bell hooks on
Mind, Body and Soul
at Women of Color Conference
bell hooks is a critical thinker extradinaire. You may not agree, but she will force you to think. It is said that she is to critical thinking what Michael Jordan is to basketball.
You Can't Appreciate
The Tsunami
Until You See This Video
Don't stop watching. It just gets more and more horrifying.
And bear in mind that that's a person doing the filming -- a person who is not panicking as more and more buildings get washed away and the water just keeps on rising.
200 arrested
as hardcore anarchists
fight police long into night
in Battle of Trafalgar Square
after 500,000 march
against the cut
By Ian Gallagher and George Arbuthnott
Last updated at 2:54 PM on 27th March 2011
- Extremists hijack anti-government cuts demonstration
- 84 people injured - and at least 31 police officers hurt on day of violence
- Ritz hotel attacked with paint and smokebombs and 1,000 occupy Fortnum & Mason
- Protesters surge along Piccadilly, Regent Street and Oxford Street forcing shops to close
- Lightbulbs filled with ammonia hurled at police officers
- Labour leader Ed Miliband defends speech to marchers
Over 200 people were arrested as extremists brought violent chaos to central London yesterday after hijacking the much-heralded trade union protest against public spending cuts.
A massive clear-up operation was underway today after trouble continued to flare late into the night as hundreds of people clashed with officers in Trafalgar Square.
Police confirmed 201 people were in custody and there had been 84 reported injuries during the protests. At least 31 police were hurt with 11 of them requiring hospital treatment.
Now scroll down for the video reports
Riot: Police officers stand in front of a fire lit be demonstrators in central London last night
The suspects are being held in 21 police stations across London. The Metropolitan Police are now reviewing evidence collected from CCTV cameras and officers.
Between 200 and 300 people were still in Trafalgar Square late into the night, with some throwing missiles and attempting to damage the Olympic clock within the square.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had 'come under sustained attack' as they tried to deal with the disorder and attempted criminal damage, with officers using 'containment' tactics in a bid to manage those congregating. The area was eventually cleared by around 2.45am.
'A large number from the crowd are throwing missiles and have attempted to damage the Olympic clock within the square,' he said.
'Officers have come under sustained attack as they deal with the disorder and attempted criminal damage.'
All of the injuries were described as 'relatively minor'.
Although much of the debris left by yesterday's carnage had been removed today, Trafalgar Square was still showing signs of what had gone on.
The words 'fightback' and 'Tory scum' were scrawled on one of the four bronze lions, while red paint remained on part of the 2012 Olympics countdown clock.
Police officers stand in front of a fire lit by rioters
Nightfall: Riot police form lines in front of burning dustbins as they try to control protesters run rampage after the TUC's anti-cuts demonstrations (left) and protesters occupy Trafalgar Square last night
A placard demanding 'hands off Libya' was placed high on the statue of King Charles I.
John Williamson, 60, a tourist from Whitehaven, Cumbria, said: 'I think it's embarrassing for the country. There's so many tourists here. What are they going to think?'
Splinter groups broke off from the main body of more than 250,000 demonstrators marching from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park to launch an assault on the capital’s main shopping district.
Some were hellbent on storming – or destroying – any London landmarks synonymous with luxury or money. Others targeted companies associated with tax avoidance.
Hundreds laid siege to The Ritz hotel, attacking it with paint and smokebombs. A Porsche showroom was also smashed up and upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason was occupied by about 1,000 activists.
Civil disobedience: Demonstrators use a giant road sign to smash through a plate glass window at the Ritz Hotel
On the streets outside, anarchists battled police. Some officers in Oxford Street were attacked with lightbulbs filled with ammonia, a sinister new weapon that can be assembled by following simple instructions on the internet. Other officers were hit with paint and flying bottles.
Scotland Yard commander Bob Broadhurst said of the rioters: ‘I wouldn’t call them protesters. They are engaging in criminal activities for their own ends. We’ll never have enough officers to protect every building in Central London.’
Several splinter groups brought chaos and violence to what was the largest public protest since the 2003 anti-Iraq war rally.
In stark contrast, the daytime demonstration was hailed a 'fantastic success' by trade unions as people from across the UK marched through central London.
Organisers estimated between 400,000 and 500,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, council and NHS workers, other public sector employees, students, pensioners and campaign groups converged on the capital.
Under siege: Anti-capitalist protesters surround Fortnum & Mason, climbing on the roof to daub activist graffiti before making their way inside
'Tax the rich': Campaigners claim they targeted Fortnum & Mason because its owners are at the centre of a £40million tax avoidance row
Clear-up: Workers repair damaged Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, London, after activists clashed with riot police last night in the wake of the TUC rally in Hyde Park, which had earlier passed off peacefully
Calm: No evidence was left at Fortnum and Mason of the chaos caused by protesters yesterday
Union officials and Labour leader Ed Miliband condemned the 'brutal' cuts in jobs and services.
But during the good-natured protest hundreds of activists not connected with the union rally clashed with police in the West End.
Officers were attacked as they tried to stop demonstrators smashing their way into banks and shops.
The protesters surged along Piccadilly, Regent Street and Oxford Street, chanting 'welfare not warfare' as they blocked traffic and forced shops to close.
Paint, fireworks and flares were thrown at buildings, while the outnumbered police were attacked with large pieces of wood.
Branches of HSBC, RBS, Santander and Topshop were among those to have their windows smashed.
The police often had to step aside as the activists continued their destruction late into the evening.
Campaign group UK Uncut claimed around 200 of its supporters forced themselves into luxury store Fortnum and Mason - known as the Queen's grocer.
A spokesman for the demonstrators said the target was chosen because 'they dodge tens of millions in tax'.
Commander Broadhurst, who led the police operation, added that video evidence would be used in an attempt to make arrests in the coming days.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said he 'bitterly regretted' the violence, adding that he hoped it would not detract from the massive anti-cuts protest.
'I don't think the activities of a few hundred people should take the focus away from the hundreds of thousands of people who have sent a powerful message to the Government today,' Mr Barber said.
'Ministers should now seriously reconsider their whole strategy after last night's demonstration. This has been Middle Britain speaking,' he added.
Mr Barber said unions would now step up pressure on the Government, especially MPs in their constituencies, and launch a series of protests next week in defence of the NHS.
One rioter tries to break a window at a HSBC bank in Cambridge Circus, central London
Attack: Police forced back about 30 protesters, whose faces were covered by balaclavas and scarves, after several of the ground floor windows were smashed
SALMON SANDWICHES AMID THE RIOTING
Breaking past a small group of police, nearly 1,000 protesters charged into Fortnum & Mason, famed for its wicker picnic hampers and for delivering tea to the Queen.
After forcing themselves through the ground floor doors into the area selling luxury cheese and chocolate at around 4pm, the mob ran amok. Afternoon shoppers, among them dozens of Japanese and American tourists, fled up the stairs, followed by police officers who tried to stop the occupation from spreading.
Activists made speeches on the ornate spiral staircase and baskets full of £5 bags of Easter bunny chocolates were pushed over and spilled on to the floor.
Black-clad anarchists, wearing face masks to hide their identity, shouted abuse at customers and launched into tirades about class war. One threatened to attack a customer in a restaurant, outraged that they were carrying on eating salmon sandwiches.
A group of menacing extremists stood under the crystal chandeliers and hung posters from metal stair-rails. They threatened to smash display cases full of luxury goods if the police tried to drag them out.
Two others daubed anarchist symbols on the dark pink walls as smartly-dressed shop assistants tried to bring order by restacking upturned shelves. Some activists from the group called UK Uncut, which protests against tax avoidance, helped clean up the mess.
Sit in: Police finally cleared the store of protesters at about 7pm last night
Police finally cleared the store of protesters just before 7pm.
Campaigners claimed they targeted the 300-year-old store because its owners are at the centre of a £40million tax avoidance row. Protesters also occupied Vodafone, Boots and BHS stores on Oxford Street for the same reason .
Sally Mason, one of the protesters who occupied the store, said: ‘Fortnum & Mason is a symbol of wealth and greed. It is where the Royal Family and the super-rich do their weekly shop and a picnic hamper costs £25,000.
‘This sits in stark contrast to everyone else who is struggling to make ends meet, fill in their tax returns and benefit forms and facing huge student debts, unemployment and the closure or dismantling of local services such as the NHS, libraries and leisure centres.’
Canadian businessman Garfield Weston bought Fortnum’s in the Fifties and the store is now run by his granddaughters, Jana Khayat and Kate Weston Hobhouse.
RITZ GUESTS EVACUATED AS WINDOWS SMASHED
Savage: A protestor lashes out after breaking into an HSBC branch in Cambridge Circus
Further along Piccadilly, extremists laid siege to The Ritz hotel. The building was pelted with paint, fireworks and smoke bombs.
Police forced back a hardcore of around 30 protesters, whose faces were covered by balaclavas and scarves, after several of the ground floor windows were smashed.
Unable to get inside, they instead daubed the words ‘fat cats’ on the walls and launched paint missiles through open windows on the first floor. Bins and a temporary traffic light were upturned on the street outside.
Around 50 people were evacuated to a function room at the back of the building. Windows of the restaurant’s Rivoli Bar were also pelted with paint while those of Ritz Fine Jewellery were smashed. The famous afternoon tea was cancelled, and walls of the building were daubed with anarchy symbols.
Neil Cox, a 30-year-old project manager from Redhill, Surrey, was staying in a room on the fourth floor overlooking Piccadilly, where the attack was launched.
He said: ‘I could feel the reverberation of missiles and paint hitting the building and other windows.’
The Ritz restaurant was reopened after an hour but only guests were allowed entrance to the building following the attack.
As a result people with restaurant reservations booked months ago were turned away.
Carla Sibley had travelled from Bournemouth to celebrate her 65th birthday with her three children, but was refused entry. She said: ‘We booked to have tea four months ago and it’s ruined.’
'SMASH THE BANKS' DAUBED ON WALLS
Around 300 extremists tried to storm a branch of HSBC in Cambridge Circus.
They threw paint at police officers and smashed windows. Some of the group painted slogans such as ‘smash the banks’ and ‘thieves’ on the building before trying to get inside.
The building was quickly surrounded by riot police and it is thought that one protester was questioned inside.
A Piccadilly branch of Santander was also targeted by rioters who tried to break in. The bank’s glass front doors and windows were smashed and paint bombs were thrown at the building.
'PAY YOUR TAX PHILIP GREEN'
Owned by retail tycoon Sir Philip Green,Topshop was another main target.
For several hours shoppers were trapped inside the Oxford Street store as masked protesters pelted police who were defending it with rocks and paint bombs. Elsewhere along the shopping street, black-clad activists smashed windows and left officers ducking for cover and spattered in paint.
Topshop customers – mainly teenage girls – were still going in and out of the front door seconds before the missiles started flying. Many of them were trapped inside as chaos erupted outside.
The protesters chanted, ‘Pay your tax Philip Green’.
The tycoon has saved an estimated £285million in tax by paying a £1.2billion bonus to his Monaco-based wife, Tina.
I’m proud to stand with you, Miliband tells cuts rally... and then it turns violent
Defiant Labour leader Ed Miliband told demonstrators he was 'proud to stand with them' - just as the protest turned violent
Defiant Labour leader Ed Miliband told demonstrators at yesterday’s anti-cuts rally in London that he was ‘proud to stand with them’ – just as the protest turned violent.
More than 250,000 people marched on the capital to object to the Government’s programme to tackle the deficit. Anarchists later broke away, bringing chaos to the city and targeting buildings such as The Ritz and Fortnum & Mason.
Mr Miliband – heckled by some protesters when he said that ‘some cuts’ were needed – was quick to say that he condemned ‘any action that was taken other than peaceful action’.
But he rejected claims by the Conservatives that he should have stayed away from the rally, which was also attended by Shadow Ministers Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper and Harriet Harman.
‘Our struggle is to fight to preserve, protect and defend the best of the services we cherish because they represent the best of the country we love,’ said Mr Miliband.
‘David Cameron, you wanted to create the Big Society – this is the Big Society. The Big Society is united against what your Government is doing to our country.
‘We stand today not as the minority, but as the voice of the mainstream majority in this country.’
Treasury Minister Justine Greening said later the rally would not change the Government’s course.
She added: ‘We are making sure that we are doing everything we can to protect frontline public services.
‘But there is no doubt that we do have to get on with tackling the financial problems we have been handed by the Labour Party. We are going to stick to the course that we have set.’
The biased BBC... marching alongside their anti-cut allies
By PETER HITCHENS
As usual, they didn’t even know they were doing it, but the BBC took sides on the TUC protest, even before it had begun. The Corporation and the TUC instinctively recognise each other as allies. Both depend on public money.
This helps to explain the Corporation’s spasm of blatant partiality this weekend. It began with a bizarre report on Friday night on Newsnight. Reporter Anna Adams provided minutes of free publicity to protest group UK Uncut, whose spokeswoman was identified only by her Christian name, Lucy.
Here’s a sample: ‘UK Uncut is a new kid on the block. They only got together after the Chancellor’s Budget cuts last year but they’ve already got quite a following. They are a social media success story and more than 1,000 of them will be out tomorrow. They think that’s more than enough to close down shops and banks.’
Attack: A policeman who had paint hurled in his face by protestors
So what are their policies? Where do they get their funds? Are they linked to any political organisation? No idea. Nobody asked. Ms Adams then asked the mysterious Lucy: ‘So what’s to stop hooligans or hardline protesters who really have no care for your cause joining in and making this something that it shouldn’t really be?’
Lucy completely failed to answer this question (and it was not pressed). She was too busy making banners and using the BBC to speak her mind, uninterrupted.
She did say: ‘I am concerned that the police will react with violence against protesters in the way that we saw at the student demonstrations before Christmas. But it’s up to us to be there on the streets and saying that the banks should be paying for the crisis, tax-avoiders should be paying their fair share. That’s what we want to do.’
'Curious anxiety': Radio 4 Today presenter Evan Davis stressed that trouble on the streets shouldn't reflect on the protest as a whole
The report concluded with some editorialising about undercover policing: ‘It must be necessary, proportional and lawful, and that’s something that many activists would seriously question.’ No doubt activists would question it, and others too. But by ending her account in this way, the reporter appeared to endorse this view. That is not her job. The Corporation went back into action yesterday, on the Radio 4 Today programme.
The atmosphere of much of its coverage was what might have been found in a Left-wing London household as Granny got out her old Aldermaston marching shoes, the head of the household dusted off his anti-Thatcher placards and the children dressed excitedly for their first demo.
There was a curious anxiety on the programme to say that the march was a ‘family event’. Presenter Evan Davis then stressed that trouble on the streets shouldn’t reflect on the protest as a whole.
At 8.35 Mr Davis said: ‘100,000 people expected to turn up, coaches are heading for London, even as we speak!’ He then interviewed Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, who warned that the march ‘could I’m afraid move from being a family event into something darker’. Mr Davis hurriedly added: ‘Not organised by the TUC though. The TUC bit will be very peaceful.’
Why did he feel it necessary to say this?
The programme ended with a jokey item in which Guardian writer Zoe Williams and advertising man Jason Berry chatted about march placard slogans. Mr Berry suggested one: ‘The real deficit is in between your ears, Mr Osborne.’
Presenter Justin Webb laughed.
There was nobody present to say: ‘Actually, I don’t support this demonstration.’ The whole programme seemed to have identified with the event. Mr Webb said: ‘I remember my mum used to go on CND marches.’
But apparently she didn’t like the way they were covered.
Mr Webb’s Ban-the-Bomb mum wouldn’t have had any complaints about the BBC’s coverage of yesterday’s events. But millions of people who pay heavy taxes on small incomes to keep the public sector afloat, and who also finance the Corporation, have much to complain about. Will anybody ever listen?
Puffed up and self-important, the thugs killing their own cause
By HARRY MOUNT
Yesterday I saw a decent, respectable TUC march hijacked by thugs, vandals and a clueless pack of self-righteous protesters.
As I left the London Library and passed Fortnum & Mason, which had been occupied by protesters from the UK Uncut protest movement, I saw them daub the front of the 300-year-old shop with the slogans ‘Tory scum’, ‘F*** the Tories’ and ‘Coppers against Cuts’. Orange paint was splashed over the windows.
'Shooting themselves in the foot': The decent, respectable TUC march was hijacked by thugs, vandals and a clueless pack of self-righteous protesters
'Impeccable behaviour': Police gave protestors every opportunity to leave of their own free will
There were two reasons for the protest, they said: Fortnum’s supposed association with Primark, whose corporate activities they disapprove of, and the fact it is a luxury shop.
Inside, there was a scene of chaos. Beer bottles were dumped among the luxury Easter eggs. Tape reading ‘Closed by UK Uncut’ was wrapped around the Fortnum & Mason signs. Placards had been hurled all over the floor.
Fake £50 notes with pictures of David Cameron on them were wedged into shelves of chocolate eggs, apparently an attack on the tax system for benefiting the rich.
The police behaved impeccably. ‘You can leave now, if you want, and you will not be detained,’ said the policewoman in charge.
They refused to move, guaranteeing trouble, waiting until one of them was finally arrested for aggravated trespass so they could then start to claim they were being victimised.Still in the shop were the Fortnum & Mason employees. I asked the floor manager his opinion. He was too dignified to make a comment.
Meanwhile, the protesters had no idea what to do. Puffed up with self-importance, one declared: ‘Any staff who want to leave, can.’
The cheek of it. Why should shop assistants be dictated to by some hopeless protesters?
Outside, a crashing sound echoed as the anarchists smashed windows of a Lloyds TSB.
I don’t imagine those ignorant fools knew that the taxpayer owns 41 per cent of the bank. In smashing the windows, they were attacking all British workers.
Earlier, in Hyde Park, I bumped into Tony Benn, who told me: ‘I’m old enough to have protested in favour of the NHS more than 60 years ago – protests always help a cause.’
They do if, like the TUC protesters, they’re dignified and well controlled. The thugs I saw were shooting themselves in the foot in a mad, counter-productive, wicked way.
A protestor waves a GMB union flag alongside an Egyptian flag from a statue in Trafalgar Square. Photograph: Getty Images.
"We're fucked." says the young man in the hoodie, staring out through the police cordon of Trafalgar Square, towards parliament. "Who's going to listen to us now?"
It's midnight on 26 March, a day that saw almost half a million students, trades unionists, parents, children and concerned citizens from all over Britain demonstrate against the government's austerity programme. All day, street fights across London between anti-cuts protestors and the police have turned this city into a little warzone. Barricades burned in Piccadilly as militant groups escalated the vandalism; the shopfronts of major banks and tax-avoiding companies have been smashed and daubed with graffiti, and Oxford Street was occupied and turned into a mass street party. Now, night is falling on the Trafalgar kettle, and the square stinks of cordite, emptied kidneys and anxiety. We've been here for three hours, and it's freezing; we burn placards and share cigarettes to maintain an illusion of warmth.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, who was in charge of the Metropolitan Police operation on the day, later states that the clashes in Trafalgar square began because "for some reason one of [the protestors] made an attack on the Olympic clock." That is not what happened. Instead, I witness the attempted snatch arrest of a 23 year-old man who they suspect of damaging the shop front of a major chain bank earlier in the day.
It starts when a handful of police officers moved through the quiet crowd, past circles of young people sharing snacks, smoking, playing guitars and chatting. They move in to grab the young man, but his friends scrambled to prevent the arrest being made, dragging him away from the police by his legs. Batons are drawn; a scuffle breaks out, and that scuffle becomes a fight, and then suddenly hundreds of armoured riot police are swarming in, seemingly from nowhere, sweeping up the steps of the National Gallery, beating back protesters as they go.
Things escalate very quickly. In the space of a minute and a half, the police find themselves surrounded on both sides by enraged young people who had gathered for a peaceful sit-in at the end of the largest workers' protest in a generation. The riot line advances on both sides, forcing protesters back into the square; police officers are bellowing and laying into the demonstrators with their shields.
Both sides begin to panic. Some of them start to throw sticks, and as the police surge forward, shouting and raising their weapons, others band together to charge the lines with heavy pieces of metal railing, which hit several protestors on their way past. Next to me, young people are raising their hands and screaming "don't hit us!"; some are yelling at the armoured police - "shame on you! Your job's next!"
I find myself in front of the riot line, taking a blow to the head and a kick to the shin; I am dragged to my feet by a girl with blue hair who squeezes my arm and then raises a union flag defiantly at the cops. "We are peaceful, what are you?" chant the protestors. I'm chanting it too, my head ringing with pain and rage and adrenaline; a boy with dreadlocks puts an arm around me. "Don't scream at them," he says. "We're peaceful, so let's not provoke."
A clear-eyed young man called Martin throws himself between the kids and the cops, his hands raised, telling us all to calm down, stand firm,stop throwing things and link arms; the police grab him, mistaking him for a rabble-rouser and toss him violently back into the line. The cops seal off the square. Those of us behind the lines are kettled, trapped in the sterile zone, shoved back towards Nelson's column as flares are lit and the fires begin to go out.
It would be naive to suggest that small numbers of people did not come to London today intent on breaking windows should the opportunity arise. It would be equally naive to suggest that no other groups had action plans that involved rather more than munching houmous in Hyde park and listening to some speeches. Few of those plans, however, come to fruition: however the papers choose to report the events of 26 March, there is no organised minority kicking things in for the hell of it. Instead, a few passionate, peaceful protest groups attempt to carry out direct action plans, plans that quickly become overwhelmed by crowds of angry, unaffiliated young people and a handful of genuinely violent agitators.
Those young people are from all over the country, and when the word goes out at 2pm that something was happening in Oxford Street, they headed down in their thousands. By the time the twenty-foot-high Trojan Horse arrives at Oxford Circus in the early afternoon, a full-blown rave is under way, coherent politics subsumed by the sheer defiant energy of the crowd. Chants about saving public services and education quickly merge into a thunderous, wordless cheer, erupting every time the traffic light countdowns flash towards. "Five-Four-Three-Two-One..." hollers the crowd, as bank branches are shut down, paint bombs thrown at the police, and small scuffles break out.
When UK Uncut's well-publicised secret occupation plan kicks into action at 3.30pm, the numbers and the energy quickly become overwhelming. As we follow the high-profile direct action group's red umbrella down Regent Street, we learn that the target is Fortnum and Mason's - the "Royal grocer's", as the news are now insisting on calling it, as though the stunt were a yobbish personal assault on the Queen's marmalade. The crowd is too big to stop, and protesters stream into the store, rushing past the police who are too late to barricade the doors.
Once inside, squeezing each other in shock at their own daring, everyone does a bit of excited chanting and then down for a polite impromptu picnic. Placards are erected by the famously opulent coffee counters, and tape wound around displays of expensive truffles imprecating the holding company to pay all its taxes. Tax evasion is the ostensible reason for this occupation; the class factor remains unspoken, but deeply felt.
The posh sweets, however, remain untouched, as do all the other luxury goodies in the store, as protestors share prepacked crisps and squash and decide that it'd be rude to smoke indoors. When someone accidentally-on-purpose knocks over a display of chocolate bunny rabbits, priced at fifteen pounds each, two girls sternly advise them to clear up the mess without delay. "It's just unnecessary."
Refined middle-aged couples who had been having quiet cream teas in Fortnum's downstairs restaurant stare blinkingly at the occupiers, who are organising themselves into a non-hierarchial consensus-building team. "I oppose the cuts, I'm a socialist, but I think this type of thing is too much," says property manager Kat, 32. "There are old ladies upstairs. And I just came in to buy some fresh marshmallows, and now I can't."
Outside the building, the crowd is going wild. Some scale the building and scrawl slogans onto the brickwork; others turn their attention to the bank branches across the road. I leave Fortnum's and make my way down Piccadilly under a leaden sky, past the ruined fronts of Lloyds and Santander, to Picadilly Circus, where the riots - and make no mistake, these are now riots - have momentarily descended into an eerie standoff. The police raise their batons; the crowd yells abuse at them. Noone is chanting about government cuts anymore: instead, they are chanting about police violence. "No justice, no peace, fuck the police!' yells a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. I scramble onto some railings for safety as a cohort of riot police move into the crowd, find themselves surrounded and are beaten back by thrown sticks. Someone yells that a police officer is being stretchered to safety. Flares and crackers are let off; red smoke trails in the air.
"A riot," said martin Luther King Jr, "is the language of the unheard." There are an awful lot of unheard voices in this country. What differentiates the rioters in Picadilly and Oxford Circus from the rally attendees in Hyde Park is not the fact that the latter are "real" protestors and the former merely "anarchists" (still an unthinking synonym for "hooligans" in the language of the press). The difference is that many unions and affiliated citizens still hold out hope that if they behave civilly, this government will do likewise.
The younger generation in particular, who reached puberty just in time to see a huge, peaceful march in 2003 change absolutely nothing, can't be expected to have any such confidence. We can hardly blame a cohort that has been roundly sold out, priced out, ignored, and now shoved onto the dole as the Chancellor announces yet another tax break for bankers, for such skepticism. If they do not believe the government cares one jot about what young or working-class people really think, it may be because any evidence of such concern is sorely lacking.
A large number of young people in Britain have become radicalised in a hurry, and not all of their energies are properly directed, explaining in part the confusion on the streets yesterday. Among their number, however, are many principled, determined and peaceful groups working to affect change and build resistance in any way they can.
One of these groups is UK Uncut. I return to Fortnum's in time to see dozens of key members of the group herded in front of the store and let out one by one, to be photographed, handcuffed and arrested. With the handful of real, random agitators easy to identify as they tear through the streets of Mayfair, the met has chosen instead to concentrate its energies on UK Uncut - the most successful, high-profile and democratic anti-cuts group in Britain.
UK Uncut has embarrassed both the government and the police with its gentle, inclusive, imaginative direct action days over the past six months. As its members are manhandled onto police coaches, waiting patiently to be taken to jail whilst career troublemakers run free and unarrested in the streets outside, one has to ask oneself why.
Shaken, I make my way through the streets of Mayfair towards Trafalgar to meet friends and debrief. In the dark, groups of people wearing trades union tabards and carrying placards wander hither and thither down burning sidestreets as oblivious shoppers eat salad in Pret A manger.
By 8pm, there's a party going on under Nelson's Column. Groups of anti-cuts protestors, many of whom have come down from Hyde Park, have congregated in the square to eat biscuits, drink cheap supermarket wine, share stories and socialise after a long and confusing day.
‘'These young people are right to be angry. I don't think people are angry enough, actually, given that the NHS is being destroyed before our eyes," says Barry, 61, a retired social worker. "The rally was alright, but a huge march didn't make Tony Blair change his mind about Iraq, and another huge march isn't going to make David Cameron change his mind now. So what are people supposed to do?"
That's a tough question in a country where almost every form of political dissent apart from shuffling in an orderly queue from one march point to the other is now a crime.
"I don't have a problem with people smashing up banks, I think that's fine, given that the banks have done so much damage to the country," says Barry, getting into his stride. "Violence against real people - that's wrong."
Minutes after the fights begin in Trafalgar square, so does the backlash. Radio broadcasters imply that anyone who left the pre-ordained march route is a hooligan, and police chiefs rush to assure the public that this "mindless violence" has "nothing to do with protest."
The young people being battered in Trafalgar square, however, are neither mindless nor violent. In front of the lines, a teenage girl is crying and shaking after being shoved to the ground. "I'm not moving, I'm not moving," she mutters, her face smeared with tears and makeup. "I've been on every protest, I won't let this government destroy our future without a fight. I won't stand back, I'm not moving." A police officer charges, smacking her with his baton as she flings up her hands.
The cops cram us further back into the square, pushing people off the plinths where they have tried to scramble for safety. By now there are about 150 young people left in the square, and only one trained medic, who has just been batoned in the face; his friends hold him up as he blacks out, and carry him to the police lines, but they won't let him leave. By the makeshift fire, I meet the young man whose attempted arrest started all this. "I feel responsible," he said, "I never wanted any of this. None of us did"
Back on the column, a boy in a black hoodie and facerag hollers through his hands to his friends, who have linked arms in front of the police line. "This is what they want!" he yells, pointing at the Houses of Parliament. "They want us to fight each other. They want us to fight each other!
“They're laughing all the way to the bank!"
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Laurie PennyPop culture and radical politics with a feminist twist
>via: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2011/03/trafalgar-square-polic...
Music Break: "It Would Be"
I love this track, “It Would Be,” by Cape Town musician Alleycat (government name: Elslin Grootboom) featuring T100. It’s Cape Town: the Jamaican riddim, transplanted patois, and the stripped-down video. (Artists in Cape Town rarely do bling unlike their Johannesburg counterpunts.) I also recognize the milieu: The music video was filmed in and around an area, Elsies River on the Cape Flats, where I spent most of my school holidays as a teen a long time ago. (My cousins still live there.) Things haven’t changed much for the city’s poor. As for Alleycat, he’s been rapping since the mid-1980s. In an email, he describes his lyrics as “stirred by emotion – happiness, social welfare, love, fears, amusement, failures and achievements.” Bring that emotion.
Watch Now –
“The Rhythm Of My Life: Ismael Sankara” (Short Shout)
Sent to me by Afrollywood… I’m told it’ll be online for just 3 days, so watch it while you can.
Written and directed by Franck A. Onouviet & Marc A. Tchicot, The Rhythm Of My Life: Ismael Sankara, is an experimental film that combines fiction and documentary film-making to tell the story of Ismael Sankara, a Miami, Florida-based rapper, who travels east, to Africa (spending time in Burkina Faso and Gabon specifically) and, in a kind of utopian Diasporic unity, collaborates with local DJs, as these talented artists from diverse backgrounds are able to connect via their mutual passion for music.
Further explanation/clarification from the filmmakers: “Music is what brought all of us around this project and the will to push the boundaries and experiment prompted us to take another route than a classic documentary. Obviously we’re not re-inventing the wheel here… We set out on purpose to mix genres (fiction & documentary), despite working on their stories and making interviews, we asked ourselves how to capture the energy and the randomness of these encounters. Therefore in the fiction part, we twisted the reality with our own interpretation of how they met. The intro and the outro serve in this documentary as a metaphor of all the real moments that took place before, during and after they met.“
Watch the finished 20-minute film below:
Chapbook Contest:
Flash Prose
Around here, we consider flash prose to be any single work of prose shorter than 2,000 words. If you’ve got a chapbook-length collection of them (and it hasn’t been published yet) we want to see it. Submit 30-50 pages of fiction or nonfiction. Style and subject matter are entirely up to you. We welcome both new and established writers.
First Prize: $500, publication, 20 copies of the chapbook
Entry Fee: $15 (Check or Money order, please)
Postmark deadline: June 15, 2011
Mail entries and cover letters to:
Split Oak Press Flash Contest
PO Box 700
Vestal, NY 13851
More Guidelines
• No email submissions, please.
• Make checks out to Split Oak Press.
• We reserve the right to publish the second place winner as well, but we don’t promise to do that.
• Make sure you include your name, address, phone number, and email address so we know how to find you.
• All judging happens anonymously, so please put your name on your cover letter, but not on the manuscript.
• Consider your cancelled check our confirmation that your entry arrived safe and sound.
Judge: Donald Ray Pollock
author of Knockemstiff
We need your help!- Please feel free to circulate this flier far and wide. We're trying to get more teens to submit to the ezine and this flyer targets them specifically. We're still accepting submissions from younger children as well. Thanks so much for the support peeps!
*Send your POEMS to anansesempoetry@gmail.com. Send 1-6 poems that are your own.*Send NONFICTION to anansesemkids@gmail.com. Send a maximum of two pieces, no more than 700 words. By 'nonfiction' we mean all of those things you write in school: book reports, biographies of famous people, history essays, social studies essays, persuasive essays etc. *Send ART to anansesemart@gmail.com. Send no more than 5 images. We accept TIFF, GIF or JPEG file formats. Art includes illustrations, drawings, paintings, poster art, computer art, cartoons, comics etc. Please tell us the title of each piece of art that you send. If your pictures belong to a set, please give the set a name. After we have looked all all the artwork, we will choose a single work of art to appear on the front cover of the upcoming issue. It just might be yours!
Lulu Poetry Contest Rules
OFFICIAL RULES1.
NO PURCHASE, FEE, OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN, AND PURCHASES, FEES, AND PAYMENTS WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING DEPEND ON THE RATINGS THAT THE ONLINE COMMUNITY OF LULU POETRY USERS (THE "LULU COMMUNITY”) GIVES TO YOUR ELIGIBLE POEMS AND ON THE JUDGING OF THE QUALITY OF YOUR POEMS BY A PANEL OF JUDGES FROM LULU POETRY’S SELECTION COMMITTEE (THE "LULU JUDGES”) ACCORDING TO THE CRITERIA SET FORTH BELOW. CONTEST OPEN TO PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED POETS WHO MEET THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH BELOW. CONTEST ENDS APRIL 14, 2011 AT 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME (THE "CONTEST PERIOD”).2.
ELIGIBILITY: Contest open to individual persons who are 18 or older as of the time of their initial entry. Previous winners of the Lulu Poetry Yearly Contest grand prize are not eligible to win the Yearly Contest again. Current and former employees, contractors, directors, and officers of Lulu Poetry (LLEI, Inc.), their immediate family members (parent, child, sibling, and spouse), and those living in the same domicile therewith are ineligible.3.
TO ENTER: To be eligible to win prizes, your poem(s) must meet all of the following criteria: Your poem(s) must be in English, your poems must be your original work, and you must not assign or license to any other party any copyrights or other rights in your poems. Poems should not contain material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, pornographic, harassing, threatening, harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable. Proper spelling and grammar also help. You and your poems must comply with Lulu Poetry’s Terms of Use/Member Agreement, available at Lulu Poetry’s website at www.poetry.com . To enter your eligible poem(s), register at Lulu Poetry’s website at www.poetry.com , provide the registration information (including name, username, valid email address, and password), and submit your poem(s) using Lulu Poetry’s online submission form, which will automatically enter the poem(s) in the Contest. You may submit as many of your poems as you like and you can potentially win multiple prizes for your poems, but you must submit each poem separately using a separate online submission form. Your poem(s) must be submitted during the Contest Period.4.
RATING AND JUDGING OF POEMS: Each poem that you submit during the Contest Period can be given a numeric rating online by the Lulu Community, and this will allow your poem(s) to be ranked against poems submitted by others using a calculation that factors in both the numerical ratings and the numbers of such numerical ratings. For each day of the Contest Period, the Lulu Judges will review the top 10% of the submitted poems as rated by the Lulu Community for that day and will select from that day’s top 10% one poem (the "Daily Winner Poem”) that meets all of the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules and that the Lulu Judges judge, in their sole discretion, as the best according to the following criteria: originality, creative imagination, characterization, and artistic quality (the "Judging Criteria”). For each month during the Contest Period, the Lulu Judges will review the top 10% of the submitted poems as rated by the Lulu Community for that month and will select from that month’s top 10% one poem (the "Monthly Winner Poem”) that meets all of the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules and that the Lulu Judges judge, in their sole discretion, as the best according to the Judging Criteria. At the end of the Contest Period, the Lulu Judges will review the top 10% of the submitted poems as rated by the Lulu Community for the entire Contest Period and will select from that top 10% one poem ("Annual Winner Poem”) that meets all of the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules and that the Lulu Judges judge, in their sole discretion, as the best according to the Judging Criteria. A single poem can be a Daily Winner Poem, a Monthly Winner Poem, and the Annual Winner Poem, but no single poem can be a Daily Winner Poem, a Monthly Winner Poem, or an Annual Winner Poem more than once. An entrant who submits multiple eligible poems, however, can potentially win multiple prizes for those poems. Your chances of having your poem(s) selected as a Daily Winner Poem, a Monthly Winner Poem, or the Annual Winner Poem depend on the ratings given to your poem(s) and to other entrants’ poems by the Lulu Community and to the quality of your poem(s) and other entrants’ poems, as judged by the Lulu Judges according to the Judging Criteria.5.
PRIZES AND NOTIFICATION: 365 Daily Prizes: $25.00 each. 12 Monthly Prizes: $250.00 each. One (1) Annual Prize: $5,000.00. Each winner of a Daily Prize, each winner of a Monthly Prize, and the winner of the Annual Prize will be notified by on or about 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the Friday after they win. Each winner will be notified by electronic mail, using the email address that he or she provided in his or her online registration. The name of each winner will be posted on the Lulu Poetry Leaderboard at the Lulu Poetry website at www.poetry.com , and the winning poems will be published at the Lulu Poetry website at www.poetry.com . Winners must respond to Lulu Poetry by electronic mail, providing PayPal account information and any other information requested, within 30 days after email notification is sent or they will forfeit their prizes. Winners who respond to the email notification in a timely and correct manner will receive prizes as follows: Daily Prize winners will be paid $25.00 on or about the 15th day of the month following the month in which they responded to their Daily Prize email notification. Monthly Prize winners will be paid $250.00 on or about the 15th day of the month following the month in which they responded to their Monthly Prize email notification. The Annual Prize winner will be paid $5,000.00 on or about the 15th day of the month following the month in which he or she responded to his or her Annual Prize email notification. All prizes will be paid in U.S. dollars and through PayPal (which is not affiliated with this Contest). Lulu Poetry reserves the right to validate information provided on any online submission forms and to verify eligibility before awarding any prizes. If a prize, or any portion thereof, cannot be awarded for any reason, Lulu Poetry reserves the right to award another prize of approximate equal value. No substitute prizes are allowed except at the sole discretion of Lulu Poetry. Prizes are not transferable.6.
OWNERSHIP AND USE OF WINNING POEMS: All entrants retain the copyright rights that they have in the poems they submit, but all entrants, by participating in this Contest and submitting poems, grant Lulu Poetry and any of Lulu Poetry’s successors and assigns the perpetual and irrevocable right, license, and ability to use and publish all submitted poems (in the format submitted or in an altered format and in complete form or in excerpted form) on Lulu Poetry’s websites, on other websites, and in other media, for any purpose. Entrants’ opportunity to submit their poems and participate in this Contest constitutes full consideration for the foregoing grant. The foregoing grant requires no further consideration and is not dependent on entrants’ winning any prizes. Lulu Poetry can publish or decline to publish, or use or decline to use, any submitted poems in Lulu Poetry’s sole discretion.7.GENERAL CONDITIONS: All online submission forms become the sole property of Lulu Poetry and will not be acknowledged or returned. All entries and submissions are subject to verification. Lulu Poetry assumes no responsibility for entries or submissions that are lost, late, misdirected, stolen, illegible, undelivered, garbled, damaged, mutilated, incomplete, reproduced mechanically, forged, falsified, altered, or tampered with (and any such entries or submissions are ineligible), or for any computer, online, telephone, or technical malfunctions that may occur. Lulu Poetry assumes no responsibility for any technical problems in connection with the transmission or receipt of entries, including faulty electronic data transmission, traffic congestion on the Internet or on websites, hardware or software error, equipment failure or malfunction, or other online communications problems. In the event of disputes regarding the identities of the persons submitting entries, entries will be deemed made by the individuals who identify themselves on the entry forms. Winners may be required to provide proof of identity in order to receive prizes. Winners may receive IRS Form 1099s or other tax forms for the value of prizes. Winners are solely responsible for any taxes associated with any prizes. Lulu Poetry will publish the names of all winners. If for any reason this contest cannot be run or completed as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the contest, Lulu Poetry reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who is responsible or who tampers with the contest, and to modify, cancel, or terminate the contest and select winners from all eligible entries received prior to the cancellation or termination. Lulu Poetry reserves the right, under its sole discretion, to disqualify any individuals who do not abide by the Membership Agreement. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST MAY VIOLATE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, LULU POETRY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. In addition, Lulu Poetry may modify the terms of the Contest with or without prior notice.This Contest is subject to all applicable laws and regulations, but is governed by the substantive law of the State of North Carolina. Void wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Any claims related to this Contest must be resolved in the federal or state courts serving Raleigh, North Carolina. Entrants agree to abide by the Official Rules and the decisions of Lulu Poetry with respect to this contest, which are final.
8.
WINNERS’ LIST: A list of winners will be posted at the Lulu Poetry Leaderboard at www.poetry.com .
This contest is sponsored and administered by LLEI, Inc., 3101 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC 27607.©LLEI, Inc. 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Bob Marley has a new album—yeah, that’s what I said: new Bob Marley. And then some live Janelle Monáe. And we conclude with 13 versions of "Don’t Explain" featuring Billie Holiday, Webster Young, Carmen McRae, Steve Kuhn, Gianni Coscia & Lucia Minetti, Hugh Masekela, Nina Simone, Grover Washington Jr., Etta James, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross, Oleta Adams, and DJ Drez & Marty Williams.
On a worldwide basis, Bob Marley is the most revered musician ever. In places you would never expect—Poland, for example, has a strong, strong reggae audience and Bob is, of course, numero uno. On Indian reservations in the United States, through Pacific islands, especially New Zealand. Virtually everywhere on the planet where Western music can be heard, there you will find Bob Marley devotees.
Nesta Robert Marley was born in Jamaica on February 6, 1945. He died in Miami, Florida on May 11, 1981. Although he transitioned at the young age of 36, he became and remains not only one of the best selling reggae artist worldwide, Bob Marley is also one of the few artists who is considered both a commercial superstar and a major social inspiration for people all across the planet.
—kalamu ya salaam
Op-Ed Columnist
Losing Our Way
By BOB HERBERT
Published: March 25, 2011
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home.
Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies. Optimism is in short supply. The few jobs now being created too often pay a pittance, not nearly enough to pry open the doors to a middle-class standard of living.
Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone.
The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.
Nearly 14 million Americans are jobless and the outlook for many of them is grim. Since there is just one job available for every five individuals looking for work, four of the five are out of luck. Instead of a land of opportunity, the U.S. is increasingly becoming a place of limited expectations. A college professor in Washington told me this week that graduates from his program were finding jobs, but they were not making very much money, certainly not enough to think about raising a family.
There is plenty of economic activity in the U.S., and plenty of wealth. But like greedy children, the folks at the top are seizing virtually all the marbles. Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. have reached stages that would make the third world blush. As the Economic Policy Institute has reported, the richest 10 percent of Americans received an unconscionable 100 percent of the average income growth in the years 2000 to 2007, the most recent extended period of economic expansion.
Americans behave as if this is somehow normal or acceptable. It shouldn’t be, and didn’t used to be. Through much of the post-World War II era, income distribution was far more equitable, with the top 10 percent of families accounting for just a third of average income growth, and the bottom 90 percent receiving two-thirds. That seems like ancient history now.
The current maldistribution of wealth is also scandalous. In 2009, the richest 5 percent claimed 63.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. The overwhelming majority, the bottom 80 percent, collectively held just 12.8 percent.
This inequality, in which an enormous segment of the population struggles while the fortunate few ride the gravy train, is a world-class recipe for social unrest. Downward mobility is an ever-shortening fuse leading to profound consequences.
A stark example of the fundamental unfairness that is now so widespread was in The New York Times on Friday under the headline: “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether.” Despite profits of $14.2 billion — $5.1 billion from its operations in the United States — General Electric did not have to pay any U.S. taxes last year.
As The Times’s David Kocieniewski reported, “Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore.”
G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.
Overwhelming imbalances in wealth and income inevitably result in enormous imbalances of political power. So the corporations and the very wealthy continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.
New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed.
•
This is my last column for The New York Times after an exhilarating, nearly 18-year run. I’m off to write a book and expand my efforts on behalf of working people, the poor and others who are struggling in our society. My thanks to all the readers who have been so kind to me over the years. I can be reached going forward at bobherbert88@gmail.com.
