and free speech.

The government was at war with France, which saw Wellington triumph over Napoleon’s forces at Waterloo in 1815.But as Paul Foot once wrote, the British government was also waging war against its own people.

The key speaker at St Peter’s Field was a famed orator by the name of Henry Hunt, the platform consisted of a simple cart, and the space was filled with banners emblazoned with messages calling for - Reform, universal suffrage,and equal representation. Many of the banners poles were topped with the red cap of liberty- a powerful symbol at the time.However, local magistrates peering out a window from a building near the field panicked at the size of the crowd, and proceeded without any notice to read the Riot Act, ordering the assembled listeners to disperse. It would almost certainly have been the case that only a very few would have heard the magistrates. The official 'guardians of the peace' then promptly directed the local Yeomanry to arrest the speakers. The Yeomanry could be described as a kind of paramilitary force with no training in crowd control and little in the way of proper discipline similar to the riot police that ran amok at the Battle of Orgreave during the miners strike of the 1980's. On horseback they charged into the crowd, and pierced the air with cutlasses and clubs. Many in the crowd believed the troops had drunk heavily in the lead up to the assault. In the melee, 600 Hussars who had initially been held in reserve, were ordered to attack unarmed civilians, with brutal consequences.They sliced indiscriminately at men, women and children as they tried to get to the speakers platform. Within minutes, people were sabred, trampled and crushed. Screams reverberated across the square. The Manchester Guardian described how " the women seemed to be the special objects of the rage of these bastard soldiers," 

The massacre was named ‘Peterloo’ in ironic comparison to the battle of Waterloo, that took place four years earlier.The victims included a two year old boy, William Fides, who was ridden oer by the cavalry after he was knocked from his mothers arms, and an an old Waterloo veteran , John Less, who was slashed to death by the cavalry's sabres.

After the massacre, it was the victims, and not the aggressors who were treated as criminals, and feared discrimination by their employers. And no doubt many of those injured died as a result of their injuries some weeks or even months later. In those days of primitive medical care and lack of welfare provision, a serious injury was often a death sentence, and for a wage earner to be incapacitated  equalled the threat of starvation for a family. At this time many handloom weavers and spinners were already living in a state of semi starvation.

The government of Lord Liverpool, backed up the public officials and the actions of the troops and was adamantly unwilling to apologize for the appalling violence. Henry Hunt, Samuel Bamford and other radical leaders were arrested for treason. This capital offence  was later commuted to a lesser one, and they served prison sentences of several years.

The event would  also usher in a series of draconian laws that further restricted the liberties of the population.It would lead to the suppression of public expression of opinion, debate , gathering and dissent.The populace did not decline into apathy, however. A large public outcry ensued, and an effort was made by various reformers to document the truth of what had occurred in the center of Manchester on that fateful day. Peterloo led directly to the formation of one of Britain’s leading progressive newspapers, the Manchester Guardian (now the more watered down Guardian). The aftermath of the event would in itself unleash a wave of public anger and protests, which eventually was to lead to the Great Reform Act of 1832, which led to limited suffrage and to today's parliamentary democracy. Many historians now acknowledge Peterloo  as hugely influential in ordinary people winning the vote and credit it with giving rise to the Chartist movement, and  strength to other workers rights movements. We should never forget on whose shoulders we today stand, a reminder that what rights that we have today were hard one.

In Italy, in the aftermath of Peterloo, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley having heard of the horror, his outraged response was  to compose his powerful political  91-verse poem, The Mask of Anarchy. The word anarchy then meant something quite different to how we view it today, Shelley used it to describe the chaos of tyranny, in which no one but the very few who own and control society can plan their lives for themselves.

The poem was written in the ballad tradition. Ballads in the early 19th century were verse narratives, often set to popular tunes and typically sold on the streets as a cheap disposable form of literature. They often focussed on tragedies, love affairs or scandals. By adopting this style,Shelley could be seen  to be speaking with the voice of the common man. 

The Mask of Anarchy recounts a nightmare in which the three Lords of the Tory Cabinet parade in an awful possession, murdering and deceiving while Britain dissolves into anarchy. He rouses the people to free themselves from their oppressors, by supplying them, among other things, with a powerful definition of freedom.

He begins his poem with the powerful images of the unjust forms of authority of his time: God,  the King and Law, and he then imagines the stirrings of a radically new form of social action. The poem mentions several members of Lord Liverpool's's government by name: the Foreign Secretary, Castlereagh who appears as a mask worn by Murder, the Home Secretary,Lord Sidmouth., whose guise is taken by Hypocricy, and the Lord Chancellor,Lord Eldon whose ermine gown is worn by Fraud.The crowd at this gathering is met by armed soldiers, but the protestors do not raise an arm against their assailants:

Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,

And that slaughter to the Nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular;
A volcano heard afar.

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."

That closing verse is perhaps one of the best known pieces of poetry in any movement of the oppressed all over the world such is it's resonance.Encouraging people to rise up and challenge the tyranny that they are facing every day of their lives, against the undeniable injustices.faced by the many at the hands of the few. The rallying language of the poem  has led to elements of it being recited by students at Tiananmen Square  and by protestors in Tahir Square during the revolution in Egypt in 2011.It would inspire the campaign slogan "We are many, they are few" used by anti Poll Tax demonstrators  in 1989-90, and also inspired the title of the 2014 documentary film We are Many, which focussed  on the worldwide anti-war protests of 2003, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also memorably used the final stanza.
Shelley’s friend and publisher, Leigh Hunt did not publish the poem until after Shelley’s death fearing that the opinions in it were too controversial and inflammatory. The Masque of Anarchy  has been described as “the greatest political poem ever written in English” by people such as Richard Holmes. It inspired Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience which in turn influenced the anarchist writings of Leo Tolstoy.Percy Bysshe Shelley believed that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”He would remain a serious advocate for serious reform for the rest of his life, and would come to serve as a prophetic voice and inspiration to those, like the Chartists who created significant movements for peaceful reform, alongside generations of activists to this present day. Many years later his powerful poem is as relevant in austerity gripped Britain as when it was first written and  reminds us that Poetry can serve to inspire and motivate people and change and influence ideas. It is one of the most powerful tools we have.

Full text of Shelley's Mask of Anarchy can be found here:-

http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/PShelley/anarchy.html 

An earlier post on Shelley can be found here :-

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/08/percy-bysshe-shelley-august-4-1792-july.html

The terrible events  that happened on August 16th, 1819  were recently  dramatised by director Mike Leigh in his  historical drama Peterloo. In this gripping account he presents a devastating portrait of class and political corruption which develops our understanding of how the working poor in Britain have coped with oppression . It  is a necessary film for our times, .which should be shown up and down the country in schools so that our children  can learn more about this shameful piece of British history.

This sobering but enthralling blast from the past, superbly shot by the director's regular cameraman Dick Pope, sees Leigh seamlessly move between the lives of disparate characters in the years after Waterloo: a family of weavers headed by Maxine Peake's matriarch: the Westminster government and gluttonous Prince Regent (an unrecognisable Tim McInnerny), fearful of losing his head to the forces of revolution; venomous Manchester magistrates determined to quash any radicalism; and moderate reformists and supporters from the local press, who invite tub-thumping speaker "Orator" Hunt (a terrific Rory Kinnear) to address the masses on that fateful day. Though the film is of considerable length, it's never plodding - Leigh leavens the mood with pointed humour and subtle mockery, whether it's in the pomposity and idiosyncrasies of the ruling classes, Vincent Franklin's apoplectic reverend magistrate or Hunt's smug, southern snobbishness. The climactic massacre is unheralded and low key, yet once the mayhem unfolds, it's easy to be reminded of recent crowd crises like Orgreave, the Poll Tax riots and Hillsborough. No doubt, Ken Loach would have been more strident with the material. To his credit, Leigh manages to take quirky slice-of-life drama to impressively epic heights and express a quieter indignation. But it's indignation, nonetheless. 

 

 

Peterloo  has  since become a rallying cry for the working class and radicals, a symbol of the vile nature of the ruling class. Thousands marched  through the streets of Manchester at the weekend and called for action in  a demonstration to commemorate the Peterloo Massacre, Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who addressed  the crowd during speeches at St Peter's  Square.He received rousing cheers when he expressed solidarity with workers  fighting back against exploitative employers.

The gathering came amid a spiralling  cost of living crisis, with  energy bills  and fuel prices soaring  over the past year, and further sharp increases  expected to follow in October and next January. It also  took place against a backdrop of widespread industrial action  for workers across the country, as repeated  calls were made for a 'summer of solidarity.'

Following his appearance at the event  Mr Corbyn wrote on Twitter, "At todays  commemoration of the Peterloo Massacre  in Manchester we sent a strong message, We need an immediate wealth tax with our energy, water, rail and mail in public hands to bring down bills and help us build a fairer society of peace, justice and shared wealth"

 Repesentatives from  the RMT union which has been striking  over pay and conditions for its members this summer, werenison and the Fire  in attendance at the event. Other unions including Unite, Unison and the Fire Brigades Union were also present. 

Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union president Ian Hudson said tht in the current Tory leadership contest, fewer people are voting  than had the right to participate in parliamentary elections at the time of Peterloo.

He said  that "people have the right to food, not to foodbanks" and called for the abolition  of reviled zero-hours contracts, which leave those on them with no guarantee of work or wages.

The lessons that we  draw from Peterloo remain as valid today as ever, that we do not forget  that our rights have been won by others and must be constantly defended. A time to pause and to consider this significant moment in history when our working class ancestors were  slaughtered whilst peacefully protesting for basic civil rights that we today, take for granted.We must continue to display our defiance. More than that, in today's society with the Conservatives  current  draconian  Policing Bill, it’s a reminder that Peterloo was about demanding basic democratic rights and that all these years later a Tory Government is still trying to restrict them and take them away from us and are continuing to attack peoples rights to free assembly and their continuing  assaults on the weak and vulnerable among us, it is a timely reminder of how governments are still not averse to attacking its own people and we should put Shelley's words into practice and rise like lions, because we are many and they are few.

 

                                 Print of the Peterloo Massacre published by Richard Carlisle
     

               

 

Beyond the Weight of the World

Life can feel good until you are randomly hit by a wave of sadness, I feel sadness at the passing of people I didn't know but who made my life brighter. And sadness too for people I didn't know whose awful and undeserved deaths made me question what world we're living in. No human should be bombed or drowned seeking safety.

I feel sadness too for those  dealing with the fallout of murderous  government policies that have led to the worst cost of living crisis in generations. People left with less and less because the rich are taking more and more. 

Ultimately we are all an intrinsic part of this universe. We are all interconnected, and even though each of us separate individuals.We should appreciate the slender threads that hold us together. Through compassion we can share the ultimate and most meaningful embodiment of our emotional maturity. If we stop feeling for strangers we lose the energy to make the world better. People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason the world is in chaos, is things are being loved and people are being used.

There's  sorrow and pain in everyone's life, in this world full of darkness, but going over our sad thoughts and feelings, again and again can lead to further  depression and states of anxiety. But the history of depression is a history of our contemporary capitalist world ,and also, a history of violence, the violence that people of color, or LGBT people, or asylum seekers, experience on a daily basis, a violence both physical and psychic. 

.All of this to say that the current, social, political, economic, ecological  crisis is thus a mental health crisis as well. The perpetuum mobile of capitalism and its exhaustion of resources also pertains to mental resources. The economic and the psychological seem to have become indistinguishable from each other, as the double meaning of depression would also suggest. Naturally, we are not all in the same boat, or in the same bed. We are not all depressed (and those of us who are are experiencing it in the same way, or for the same reasons). We are not equally fucked (up). Some strata of society have access to futurity in ways that others do not, some bear the burden more than others, and  some simply die sooner than others .

What's important to remember there's power in overcoming sadness.  It's time we stop being ashamed of when we are sad - the faster we embrace our less good moments the sooner we can enjoy the good ones to come. I cry a lot as an expression of joy, sadness and passion. I cry sometimes  through frustration  or joy  after hearing  something musically moving or news of  people overcoming adversity.  Crying is part of my empathy.

It's ok to not be ok. you are certainly not to blame. There is no one size fits all solution, though sharing, communicating with the people you love and that love you back can  help. Your mental health matters, your mental  well-being matters, You matter, don't forget that,

There are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one that I heartedly embrace. A form of silent poetry in which you can participate wildly or gracefully, at your own free will.  Healthy eating, exercise, meditation, consuming positive content, and therapy are also all great ways to break out of the depressive thought cycle, medication even,.

Try to  remember that every now and then there's a ray of light that melts the loneliness in your heart and brings comfort, a future of possibilities, though the climate crisis quite literally annihilates this future as such. despite this never give up, no matter what.  Always believe in yourself and keep going, even when things don't go your way. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Continue to be transformed; by the power of your minds, feelings and emotions.We can solidify and  support one another, and  weather the storms.

The coordinated dismantling of capitalism in every nation is also  becoming rather necessary to citizens around the world. After all capitalism  is basically modern day slavery. The literal chains and whips have been replaced by more insidious methods of subjugation. Feudalism didn't die, it's just been reimagined. The elites and privileged still rule and shape this world.

Human beings must look beyond this archaic system of exploitation which is currently leaving so many feeling depressed and hopeless.in realms of hardship. The capitalist mode of production creates a culture, which incentivizes the pursuit of hoarding money above all else. Success is measured by your wallet, rather than your overall happiness. As  result  this rat race coerces human beings into becoming cogs in our capitalist system, and as a result, alienates us from the joys of life. 

We must not be resigned to this system of coercion and control that  is ugly, banal and cruel, instead we must put our heads down, and put in the hard work it will take to change this system. Shed those feelings of alienation and depression, which have been ingrained in you by the modern-day capitalist system. Find renewed motivation in the struggle to create a better world for ourselves, and all those who will be born after us. We must reject the capitalist propaganda which assures us success in life is equivalent to how much wealth one accrues. We can find joy and purpose in fighting for a cause bigger than ourselves.

For as long as capitalism has existed, workers and unions have had to fight to protect their health from the conditions bred by a society blindly pursuing profit. In the workplaces, this has meant winning victories like the eight hour work day in the early 1900s.This struggle continues today, where we need to continually fight against the exploitative conditions that cause us to become mentally and physically unwell. Fighting against abusive managers, toxic work environments, long hours, lack of benefits and poverty wages are part of the fight for our own mental health.

In this moment in time amidst  the cost of living crisis we also need a Poll Tax level of solidarity to prevent a winter, not just of discontent, but one of a multitude of deaths and immense sadness from fuel/food poverty and  homelessness caused by a corrupt government. enabling blatant corporate daylight robbery.

For the time being it’s still possible to find beauty, find meaning, have fun with your friends, get inspired by music, art,, keep on singing out, even if this all happens in spite of the way that the economy is organized. Breathe in love and send sparkles of loving light to all living things and all the spaces between us, it is time to create a beautiful life on Earth for everyone to live together in happiness, harmony and peace. 

When we take care of each other, stand against  the forces of Capital, the future can be rebuilt in the name of a communist, shared, sustainable one, ingrained with its own authentic universalism. They say I'm a dreamer , but I'm not the only one.

Hiroshima / Nagasaki : Never Again

 

 

 

On the 6th August 1945 the United States dropped  an atomic bomb called ' Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan which is estimated to have killed 100,000 to 180,000 people out of a population of 350,000. Then three days later, a second  atomic bomb  called "Fat Man" was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, killing between 50,000 and 100,000 people in an act of unspeakable violence. 

.Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely civilian towns, meaning there wasn't a strong military reason to drop the atomic bombs over those particular cities. No one was excluded from the horrors of the atomic bomb, a "destroyer of worlds" burnt hotter than the sun. Some people were vaporised upon impact, while others suffered burns and radiation poisoning that would kill them days, weeks or even months later. Others were crushed by debris, burned by unimaginable heat or suffocated by the lack of oxygen. Many survivors suffered from leukemia and other cancers like thyroid and lung cancer at higher rates than those not exposed to the bombs. Mothers were more likely to  lose their children during pregnancy or shortly after birth. Children exposed to radiation were more likely to have learning disabilities and impaired growth.

Those that did manage to survive  would be traumatised for the rest of their lives. Hibakusha is a term widely used in Japan, that refers to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it translates as 'explosion effected  Survivor of Light. These survivors speak of the deep, unabating grief they felt in the days, months and decades since the attack  They have described the shame of being a survivor , many were unable to marry, find jobs, or live any sort of normal life. They have said that many Hibakusha never speak of the day, instead choosing to suffer in silence. They told what it was like to be suddenly alone in middle age, to lose their parents, spouses, children, and livelihoods in a single instant. In memory of them, we should make sure that the  misery and devastation caused by nuclear weapons is never forgotten.
Even if Japan was not fully innocent, the people of Japan did not deserve to pay the price for their nations wrongdoing, and there was absolutely no moral justification in obliterating these two cities and killing its inhabitants in what was clearly a crime against humanity and murder on an epic scale. Hiroshima and Nagasaki held no strategic importance. Japan were an enemy on the brink of failure an members of the country's top leadership were involved in peace negotiations. Many believe that these two atrocities were a result of  geopolitical posturing at its most barbaric, announcing  in a catastrophic  display of military capability, of inhumane intention showing America's willingness to use doomsday weapons on civilian populations.The bombings serving as warnings and the fist act of the Cold War against its imperialist rival Russia. A message to the Russians of the power of destruction and technological military capability that the US had managed to develop.Three days later U.S president Harry Truman exulted ; "This is the greatest thing in history! " and gloated that " we are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely."
Then the photos began to emerge, haunting images of burned children with their skin hanging off, of bodies charred and there was Sadaki Sasaki and the 1,000 origami peace cranes she folded before her death at 12 from leukemia ten years after the bomb was dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima.The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The  two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people.and the effects are still being felt today. The bombs dropped were  of a indiscriminate and cruel character beyond comparison  with weapons and projectiles of the past. Despite all  this Truman never regretted his decision. .

Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering.

When American troops arrived in Nagasaki and stumbled upon one of the cameramen, from the legendary film company Nippon Eiga Sha, shooting amidst the rubble, they promptly arrested him and confiscated his film. The Americans would halt the entire production in fact. When they let it continue, they did so as producers, paying for the production and thus retaining the right to the film - and the right to keep it concealed for decades.

The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The  two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people.and the effects are still being felt today.

Seeing the barbarous effect of these weapons, did our political and military leaders decide to rid the world of them. Far from it.Today's nuclear weapons make the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs look like water pistols in  comparison, and there are enough of them to destroy not just cities but the whole world.

And who has most of these weapons of mass destruction? The only country to ever  use them - the United States.

American Nuclear Bombs are to be housed at RAF Lakenheath, The same issue as what ignited  the peace movement in the 1980's  that the Peace Camp at Greenham brought to everyones attention, CND are organising a demo at Lakenheath on 17th September. 77 years after they were used, it's time to finally bring an end to the era of nuclear weapons.The lingering humanitarian aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us all of what is at stake and galvanise our action. More information here  https://cnduk.org/lakenheath/

Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering. As  we mourn the hundreds and thousands of lives lost at Hiroshima and Nagasaki now is the time for us to redouble our efforts to ensure that such an atrocity does not happen again and on this poignant anniversary, we must reaffirm our determination to campaign for a world without nuclear weapons, whilst remembering the resilience of ordinary people in the years after the war and the movements of ordinary people against war, who try to make this world more peaceful and harmonious place for us all.Hiroshima and Nagasaki  reminds us of our mission to end preventable and premature deaths by such senseless atrocities. 

Completely ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a humanitarian and moral imperative and it is the only way forward,Governments must be urged to pursue negotiations to prohibit the use of and completly eliminate nuclear weapons through a legally binding international agreement.

 Residents of Nagasaki have paid tribute to victims of the US atomic bombing 77 years ago, with the mayor warning Russia’s war on Ukraine showed that another nuclear attack is not just a worry but “a tangible and present crisis”.

Mayor Tomihisa Taue, in his speech on Tuesday at the Nagasaki Peace Park, said nuclear weapons can be used as long as they exist, and their elimination is the only way to save the future of humankind.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and threat to use nuclear weapons came only a month after it and four other nuclear powers pledged in a statement that nuclear war should never be fought, Mr Taue said. 

 “This has shown the world that the use of nuclear weapons is not a groundless fear but a tangible and present crisis,” he said. The belief that nuclear weapons can be possessed not for actual use but for deterrence “is a fantasy, nothing more than a mere hope”, he added.  

As in Hiroshima, Russia and its ally Belarus were not invited to the memorial event in Nagasaki.

Participants, from more than  80 nations were present at the ceremony including diplomats from nuclear states, observed a moment of silence at 11.02am, the moment the bomb exploded above the southern Japanese city on August 9 1945.

Although Russia last week tried to roll back on Vladimir Putin’s warning, fears of a third atomic bombing have grown amid Russia’s threats of nuclear attack since its war on Ukraine began in February.

Russia last week shelled a Ukrainian city close to Europe’s largest nuclear plant. 

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: “Even though we face a severe security environment, we must pursue the history of non-nuclear use and make Nagasaki the last place of nuclear attack.”

Japanese officials worry that the conflict may embolden China to be even more assertive in East Asia, and the government is pushing to step up its military capability and spending.

Japan renounces its own possession, production or hosting of nuclear weapons, but as a US ally Japan hosts 50,000 American troops and is protected by the US nuclear umbrella.

However, Russia’s nuclear threat has prompted some hawkish lawmakers in the governing party to raise the possibility of nuclear sharing with the United States.

Mr Taue said discussions about nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation over the past decades have not been put into practice and trust in the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has become “tenuous”.

“We must recognise that ridding ourselves of nuclear weapons is the only realistic way of protecting the Earth and humankind’s future,” Mr Taue said.

He urged Japan’s government to exercise leadership in pursuing peace diplomacy that does not rely on nuclear deterrence.

“Nuclear weapons are not deterrence,” said Takashi Miyata, an 82-year-old survivor, or hibakusha. He said possible nuclear sharing is “the opposite of our wish”. 

Takashi Miyata, 

Air-raid sirens and scenes of bombed-out Ukraine reminded him of the “pika don” or the flash and explosion of the atomic bombing that Mr Miyata experienced at the age of 5. His uncle and aunt died in the bombing, and his father died of leukaemia five years later. Mr Miyata also developed cancer 10 years ago.

Many survivors of the bombings have lasting injuries and illnesses resulting from the explosions and radiation exposure and have faced discrimination in Japan.

As of March, 118,935 survivors are certified as eligible for government medical support, according to the health and welfare ministry. Their average age now exceeds 84.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organisations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nation nuclear weapon ban treaty. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on 7 July 2017.

More information below.

http://www.icanw.org/

Whoever wins the Tory leadership campaign, ordinary people lose.

The political vacuum left by Boris Johnson and the lack of clear candidates on who should replace him as Prime Minister has led to a contest where the Conservative Parliamentary Party has whittled down a long list of potential contenders to two. Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor and Liz Truss, the acting Foreign Secretary. After an initial feeling of happiness after the news of Johnson;s resignation my fear is that his replacement could be just as bad.

So far they have both tried to adopt the style and themes of Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady whose sweeping right-wing policies remain popular among Conservative voters. Her target audience is the roughly 160,000 members of the Conservative Party who will choose the next leader. For these voters, many of whom are older and  very right-wing, Thatcher remains a revered figure, second only to Winston Churchill in the pantheon of Tory grandees. The contest has revealed the  sad reality that such a few amount of people could decide our next Prime minister,making a mockery of what our  democracy is supposed to stand for. 

Truss has undergone a complete political reinvention to become the favorite to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative party and UK Prime Minister., the former Remain supporter is now a Brexiter with the zeal of a convert.after the vote went the other way She is also a political survivor as the longest continuously serving member of the cabinet, having worked under three prime ministers. She’s also gone from yelling slogans as a child against Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s Conservative government and leading Oxford University’s Liberal Democrat society to become the darling of the Tory Party right.  “My parents were left-wing activists, and I’ve been on a political journey ever since,” Truss said in an ITV debate of Tory leadership.

Her politics are now  Reaganite in flavour, with a foreign policy world view in which Britain stands alongside America against Russia and China, unsupported by its wimpish European neighbours. References to the cold war and “freedom” pepper her comments on international affairs.

Truss ,has appealed to the right wing of her party  through her so called libertarianism, trumpeting the value of free markets, backing low taxation and repeatedly railing against the “nanny state” interfering in the lives of ordinary Britons. Her politics are Reaganite in flavour, with a foreign policy world view in which Britain stands alongside America against Russia and China, unsupported by its wimpish European neighbours.References to the cold war and “freedom” pepper her comments on international affairs.

Truss's campaign has been boosted by her proposals on tax which amount to reversing the hike in national insurance contributions for all taxpayers and cancelling a planned increase in corporation tax, all paid for, it would seem, by re-profiling repayments on Covid related debt.

She’s won admirers among ardent Brexiteers by challenging the EU over the Brexit deal struck by Johnson’s own government, introducing a bill overriding the bulk of its provisions on Northern Ireland and is believed to show a willingness to break parts of the Good Friday Agreement in order to rectify issues with the protocol, a move that could risk a resuming of violence,

Even while protesting loyalty to Johnson, the foreign secretary has done little to disguise her ambitions to claim the top job, schmoozing with colleagues in social events known as “fizz with Liz” and running a carefully-curated instagram feed that rivaled the social media operation run by Sunak’s team.

 Sunak’s foreign policy beliefs are less pronounced. He rose to high office on a sharp trajectory. Barely three years ago, he was a junior minister discussing edicts to local councils about boycotts of Israel. Unlike Truss, Sunak was an early and firm supporter of Brexit – a fact that ought to be his strongest appeal to Conservative members. But his reputation as a tax-raising chancellor has dented his popularity among the electorate.

Whilst Sunak’s ethno-religious background is significantly different than previous contenders for PM, Sunak’s educational and class background is very much similar. In his youth, Sunak attended Winchester boarding school, one of the highest performing fee-paying schools in Britain and subsequently attended Oxford University where he read Politics Philosophy and Economics. Sunak’s privileged background has in large part fuelled a public perception of Sunak as an elitist.

Sunak’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $887 million and in  the context of corruption and a regime built on one law for the rich and one for the poor, Sunak has been damaged by his wife’s “non-dom” status, and a recently surfaced video where Sunak in his youth claims to have no working-class friends has cemented Sunak’s privileged and out-of-touch image.

In connection to Sunak’s vast wealth has been a recent scandal pertaining to media the revelations that Sunak’s wife, the daughter of an Indian, billionaire and business magnate, Narayana Murthy, who despite living in the UK has a non-domiciled tax status in the UK, meaning her tax contributions are vastly lower.

Let's not forget  they both were not only first-hand witnesses but also active participants in all the errors and failings of the Johnson government from which they are now so keen to distance themselves whilst continuing to praise the author. They both claim to have known better all along, and have both had months to think about the policies they were going to present as part of their campaigns in order to sound coherent and credible.

Yes  they have plenty of promises, but no commitment  to delivering policies that are desperately needed to cope with the current cost of living crisis and the rising poverty we are facing. With either of them in charge the current crisis  will only get worse.What is singularly absent in the plans of both aspirants is a proposal to help struggling households.

6.3 million households are currently in fuel poverty, by the time one of these candidates takes residence in Downing Street, fuel bills will be set to rise to a whopping 8.5 million ny thee end of the year, The Bank of England  have hiked interest rates again  from 1.25% ti 1.75% , the  biggest rise  in 27 years as it battles to curb rising prices of energy, food and other commodities.The continuing war in Ukraine is unlikely to offer respite to volatile markets or reduce fuel costs for motorists and households.In this unremittingly grim story, the story of struggling Britain in 2022.

Both Sunak and Truss appear to have little to say except pander to the demands of their rank and file for tax cuts now. Both of course at the same time further capitalist economic policies which are proving incapable of stopping Britain and the global economy entering recession,  feverishly offering more cash to the rich, ­without being drawn into much detail about how the poor will foot the bill. Sunak said he wants to slash taxes by 20 percent by the end of the decade. He is promising to cut income tax to 16p, which would put some £6 billion less into the public purse. It’s a move targeted at ­buttering up the rich. But it will come as little comfort as cost of living crisis continues to bite and a cold winter looms over millions of people.

With more Tory misrule, unless we get rid of them,we will forever be poisoned and imprisoned by their policies, that are infected with fear, nationalism and hate, delivering more austerity and dollops of neoliberalism, while lacing us with propoganda their party's preferred pill to medicate and keep the nation in a docile state.

In recent months, the most controversial policy utilized by the government has been Priti Patel's inhumane Rwanda policy,  revealing the Conservatives politics of cruelty that will see asylum seekers being deported to the country in a draconian effort to end the boat crossings of refugees fleeing crisis and danger, a right guarantee under international law.

The policy has been endorsed by both candidates publicly however, Truss has discussed the importance of expanding the policy to deter immigrants. She has proposed the possibility of expanding deportations to Turkey, which already holds the largest refugee population in the world.

The existing Rwanda policy is already controversial within the public sphere, since not only does it send vulnerable asylum seekers to a country with recent human rights abuses, but the scheme is expected to cost the public taxpayer millions and millions without any clear certainty that the policy will curb the flow of migrants across the channel as only a small minority of asylum seekers will face deportation.

As energy prices soar sky high. and we are barely able to survive I  predict  them continuing to destroy our society, whoever wins, they are committed to austerity, racism and accelerating climate chaos. Both want to undermine workers’ rights and make it harder to protest.

If the Tories retain their grip on power I can only foresee this nasty party, getting nastier and nastier, that will effect the lives of so many ordinary people. A future of  no hope,only despair that will see them  not letting us retire until we are 75. Strikes made illegal,  trade unions being banned.  Scottish and Welsh assemblies dissolved. Judges to become purely political appointments. Chain gangs to replace community service. Workhouses for the feckless, undeserving poor. Refugees offered to countries as cheap Labour.The return of  capital  and corporal punishment. People forced to sing the National anthem after films and the the return of the bloody  Black and white minstrels, as they tighten their authoritarian ad regressive grip.

But a real alternative can be built to all this , and we can at least be energised by the strike of the RMT workers which has huge support among the public. There will also be industrial action of workers in BT. Postal workers and nurses will be balloted for strike action. There is a real  need for coordinated action on the cost of living crisis and a mass movement that can ensure it is not just Johnson that is removed from power, but the Tories as a whole. .

Nichelle Nichols, 'Star Trek' Icon. Trailblazer and activist, dead at 89

It is with great sadness I write that legendary  American actress, singer, and dancer Nichelle Nichols ( born Grace Dell Nichols) best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhuraa (Uhuraa was taken from the Swahili for "freedom")  an officer of African descent  in Star Trek: The Original Series, and its film sequels. has passed away on July 30  at age 89, her family announced in a statement. "Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away" her son Kyle shared on the actress' official website. He added, "Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all." 

 A family spokesman said the actress died in Silver City, New Mexico, where she was living with her son. 

Her groundbreaking performances in Star Trek, which was light years ahead of its time  corresponded with the Civil Rights movement in the United States, and helped set the first standard for diversity and inclusion in mainstream screen entertainment. Not only was it a rarity to see a black woman  on primetime TV, it was even rarer to see a black woman cast in such a high powered role.  She was portrayed displaying a command of a non-menial job, communications officer on the USS Enterprise  almost unheard of on television, which Black women were often shown as maids and nannies. 

Nichol's impact was immediate and undeniable, making her an icon and hero to countless viewers across the globe.

The original “Star Trek” premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. The legendary sci-fi TV series promised to seek out new life and new civilisations which it did in abundance.  As far as exploring new planets, it entered  virgin territory as far as casting went. The Star Trek franchise (it later became a cartoon and a series of films) devised by Gene Roddenberry, reflected it's creator's optimism, with different nationalities, races and species happily co-existing. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was Gene's message to viewers that in the far-off future, the 23rd century. human diversity would be fully accepted. 

Nichelle went on to make  American television history with the first scripted interracial lip to lip  kiss with Star Trek's Captain Kirk, William Shatner, in the 1968 episode "Plato's Stepchildren." representing another way in which the series, as well as its fictional crew, boldly went where none had gone before.

 

 

Nichols, radiating professionalism and 1960s mod-style sex appeal from her chair on the Enterprise’s bridge, opened a channel to Hollywood for stars like Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, and Pam Grier. She was an integral part of one of the most influential shows of the 1960s that impacted the imagination of space exploration and opened doors for future equality and inclusion for women.

The death of this Star Trek legend opened the floodgates of mourners who remembered her not only for her cosmic contribution to the entertainment industry as one of the first Black women featured in a major TV series, but also for the warmth and generosity of her soul.

I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle," wrote Shatner on Twitter, who starred alongside Nichols in the original TV series. "She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world."

Shatner said he "will certainly miss her" and sent his "love and condolences to her family."

" I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise," her co-star George Takei wrote on Twitter. "For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

 Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, praised Nichols for pathing the way for female actresses.

Sharing a photo of Nichols in her Lt Uhura role to Twitter, Mulgrew wrote: “Nichelle Nichols was The First.

 “She was a trailblazer who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again. May she Rest In Peace.”

While actress Jeri Ryan, who played Borg drone Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager, said: “RIP to a true legend. Her legacy will live forever” in her tribute.

And U.S. President Joe Biden said Nichols "redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women."

"Our nation is forever indebted to inspiring artists like Nichelle Nichols, who show us a future where unity, dignity, and respect are cornerstones of every society," he said in a statement.

Nichelle Nichols (b.Grace Dell Nichols), the daughter of a chemist and a homemaker, was born in Robbins, Illinois. on Dec. 28, 1932, and grew up in nearby Chicago.

After studying classical ballet and Afro-Cuban dance, she made her professional debut at 14 at the College Inn, a high society Chicago supper club. Her performance, in a tribute to the pioneering Black dancer Katherine Dunham, reputedly impressed bandleader Duke Ellington, who was in the audience. A few years later, newly re christened Nichelle, she briefly appeared in his traveling show as a dancer and singer.

At 18, she married Foster Johnson, a tap dancer 15 years her senior. They had a son before divorcing. As a single mother, Nichols continued working the grind of the nightclub circuit.

In the late 1950s, she moved to Los Angeles and entered a cultural milieu that included Pearl Bailey, Sidney Poitier and Sammy Davis Jr., with whom she had what she described as a “short, stormy, exciting” affair. She landed an uncredited role in director Otto Preminger’s film version of “Porgy and Bess” (1959) and assisted her then-boyfriend, actor and director Frank Silvera, in his theatrical stagings.

In 1963, she won a guest role on “The Lieutenant,” an NBC military drama created by Roddenberry. She began an affair with Roddenberry, who was married, but broke things off when she discovered he was also seriously involved with actress Majel Barrett. “I could not be the other woman to the other woman,” she wrote in  her 1994, autobiography, "Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories," which became a best seller. (Roddenberry later married Barrett, who played a nurse on “Star Trek.”)

Nichols’s second marriage, to songwriter and arranger Duke Mondy, ended in divorce.Nichols on Dec. 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois, started her career as a dancer and singer, and she wanted to be the first Black ballerina when she was younger. She originally danced  during performances by Duke Ellington and his band, and got her break when Ellington asked her to sing one night when the lead performer became sick. 

Once in Hollywood, she made her film debut in 1959’s "Porgy and Bess," dancing with Sammy Davis Jr. the first of a string of film and TV roles that led up to "Star Trek."

She was widely praised for breaking down barriers in an era when Black women were rarely seen in prominent TV roles. Nichols also used her celebrity to shed light on the civil rights struggle in the '60s. Early in the series, Nichols considered quitting her role as Lt. Uhura having been offered work on Broadway. But a chance encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made her reconsider. In a 2011 NPR interview, Nichols said that the late civil rights leader kept her from leaving the show. Telling her it was the only show he would allow his children to watch. Nichols explained that at a fundraiser for the NAACP, King urged her to remain on the show rather than leaving for Broadway.  “When we see you, we see ourselves. And we see ourselves as intelligent, and beautiful and proud,” she recalled King telling her. The following Monday she rescinded her resignation to show creator Gene Roddenberry.  

In 2016, she spoke to ABC Audio about how she lent her star status to NASA decades later to encourage diversity in its ranks of real-life space travelers;

"NASA recruited me, hired me to recruit women and minorities for the space shuttle program. And until that time there were no people of color even considered," she explained, adding with a laugh, "And after that, we were all over the place!"  "I interviewed quite a few young women that were interested in that and who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again. didn't think they had a chance. And one interview with me and they knew they did."  

In just four months, Nichols was credited with bringing in more than 8,000 applications, of which more than 1,600 were women and more than 1,000 were people of color. 

Her many film roles ranged from 1974's Isaac Hayes Blaxploitation movie "Truck Turner" to 2005’s Ice Cube comedy "Are We There Yet?"

For many years, she performed a one-woman show honoring Black entertainers such as Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt and Leontyne Price. She also was credited as co-author of two science-fiction novels featuring a heroine named Saturna.

Nichols did not appear in director J.J. Abrams’s “Star Trek” film reboot that included actress Zoe Saldana as Uhura. But she gamely continued to promote the franchise and spoke with candor about her part in a role that eclipsed all her others.

“If you’ve got to be typecast,” Nichols told the UPI news service, “at least it’s someone with dignity.”

On TV, Nichols had voice roles in the animated series "Futurama," "The Simpsons," "Spider-Man" and "Gargoyles." Nichols also appeared in the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless" and NBCs "Heroes." playing the great aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

 In 2016 she  received a lifetime achievement award from the Saturn Awards in 2016, which honor sci-fi entertainment.

Nichols was a regular at “Star Trek” conventions and events into her 80s,, and she was beloved by fans everywhere for her warm , caring presence and devotion to Trek's ideals. Howevr her schedule became limited starting in 2018 when her son announced that she was suffering from  advanced dementia.

Nichols was placed under a court conservatorship in the control of her son Johnson, who said her mental decline made her unable to manage her affairs or make public appearances.

Some, including Nichols’ managers and her friend, film producer and actor Angelique Fawcett, objected to the conservatorship and sought more access to Nichols and to records of Johnson’s financial and other moves on her behalf. Her name was at times invoked at courthouse rallies that sought the freeing of Britney Spears from her own conservatorship.

But the court consistently sided with Johnson, and over the objections of Fawcett allowed him to move Nichols to New Mexico, where she lived with him in her final years.

Nichols leaves behind a rich  legacy of breaking boundaries,racial barriers, fighting for civil rights, and inspiring many to dream and believe beyond their surroundings and humble beginnings. She is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson. She also leaves behind three living Star Trek cast members, William Shatner, George Takei, and Walter Koenig.

As she makes her final journey around the stars , my deepest condolences go out to her friends and family.  She will not be forgotten. Let's keep her memory alive by spreading the message of peace and equality amongst all people. 

The Murder of Frank H Little (1879 – August 1, 1917)

 

Today in Labour history, 1st August 1917, labour organiser and an executive board member of the radical Industrial Workers of the World, the Biracial  half-Cherokee  Frank Henry Little was in the middle of the night  dragged from his hotel room in Butte, Montana, by 6 masked men beaten, tied to the bumper of a car, dragged to the outskirts of town, beaten and tortured him some more before they hanged him from a railroad trestle. When his battered corpse was cut down a few hours later, the police found a note written in red crayon pinned to his underwear: “Others Take Notice. First and Last Warning.”

Frank Little apparently was born in Illinois in 1878, but moved to Missouri, then Ingalls, Oklahoma, the area around Yale, near Stillwater, as a child. His father was a doctor. He had two  brothers and two sisters. Both brothers attended college at Stillwater  

In 1900: Little had become a “hard rock” metal miner and an Arizona member of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM)  and in 1903: Little had been hired by WFM to organize the copper camps of the Clifton Morenci Metcalf area  The Western Federation of Miners was the main force launching the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).which  Little joined  in 1906.

The I.W.W. was founded in 1905 by Eugene V. Debs, William "Big Bill" Haywood, and others who believed that workers should be organized into a single industrial union because individual trade unions were likely to be pitted against each other during disputes with the employers. The I.W.W. was founded on the belief that the working class and the employing class have nothing in common and that the historic mission of the working class is to abolish capitalism and replace it with an economic system based upon human need rather than private profit, so that the benefits of the good life could be extended beyond the privileged few.

Little had only rolled into Montana’s copper mining hub two weeks before helping to organise a miner's strike against the Anaconda Copper Company.  A roving agitator he especially gained fame as a leader in the free speech fights at Missoula, Fresno, and Spokane, and went on to organize the lumberjacks, metal miners, oil field workers and harvest bindle stiffs all over the West and Southwestern states. If local authorities denied the IWWers the right to speak in public or to congregate under the protection of the Bill of Rights, the union people would go to jail rather than give up. In fact, using the tactic now known as nonviolent resistance, Little led them into jail over and over again. He was almost always the first one arrested and the last one freed. Free speech in America owes a great deal to Frank Little.

 Little Pioneered Non-Violent Struggle  long before  Gandhi or Martin Luther  King.In addition to innumerable jail sentences, Little also suffered mob violence at least twice before the final fatal episode. He was kidnapped by businessmen and knocked unconscious after being held for several days.

Y.ears later he was held again. With a rope around his neck for emphasis, Little was told to desist from labor organizing and to name any union men in the area. He did neither and was eventually rescued.

Little's  hatred of exploitation and oppression and of all those who profited by it in one way or another was irreconcilable. He was always for the revolt, for the struggle, for the fight. Wherever he went he “stirred up trouble” and organized the workers to rebel. Bosses, policemen, stoolpigeons, jailers, priests and preachers—these were the constant targets of his bitter tongue. He was a blood brother to all insurgents, “to every rebel and revolutionist the world over.”

Little was also known for his incendiary anti-war speeches that rankled many of the townspeople. America had entered the Great War just four months earlier, and Little’s convictions were controversial even amongst his peers. Although most IWW members, or Wobblies, were ideologically opposed to a war that was viewed as nothing more than yet another example of capitalist gain at the expense of the workers, few dared to be as boldly outspoken as Little. Even IWW founder “Big Bill” Haywood argued that the Wobblies should silence their views for the sake of the organisation’s progress. And so Frank Little found himself on the radical fringe of an already radical-fringe organisation. “Better to go out in a blaze of glory than to give in,” he would say. “Either we’re for this capitalist slaughterfest or we’re against it. I’m ready to face a firing squad rather than compromise!” 

 Little's speeches against the Anaconda Company, the draft and World War I were supported by many Butte miners but engendered fear among Company executives and others. Although the Company and local officials pushed for Little's arrest for "treasonable utterances," U.S. district attorney Burton K. Wheeler found insufficient evidence to indict.

But in its  determination to quash anti-war dissidents, the United States government singled out and targeted  the IWW – going so far as to spread rumours that the organisation was subsidised by Germany – and Frank Little’s murder was to have devastating consequences for the bourgeoning radical labour movement.  Little  would be a signal martyr to America’s nascent Red Scare.

 Frank Little’s last speech, for which he paid with his life, was directed against the capitalist war. In that speech he set up his own doctrines against those of the warmongers. His philosophy, compressed into a single sentence, was picked up and carried all over the country on the telegraph wires with the news of his assassination. “I stand for the solidarity of labor.”

Days after the lynching, Montana authorities declared martial law against anti-war opponents, associates of Little’s were arrested and accused of ‘espionage’, and both the miners’ strike and union were crushed. Beyond Montana, Little’s death was a harbinger of a string of blatantly undemocratic federal laws, specifically the Espionage and Sedition Acts which outlawed any form of dissent. Moreover, the government used the IWW’s association with anti-war opposition to initiate a subjugating campaign of repression against the labour movement, culminating in the 1920 Palmer Raids  which effectively destroyed the IWW’s momentum and power for the next thirty years. 

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer spearheaded efforts to round up anarchists, communists, and other political radicals and then deport them when possible. World War I and the 1917 Russian Revolution inflamed American fears of the spread of radicalism and immigration from Europe, contributing to the first “red scare” in the United States. As state and local governments purged radicals from public service and cracked down on left-wing labor organizing, Palmer undertook the most visible campaign against radical organizations, often immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Between November 1919 and January 1920, Palmer’s agents deported nearly 250 people, including notable anarchist Emma Goldman, and arrested nearly 10,000 people in seventy cities.

 Little's  killers were never brought to justice.

 Years later, writer Dashiell Hammett  would recall his early days as a Pinkerton detective agency operative and recount how a mine company representative offered him $5,000 to kill Little. Hammett says he quit the business that night.

An estimated 10,000 workers lined the route of Frank Little's funeral procession, which was followed by 3,500 more persons. in what was the largest funeral in Montana history.And in the aftermath would see federal troops bought in to quash labor unrest in Butte, and in the  month following Little's murder  the IWW's offices were raided and the organization and its members were hounded into near obscurity. There is no reasonable estimate of the number of unionists deported, jailed, blacklisted, or killed. Even Frank Little’s close relatives were afraid to talk about him. His personal effects, his writings, the death mask made from his face, and the movie made at his gigantic funeral are lost to history. The only remaining trace of the great Frank Little is his tombtone  in Mountain View Cemetery. Butte which is still well cared for by local activists. His grave marker reads : Slain By Capitalist Interests For Organizing And Inspiring His Fellow Men."

Even though Frank Little was executed on this day , his ideas will live on as long as people remember him.We must continue to stand on the shoulders of working class giants, and remember that an injury to one is an injury to all.

Travis Wilkinson's  2002 documentary film An Injury to One tells the story of Frank Little and his lynching in Butte, Montana.

 

 

Celestial Love

Blessed are the spheres

Where lovers play

When souls are pierced

And softened hearts glide

In rhythmic momentum

Thunderous bolts beat

As two silhouettes in the sky 

Pirouette their magic

Electrocised in union 

As dream bubbles awake

No force of gravity weighing down

Composure is cast adrift

Rousing pulsations charge 

Like stars sparkling

In body, in mind, cosmic time

lighting up the dark

Under painted rainbows

Energy orbits seas of tranquillity 

Emotions erupting  pulling together

Blissfully into ones, heart

Weaving love's essence

Flowers of passion  blooming

In the vastness of the galaxy 

Celestial bodies become one

Floating in deep space

Together in warm embrace.

Solidarity with the RMT

Solidarity to the 40,000 members of the Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) who took strike action yesterday. The workers taking this action include guards, signallers, maintenance and catering staff who are striking against a multipronged attack on their working conditions by Network Rail and the 14 Train Operating Companies. These including proposed £2bn of cuts to the rail system which will result in 2,500 maintenance staff and 625,000 fewer hours of maintenance, the closure of 1,000 ticket offices, and an 8% pay rise over two years at a time when the RPI rate of inflation is already running at 11.4%. The RMT is striking against policies that threaten to make the railways less safe and less viable as a system of transport, when the extreme heatwaves of last week have foregrounded the necessity of transitioning to a transport system based on public provision rather than private vehicles. They will next take strike action  on  Saturday 30 July and again on  Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

This comes as wannabe Prime Minister-to-be Liz Truss pledges to restrict the fundamental right of rail workers to strike, and the introduction of new legislation that will allow companies to hire agency workers to replace strikers. These proposals will make it harder for everyone to defend themselves from companies who care more about their rates of profit than their workers and the people using their service and  is a direct attack on one of the main pillars of our democracy It’s only repressive regimes that stop people going on strike. The RMT stands firm as a beacon for all workers. A workers ability to withdraw their labour is a fundamental right.

Mick Lynch general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said “coordinated and synchronised industrial action” would be needed if legislation is brought in.

He went on to say the “very dangerous situation” risks taking the country back to “Victorian times”.

The comments came as strikes by members of the RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs Association crippled services on Wednesday, with only around one in five trains running and some areas having none at all.

Meanwhile, Aslef announced its members will walk out on Saturday August 13, saying train firms failed to make a pay offer to help members keep pace with increases in the cost of living.

A general strike, which can only be called by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), is when a “substantial proportion” of workers in multiple sectors refuse to work until their demands, usually around pay and working conditions, are met.

The RMT are fighting not just for themselves, but for us all: as well as their livelihoods. The safety standards of the British rail network are under real threat. The government-backed rail operators are attempting to reduce staffing levels on platforms, trains, and tracks in order to drive down wages, which they see simply as an overhead cost. Further, they intend to rehire many workers on zero-hours agency contracts in order to circumnavigate labour rights such as paid leave for holiday, sickness, and parenthood as well as allowing them to dismiss workers without notice or redundancy pay. 

The transport industry is one of the few remaining industries in Britain with high union membership. This attempt to break it up by dividing the workforce is a direct attempt to weaken the unions, and the labour movement as a whole.  On top of it all, comes a slap in the face: during this period of exaggerated cost of living,  they are offering the workers that they aren’t trying to sack a real-terms pay cut.  These cuts also come shortly after the Train Operating Companies turned a £600m profit. In 2020, the Rolling Stock Companies, who own the trains, paid out almost £1bn in dividends to their shareholders.This isn't just about the railways, it's about every one of us who's struggling while the rich get richer. 

During lockdown, many of us celebrated the key workers who kept the country going in very difficult (and often dangerous) circumstances. Those same workers are collectively organising for better pay and conditions and we should stand 100% behind them.  Rail staff work in all types of adverse weather and conditions. Most of them are enduring two to three year pay freezes. Meanwhile MPs on £84,144 a year received a £2,212 pay rise just a few months ago and a 28% pay rise since 2010,totalling £18,406. 

If the Tories want to look at pay restraint I suggest this is where they start. While Conservative Ministers and the Tory press will attempt  to demonise hard working RMT members, they should be reminded of the low standing of MP’s, CEO’s and Journalists in the public eye.

This strike is a beacon of resistance and  a victory for the RMT will mean a victory for all, who struggle for a fairer and more equal society. They have done more to fight back in the last few weeks against the derisory economic conditions so many of us face (not just for RMT members, but for us all) than any other political force active in the UK today and have emerged as pacemakers in what is being billed as the summer of discontent. 

Mick Lynch the general secretary of the RMT has been leading from the front. His union is ready to help others across the public sector to coordinate and strengthen action to pursue pay claims and defend conditions. We must never accept such an unprecedented assault on ordinary people's pay and conditions. The basic demand for decent work and a decent livelihood is an  infinitely reasonable.one and the rail strikes are entirely justified. Anyone who values public services and wants to address the climate crisis should support these strikes. 

The momentum of the union movement is growing once again in Britain after half a century of targeted assault. Public support is on the rise, and workers in unions across the country are balloting to take action and stand up for their rights and their dignity. The doubling-down on anti-union rhetoric by the government and press is evidence that they are aware of the power that a unionised workforce wields, and that they are threatened by it. The strikes have also highlighted how we need a publicly owned and democratically controlled transport system more than ever.

Despairingly Sir Keith Woodentop in the midst of all of this has in a shameful dishonourable manner sacked junior shadow transport minister Sam Tarry for daring to show solidarity with striking RMT workers.Supporting workers as they fight  for their jobs, pay and conditions is exactly what Labour is suppose to do. Lets not forget  that Trade unions formed UK Labour to become the political voice of workers and to fight for a decent standard pf life for all. Every single Labour MP should come out in solidarity with Sam Tarry, join him on the picket line and have a vote of no confidence in Starmer.

I stand in full solidarity with the members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers I’m so appreciative of anybody that’s prepared to stand up for themselves and has the self-respect to stand up for themselves,and call up on the employers and Government Ministers to enter into meaningful negotiations with the trade union to preserve jobs, ensure decent pay and safe working conditions. Strike, fight and stay united!

You can donate to the RMT hardship fund, which helps striking members who are taking part in the dispute, via PayPal, cheque, or credit card.

Simon Bolivar : El Libertador ( 24/7/1783 - 17/12/1830)

On July 24, 1783, Latin American revolutionary and liberator Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas, in what is now Venezuela then a Spanish Colony. During his lifetime, Bolivar became known as ‘El Libertador’ or the Liberator through  big instrumental in helping countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia all achieve independence. 

 Bolivar acted as a political dictator, but to some extent helped lay the foundations of democracy in Latin America. From 1819 to 1830 he served as president of the Hispanic-American republic known as Gran Colombia.

His family came from a long line of wealthy Spanish aristocrats and businessmen on both sides. His father, Colonel Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte, and his mother, Doña María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco, inherited vast swaths of land, money, and resources. The Bolívar family fields were labored over by the Native American and African slaves that they owned.

Little Simón Bolívar was petulant and spoiled , though  in fairness he had suffered great personal  tragedy. His father died of tuberculosis when he was three, and his mother died from the same disease about six years later. Because of this, Bolívar was mostly cared for by his grandfather, aunts and uncles, and the family’s longtime slave, Hipólita. 

Hipólita was doting and patient with the mischievous Bolívar, and Bolívar unabashedly referred to her as the woman “whose milk sustained my life” and “the only father I have ever known.”

Soon after his mother died, Simón Bolívar’s grandfather passed away, too, leaving Bolívar and his older brother, Juan Vicente, to inherit the enormous fortune of one of Venezuela’s most prominent families.

His grandfather’s will appointed Bolívar’s uncle Carlos as the boy’s new guardian, but Carlos was lazy and ill-tempered, unfit to raise children or command such a mountain of wealth.

Without adult supervision, Bolívar had the freedom to do as he pleased. He subsequently ignored his studies and spent much of his time roaming around Caracas with other children his age.

At the time, Caracas was on the cusp of a serious upheaval. Twenty-six thousand more black slaves were brought to Caracas from Africa, and the city’s mixed-race population was growing as a result of the inevitable intermingling of white Spanish colonizers, black slaves, and native peoples.

There was growing racial tension in the South American colonies, since the color of one’s skin was deeply tied to one’s civil rights and social class. By the time Bolívar reached his teens, half of Venezuela’s population was descended from slaves.

Underneath all of that racial tension, a yearning for freedom began to simmer. South America was ripe for rebellion against Spanish imperialism.

Bolívar’s family, although one of the wealthiest in Venezuela, was subject to class-based discrimination as a result of being “Creole” — a term used to describe those of white Spanish descent who were born in the colonies.

By the late 1770s, Spain’s Bourbon regime had enacted several anti-Creole laws, robbing the Bolívar family of certain privileges only afforded to Spaniards born in Europe. 

Still, being born into an upper-crest family, Simón Bolívar had the luxury of travel. At age 15, the heir apparent to his family’s plantations, he went to Spain to learn about empire, commerce, and administration.

In Madrid, Bolívar first stayed with his uncles, Esteban and Pedro Palacios.

“He has absolutely no education, but he has the will and intelligence to acquire one,” Esteban wrote of his new charge. “And even though he spent quite a bit of money in transit, he landed here a complete mess….I am very fond of him.”

Bolívar wasn’t the most considerate guest, to say the least; he burned through his uncles’s modest pensions. And so he soon found a more suitable patron, the marquis of Uztáriz, another Venezuelan who became young Bolívar’s de facto tutor and father figure and taught Bolívar math, science, and philosophy.

In 1803, Simón Bolívar returned to Europe and witnessed the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as the King of Italy. The history-making event left a lasting impression on Bolívar and gave rise to his interest in politics. 

For three years,, with his most trusted tutor  Don Simon Rodriguez, who taught the young Bolivar about the ideals of liberty, enlightenment and freedom.He also studied the works of European political thinkers, from liberal Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke and Montesquieu to the Romantics, namely Jean-Jacques Rousseau. When he was 14, his mentor Rodriguez had to flee the country because he was under suspicion of plotting against the Spanish rulers. Bolivar entered the military academy Milicias de Veraguas, where he developed a passion for military strategy.

In 1799, he travelled to Europe to complete his education. Whilst in Madrid, he met  María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alayza, a half-Spanish, half-Venezuelan woman two years Bolívar’s senior.

They had a passionate, two-year courtship in Madrid before finally getting married in 1802. The newly wed Simón Bolívar, 18 and ready to take over his rightful inheritance, returned to Venezuela with his new bride in tow.

But the quiet family life he envisioned would never become. Just six months after arriving in Venezuela, María Teresa succumbed to a fever and died.

Bolívar was devastated. Though he enjoyed many other lovers in his lifetime after María Teresa’s death,,most notably Manuela Sáenz who would later save him from an assassination attempt. María Teresa would be his only wife.

Later, the renowned general credited his career change from businessman to politician to the loss of his wife, as many years later Bolívar confided to one of his commanding generals: “If I were not widowed, my life would have maybe been different; I would not be the General Bolívar nor the Libertador….When I was with my wife, my head was filled only with the most ardent love, not with political ideas….The death of my wife placed me early in the road of politics, and caused me to follow the chariot of Mars.”

Bolivar moved to Paris, where he continued to read the great enlightenment thinkers of Europe, which had an important influence on his political beliefs.Through his own unique interpretations of all of these writings, Bolívar became a Classical Republican, believing that the interests of the nation were more important than the interests or rights of the individual (hence his dictatorial leadership style later in life). He alo became enamoured of the ideals and vision of the American and French revolutions. Also, it was in Europe, that the idea of gaining independence for Latin American countries became an aspiration. He met Alexander von Humboldt who had recently spent five years in south America, he remarked to Bolivar:

“I believe that your country is ready for its independence. But I can not see the man who is to achieve it.”

This thought stayed with Bolivar and on a visit to Rome, at the top of Aventine Hill, he made a celebrated vow that he would not rest until his fatherland had been liberated from Spain.

Whilst in Paris he witnessed the coronation of Napoleon.. Bolivar was mostly impressed with Napoleon and felt that Latin America needed a similar strong leader. Unlike the United States, he worried that Latin America lacked the education and strength to cope with full liberty.

In 1807, Bolivar returned to Venezuela via the United States. He found that the Spanish colonies were increasingly agitating for independence. When a triumphant Napoleon deposed the Spanish Royal family from political power, people in south America saw it as an opportunity to assert their independence from Spain. Bolivar became heavily involved in the movement for independence and in 1810, he was chosen to go on a mission to Britain to seek military and financial support in their campaign for independence but his mission was a failure. He returned to Venezuela, " Let us banish fear and lay the foundation stone of American liberty. To hesitate is to perish,” he proclaimed on July 4, 1811, America’s independence day. 

Venezuela declared independence the next day but the republic would be short-lived.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, many of Venezuela’s poor and non-white people hated the republic. The nation’s constitution kept slavery and a strict racial hierarchy completely intact, and voting rights were confined to property owners. Plus, the Catholic masses resented the Enlightenment’s atheistic philosophy.

On top of public resentment toward the new order, a devastating series of earthquakes toppled Caracas and Venezuela’s coastal cities, quite literally. A massive uprising against the junta of Caracas spelled the end for the Venezuelan republic.

Simón Bolívar fled Venezuela , earning safe passage to Cartagena by turning in Francisco de Miranda to the Spanish, an act that would forever live in infamy.

From his tiny post on the Magdalena River, in the words of historian Emil Ludwig, Bolívar began “his march of liberation there and then, with his troop of two hundred half-caste Negroes and Indios…without any certainty of reinforcement, without guns…without orders.”

He followed the river, recruiting along the way, taking town after town mostly without combat, and eventually gained full control of the waterway. Simón Bolívar continued his march, leaving the river basin to cross the Andes mountains to take back Venezuela.

On May 23, 1813, he entered the mountain city of Mérida, where he was greeted as El Libertador, or The Liberator.

In  what is still considered one of the most remarkable and dangerous feats in military history, Simón Bolívar marched his army over the highest peaks of the Andes, out of Venezuela and into modern-day Colombia.

It was a gruelling climb that cost many lives to bitter cold. The army lost every horse it had brought, and much of its munitions and provisions. One of Bolivar’s commanders, General Daniel O’Leary, recounted that after descending the far side of the highest summit “the men saw the mountains behind them…they swore of their own free will to conquer and die rather than retreat by the way they had come.”

Bolívar also sought to unify Peru and Bolivia, which was named after the great general, into Gran Colombia through the Confederation of the Andes. But after years of political infighting, including a failed attempt on his life, Simón Bolívar’s efforts to unify the continent under a single banner government collapsed. 

With his soaring rhetoric and unflappable energy, Simón Bolívar had roused his army to survive the impossible march. O’Leary writes of the “boundless astonishment of the Spaniards when they heard that an enemy army was in the land. They simply could not believe that Bolivar had undertaken such an operation.” 

But though he had earned his stripes on the battlefield, Bolívar’s wealthy status as a white Creole at times worked against his cause, especially compared to the fierce Spanish cavalry leader named José Tomás Boves who successfully amassed support from native Venezuelans to “squelch the people of privilege, to level the classes.” 

Those loyal to Boves only saw that “the Creoles who lorded over them were rich and white…they hadn’t understood the true pyramid of oppression,” beginning at the top with imperial colonialism. Many natives were against Bolívar due to his privilege, and in spite of his efforts to liberate them. 

In December 1813, Bolívar defeated Boves in an intense battle at Araure, but “simply couldn’t recruit soldiers as quickly and effectively as [Boves],” according to biographer Marie Arana. Bolívar lost Caracas soon afterward, and fled the continent.

He went to Jamaica, where he wrote his famous political manifesto known simply as the Jamaica Letter. Then, after surviving an assassination attempt, Bolívar fled to Haiti, where he was able to raise money, arms, and volunteers.

In Haiti, he finally realized the necessity of attracting poor and black Venezuelans to his side of the fight for independence. As Cañizares-Esguerra points out, “this isn’t due to principle, it’s his pragmatism that is moving him to undo slavery.” Without the support of slaves, he had no chance of ousting the Spanish. 

In 1816, he returned to Venezuela, with support from the Haitian government, and launched a six-year campaign for independence. This time, the rules were different: All slaves would be liberated and all Spaniards would be killed.

Thus, Bolívar liberated enslaved people by destroying the social order. Tens of thousands were slaughtered and the economies of Venezuela and modern-day Colombia crumbled. But, in his eyes, it was all worth it. What mattered was that South America would be free from imperial rule.

He pushed on to Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia (which is named after him), and dreamt of uniting his newly liberated territory, essentially all of northern and western South America ,as one massive country ruled by him. But, once again, the dream would never fully materialize.

On Aug. 7, 1819, Bolívar’s army descended the mountains and defeated a much larger, well-rested, and utterly surprised Spanish army. It was far from the final battle, but historians recognize Boyaca as the most essential victory, setting the stage for the future victories by Simón Bolívar or his subordinate generals at Carabobo, Pichincha, and Ayacucho that would finally drive the Spanish out of the Latin American western states. 

Having reflected and learned from earlier political failures, Simón Bolívar began to piece together a government. Bolívar arranged for the election of the Congress of Angostura and was declared president. Then, through the Constitution of Cúcuta, Gran Colombia was established on Sept. 7, 1821. 

 Gran Colombia was a united South American state that included the territories of modern-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, parts of northern Peru, western Guyana, and northwestern Brazil. 

On Jan. 30, 1830, Simón Bolívar made his last address as president of Gran Colombia in which he pled with his people to maintain the union:

“Colombians! Gather around the constitutional congress. It represents the wisdom of the nation, the legitimate hope of the people, and the final point of reunion of the patriots. Its sovereign decrees will determine our lives, the happiness of the Republic, and the glory of Colombia. If dire circumstances should cause you to abandon it, there will be no health for the country, and you will drown in the ocean of anarchy, leaving as your children’s legacy nothing but crime, blood, and death.”

Gran Colombia was dissolved later that year and replaced by the independent and separate republics of Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada. The self-governing states of South America, once a unified force under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, would be fraught with civil unrest through much of the 19th century. More than six rebellions would disrupt Bolívar’s home country of Venezuela.

As for Bolívar, the former general had planned to spend his last days in exile in Europe, but passed away before he could set sail. Simón Bolívar died of tuberculosis on Dec. 17, 1830, in the coastal city of Santa Marta in present-day Colombia . He was only 47 years old. 

Bolivar had wished to be buried in Caracas. But the new leaders of Venezuela called him a tyrant and refused his body. He was buried in Colombia, abandoned by friends and hated by enemies. Most of his enlightened reforms were soon forgotten. This rejection of the Liberator did not last long. In 1842, he was reburied in Caracas. 

Simón Bolívar is often referred to as the “George Washington of South America” because of the similarities the two great leaders shared. They were both rich, charismatic, and were key figures in the fight for freedom in the Americas. But the two were very different. 

“Unlike Washington, who suffered excruciating pain from rotten dentures,” says Cañizares-Esguerra, “Bolívar kept to his death a wholesome set of teeth.”

But more importantly, “Bolívar did not end his days revered and worshiped like Washington. Bolívar died on his way to self-imposed exile, despised by many.”

He thought that a single, centralized, dictatorial government was what South America needed to survive independent from European powers ,not the decentralized, democratic government of the United States. But it didn’t work.

During his lifetime, he was both revered for his firebrand rhetoric promoting a free and united Latin America, and reviled for his tyrannical proclivities. Despite his notoriety, Bolívar did have a leg up on the U.S. in at least one respect: He freed South America’s slaves nearly 50 years before Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal” while owning dozens of slaves, whereas Bolívar set all of his slaves free.

While Bolívar didn't act alone, he was clearly the catalyst and "cult of personality" behind the 19th-century liberation movement that won independence for six Latin American nations:Venezuela , Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Bolivia.

Unlike Washington, Bolívar died a failure. In 1830, deprived of his office and military commission, Bolívar was about to go into self-imposed exile when he succumbed to tuberculosis. His political enemies, then in charge of Venezuela, outlawed even the mention of his name.

And that's the way it remained until the 1870s, when a new generation of Venezuelan elites went looking for political symbols that would rally supporters to their cause. The late 19th-century Venezuelan President Antonio Guzmán Blanco  is credited with reviving the " cult of Bolivar."

Guzmán Blanco created the modern Venezuelan currency and named it the bolívar. He also built the National Pantheon of Venezuela and had Bolívar's remains reinterred in its hall of heroes.

Simón Bolívar remains the most celebrated historical figure in South America today, particularly in the countries he liberated. As a result, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Plurinational State of Bolivia both bear his name, as do their Bolívar and Boliviano currencies as well as an endless array of parks and plazas throughout the continent and 24th July is celebrated as Simon Bolivar day across Latin America.

His fame  has continued to grow to mythical proportions and continues  to inspire millions in Latin America, especially the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez  as well as Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad  currently  political prisoner of the U.S held in solitary confinement in the "Guanantanemo of the Rockies" or Florence Colorado Supermax Prison. 

Bolivar maintained the fight against Spain when all appeared hopeless  and he did not give up until he had overcome all the obstacles on the road to liberation and independence, He called himself "the man of difficulties ," and in truth he was that. Bolivar's greatest political mistake was hi failure to recognise the forces of nationalism which were soon to vitalize the Latin American countries. His desire to give his world a firm and stable foundations were justified even if his methods were erroneous, Latin America has continued to foster pronunciamentos and revolutions in confirmation  of Bolivar's mot sombre apprehensions, Since Bolivar passed into history, South America  has not produced his equal.