]]>Cps I'm getting no comments on most of these posts and often little viewing of them. There is little point in me typing this stuff is no one is reading/enjoying it.
What do you think? (Yes, that DOES mean leave some bloody comments, and yes, I mean 'bloody' in the raw, brutal and honest sense of the term).
]]>I dont know the full details (will have to read the bill at some point soon, can anyone provide a handy link?), but one thing that struck was the Conservative and LIbDem opposition to the change in the electoral system.
Under the current system, AMs are elected via two methods - one is constituency based (Alternative Vote, I think), while the other is a proportional system (Single Transferable Vote). That isn't the problem though, it comes more from the fact that candidates can run in both types of election, so if they don't get a constituency seat (much preferred) they may win one on the list system. This means 'losing' candidates winning seats. It is wholly wrong, opportunistic and just plain stupid. Whoever proposed it ought to be shot (or severely reprimanded in a non-violent way). On that, I agree with the Conservatives and LibDems (Gasps of shock).
But, for some reason, both parties failed to really consider this point on its own terms. Instead, they spent the debate arguing that since it was a Labour government which introduced this electoral system, the Labour government is only changing it now because it isn't working in their favour (Labour has no AMs elected through proportional representation at the moment).
Even if it is true that Labour is only concerned because it negatively affects them (which in itself is debatable), surely the whole point of parliament especially when it comes to constitutional issues to argue in favour of what is best for the country instead of apparently opposing something purely on the basis that a rival party will benefit? The present Welsh electoral system needs to be altered, yet none of the Cons/LibDem MPs speaking today seemed capable of recognising this blatantly obvious fact. Perhaps they were temporarily blinded by partisan motives. But still, it is hardly an inspiring political process in which this occurs.
The last few days....
]]>But Jackie Pearcey, a Lib Dem councillor from Manchester, accused some MPs of losing track of the interests of the party.
"Us ordinary party members are seeing a group of very ambitious people fighting each other down in Westminster," she told BBC News 24.
Mark Oaten:
"Colleagues should now give Charles time to prove himself, to show he has got on top of his problems," he told BBC News 24.
Mr Oaten added: "At the moment we are just damaging ourselves."
]]>BARONESS TONGE, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT PEER
"If you were looking for someone to play the part of Tarzan, you wouldn't employ a one-legged actor, and if we're looking for someone to lead our party we wouldn't deliberately go for an alcoholic. "
Ouch. The recent furore by LibDem glory seekers has sickened me. The pressures that have been put on him since christmas have been harsh and it is quite clear that those who wish to succeed him as leader are doing their best to manipulate the entire situation.
If I was ever going to consider supporting the party, this has put me right off. Regardless of whether he stays or goes, the LibDems are doing themselves no favours.
]]>in other news....
hahahaha.....liverpool hammered everton in the boxing day derby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my sister and first honaray mother (my sister is a half-sister by my dad, so honarary mother #1 is her mum, honarary mother#2 is my mum's partner, makes christmas and birthdays wonderful) are both evertonians. I, obviously, am a red.
my three nephews love their gifts! and, the one out of all of them who I thought was least (as in not) interested in education has (temporarily) decided he wants to "work hard and go to a good university" after he asked me what I was planning on doing after I graduate and I explained that I really want to work as a parliamentary researcher (and then explained what one was).
I have my blackberry!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its a 7290, cos I didn't want the newfangled garbish. It totally rules. But instant email notification may turn me into a workaholic.
My father is a man utd. fan. My mother gave him a special christmas card (knowing nothing about football). It was an arsenal christmas card. My father is not impressed. He has put it up though. Next to his man utd. dvd.
And in the world of politics......
not a lot, it christmas break. but I did manage to get introduced to Hilary Benn as an intern with the Fabians. When he asked how it was going I was left in the 'wonderful' situation of having to explain that I was not an intern at all. I'll try to say something a little more, umm, substantive, later. I read the Fabian Review on Britishnesss so will probably say something about that. Or something totally unrelated. I dont know.
]]>Okay, I should perhaps explain. My mum is gay and her partner's daughter had a baby last month who is my honorary niece!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 month and 1 and a half weeks old. Cute. Down with flu. Definitely not cute. But I love her so.
Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Been busy with various things. Let me know if you like the blog so far tho, I'm setting up a website somewhere in the near future.
]]>still, given that several libdem and tory mps couldn't be bothered to turn up and vote against the bill that got passed by only one vote - and the fact that george gallway (that staunch defender of human liberty and human rights, who is against anything to do with iraq or labour) didn't vote becaue 'he had a speaking engagement' - I suppose I shouldnt really criticise the lowering of already low standards in the world of politics.
]]>I am no keen on distinguishing between the domestic and foreign spheres (this all too easily leads to their unnatural divorce) but with regard to the former I mist certainly view the primary progressive goal as being the equalisation of life chances for all. The preservation of civil liberty is of paramount concern in the domestic sphere, but not something that I would subsume under the banner of 'progressivism' - the provisions for it do not so much require moving forward as they require not moving backwards (a distinction I hope we can all agree on).
The equalising of life chances is, of course, of extreme importance in the foreign sphere, too. But I made the dstinction between the two spheres both because the approach must differ and the emphasis on equalising life chances is slightly less in the case of foreign policy. It is too eas t use equality of life chances as a justifying or legitimating factor for heavy handed impositions upon other countries and cultures, but it must also be recognised that in some instances, the equality of life chances is better served in the long-run if on seeks to totally oppose negative regimes (e.g. Zimbabwe) rather than support their selective desire for an equality of life chances (which is really opportunism masquerading as equality, and not the equality of life chances at all).
btw, the 'fabian terrorist' thng was shamelessly attempting to get more views. if you actually wish to know te lame story, read my previous posts.
although, i'd appreciate it if people could post ther genuine comments about the use of the term 'progressive' in politics - it genuinely intrigues me, mainly because the term seems rather empty and while I have attempted to give it a meaning I would sincerely appreciate your comments//thoughts....
]]>maybe at some point I will bother to respond in full to their libelous assertions. but really, I think if they spent less time talking about 'fabian terrorists' they might actually achieve something worthwhile with their (fill in the blank here) lives.
]]>I wrote earlier about Anthony Walker, Mo Mowlam, and Robin Cook, and I said I'd write something in memory of them at some point. But I'm going to need to write something in memory of someone else who IMO makes them all ppale in comparison. My pops is in hospital, it aint the first time, he's had emphesemia for a while. I spent my A levels getting phone calls from him in the evening saying he was ill and Id take him into hospital, sit up all night with him, and then go to school the following day. When I got into Oxford he was proud of me for doing well despite all Id had to face, and I had to face a lot. My mum and dad split around the time of my birth so on paper Im from a single-parent family. It makes me laugh because my father was always there and I probably benefited more from this situation than if theyd stayed together. My father is a great man, he always had our backs. I remember one time, when he'd got too ill to come down to mine and Id go visit him instead. One day I cam home from school to find him sitting there, he'd struggled to drive up and get down the long path to our house. He did because we had been the victims of an attempted arson attack and racist graffiti that had been painted on the house, and he wanted to be there to explain it to me and make sure that I was okay. Even when he was in and out of hospital, he was always taking care of the whole family. In some ways I am fortunate that I have these few days to say my goodbyes to him. He taught me to play guitar and whenever I do, I think of him. He also taught me to be moral and show respect to others, he was strict without being aggressive. He once told me, I was complaining about something, and he just said "I used to complain that I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet." He was also intelligent, it amazes me that he has few books but knows so much. People often complain about their situation, but he was raised in a kids home, took care of hi big family, and his mother abused him, getting him out of care when he was of working age and then splitting later on leaving him with her debts. He has been robbed, racially abused and discriminated against, denied opportunities, lived on the poverty line, the whole works, but I have never heard him complain about his lot. He always more concerned with making things better to spend time feeling sorry for himself. I sometimes forget to do the same, but Im thankful that he taught me that.
He also had to face the problems that have plagued my family. My eldest brother has suffered mental health problems, my sister was with a man who beat her, and my other brother has been in trouble with the law and the ghetto for the past ten years, he's always been supporting all of us. My brother, the younger, was intelligent and charming, but he ditched school and moved out at 16. Thought a great way of making some cash would be to deal. He ran up one debt of about a grand, and my pops took out a loan to pay it off. He made it clear that he wouldnt do it again. So, when my brotherr ran up an even bigger debt, he had to split the city. He then managed to do the same in two other cities/towns. He wasnt even 20 then. He got himself arrested for carrying a fake gun, but they let him slide. A few years later, I went to visit my family and was staying at his. I was awoken one morning around 6am by him beating a woman in the room below; I looked out the window to see her walking up the street, blood pouring down her face, and I was disgusted with him. He got arrested a few years ago, after breaking bail numerous times, for stabbing some kid who was ten years younger than him. He got out this summer. He came up with the rest of the family to see pops and spent the entire time chonging and trying to start fights with all of us. We didnt bite, so he took off on my kid nephew. My brother is 27, my nephew is 12. I couldnt help thinking what an insult this was to my father, the proud, respectable man who had raised us all. He came up here to say goodbye to him and behaved like the complete antithesis of all my father stood for and believed in. I was, quite frankly, shocked. Despite wanting some time alone with my pops, he eschewed doing that and returned with the rest of my family for a few days to where they all now live. They had to go back to sort the kids out in school and stuff but are returning in a couple of days. He went back to cop a draw. He rang today to tell my mother how he went to cash his giro and they couldnt sort it for him, so he smashed up the place and hit a woman who works there, that they want him to hand himself in (he's on probo) but that he wouldnt do that until my pops has passed. I had to listen to my mother beg him to just hand himself in. I dont know yet what he's going to do. I know that what he has already done is completely insult and disrespect my father and the rest of the family with his attrocious behaviour. He begged my mum not to tell pops. He expects us all to lie to my dying father so he wont have to know what a complete fucnk up my brother is.
I dont know what the point of writing all this was. I just felt I had to get it out of my system. I dont want to know my brother anymore. He needs help but he wont admit it. I dont want to make excuses for him because I wouldnt with anyone else, and everything that he has done he has brought on himself. There's not an ounce of decency in it. Its not even like he was arrested for stealing in order to put food on the table. He had it all, opportunities, talent, support, but he threw it all away.
I might write more on this at a later point. I gotta go visit my pops right now. Im not going to lie to him. If he asks about my brother, Im just going to say that I havent spoken to him today. Thats not a lie, but its not entirely the truth, either.
]]>does anybody actually read this blog?
if so, please post a comment to let me know, and please give feedback, what you think is good, bad, and just plain ugly (lol, there's a reason why I have yet to post my pic, hahaha).
Well, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the wonderfully (in)coherent world of Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality;
Here is Trevor Phillips in March 2005 proposing the segregation of black pupils in school in order to improve their grades.
And this is from today, Tuesday September 22, 2005, when he claims that society is becoming ever more segregated, "sleepwalking into segregation," and that schools in particular are becoming segregated despite their being places of learning where young students should be exposed to other cultures in order to develop friendship and understanding.
But, maybe I am being too harsh on Mr. Phillips. Perhaps he isnt simply attempting to become a minor celebrity by making outlandish comments designed solely to get newspaper headlines. Perhaps instead he simply wants to be remembered as the instigator of whattever change in the lives of ethnic minorities occurs in the next few years and as such is saying everything he can in the hope that something is acted upon and he is remembered for it. Perhaps his complete u-turn is more to do with the government rejecting his plan for segregation in schools on the basis that it is both illegal and psychologically damaging? Like Brown vs. the Board of Education didnt already establish that 50 years ago.
]]>I'd like to know what your favourite moments are too.
]]>
]]>Im actually very interested in the German elections at the moment. Admittedly, I have to be. I have an exam next summer on Comparative Government, and another on British Politics, and the topic of electoral systems and their reform is bound to crop up on at least one of them. Plus, Im writing a paper on the very issue of electoral reform in Britain. So, it is interesting for me to see not only a proportional rep system in which even after the election no one knows who is the country's leader, but a mixed member p.r. system, one which (in my humble opinion) is possibly the best of the p.r. systems in use. It is also quite worrying how much power is thus given to the small parties, who can decide the leader by giving or withholding their alliance with them.
As a side note, I was doing a little internet research on the roots of Fabian socialism. Its basically (very basically, lol) the British counterpart to German Bernsteinian Revisionism. But thats not what this websitewould have you think. I actually found this site hugely amusing, especially for its citation of a hollywood movie to substantiate its claims. I am a Fabian myself, so I can honestly say that this is most definitely not the organisation that I joined. But still, it is funny. Im pretty sure the only way this story could get any more ridiculous would be if they claimed the devil himself was the head of our organisation, and that we engineered the events of the past 50 or so years in order to achieve the humanitarian crises that have affected America in recent years. Just plain pathetic. Enjoy.
]]>I'd like to spit about a nation's trials and tribulations
the vile conditions imposed by governmental constipation
to cause conflagration hatin' riots an' violence
an' get an answer to my questions instead of silence
an' show defiance tho' I'd be lyin' cos Britain aint that harsh
we got a welfare state that pays med bills and rent for starts
so no defence to drug dealers they aint gotta shift that bag
to send their kids to college or pay fees on their funking hab (habitat)
so why we got the kinda violence plagues NY streets can I please get an answer?
from gangs and mans in positions of power... remission ...advances
this is the hour for answer explanations or even reason
legitimate arguments is what I ask for this season
cos its seemingly the case that we have a nation displaced
a disgrace to our nationhood faking 'hood wannabees traced
back to Norwegian ancestry ya bleedin our best seeds
shootin up streets and believe to my black folks, please!,
I got ya number ya runnin guns and drugs ya fake thugs
think that being black means playing with funking slugs?
Blood, that aint no call out its the fall out from ya flaws
So dont talk shlit about our struggle cos u dont know our funking cause
ya funking us not society at large ya propriety to be hard
is tryin me my patience runs out and propensity starts
to propel the darts from my heart and they're laced with my feelings
about ya guns, thugs, sket funks and drug dealings
hits like a slug an leaves ya reeling in pain
nothin real in this game ya just bleeding for the fame
5 minutes when ya name's in the obituary's of papers
What the fuck u done about racism, econ disparity or rapists?
I'll say it even tho I know u dont like to hear
Ya not U.S. you're us so whats the motherfunking fear?
Im near to ending this diatribe hell at least I tried
To defy thug life being deified and for what and for why?
Where will this get u and how the funk will it achieve
A kind of life from which no nikka wants to leave?
There's no reprieve for the dead that you've left
And all ya reppin is a funking nation bereft
Ya neglectin to mention or better yet to state where its at
We got a socialist government thats coverin ya funking back
No starvation so why sell the crack? whats ya motive?
Damilola and Walker, now, that shits emotive
An What way u voted? Y'know that I bet u didnt
Rescind the right to complain by abstaining from rights given
Now THATS HOW IM LIVIN an Im livid yall not respondin
With some real funking cures to abort our despondence
Correspondin in crime just aint worth shlit, so
Articulate in rhyme an we might get to hear it.....
I aint never wrote a word in my life its all real and raw
And whats more its all tight....an its war
If ya come at my mic here's what ya in for
my in-store beats will drop ya storeys to the floor
you on a tour from the outside of a high rise
watching as the sky rise I got you as a suicide
hopin' god has mercy that he'll recognise cos he's heard me
spittin over Miles and Herbie and 'Trane and Red and the Birdie
Parker, I'm still livin' despite my life gettin' darker
and w/ every day the easy life be gettin harder
I still struggle even tho' there is more trouble
and Im hating on the pain cos it burst my funking bubble
my pops is in need of cuddles he's all huddled in the hospital
and Im only interested in the ice if I even shop at all
but it makes no difference to be livin' rich like ya got it all
cos there's no shop to cure a sickness which is kinda volatile
I got a call comin' uup to eleven to save my pops from comin up to heaven
So i grabbed a cab tore ass to his crib on the way givin heads up to the ambulance
a lack of ambience and oxygen had got to him but we not doin'
death just yet I got my roots in him I see the truth in him
life he's my proof that there's no god cos if there was
Then he'd be it but I gotta admit he got his faults
Like he's a manc an supportin united
Im all shankleyed up like bintch u gotta try this
I cant deny this when my ryders win we dont speak
Bcoz we won the cup I missed his birthday by 3 weeks
An I was freakin coz I phoned but got no answer
Pops, it aint my fault ya team is full of philanderers
And my team is the motherfunking european champions
But theres no beef cos I got mad props for my family and...
[chorus/hook]
You a part of the team, the fam, ya the man who started our dreams
You've Lived through more than we've all seen
But we all growing and sowing our seeds......
explans......manchester united - my pops supports them and they're poo. I support liverpool, which is why i think they're poo, but Shankley is a legendary ex-manager of L'pool, hence the shank(jail made knife)/shankleyed up line, ready to do battle got shankley backing me, kinda thing, lil word play yall should be able to follow. an the rest should be obvious. oh, an addendum, liverpool won the european championship, hence that line, lol.
now, POST YA THOUGHTS..........
]]>Disclaimer: its just a song it dont mean anything big, some things I can explain, some things are just for the rhyme scheme to maintain, and the rage is just against the dying of the light, its not real pain.........
I'll -expose this- political -hypnosis- critical -comatosis- I -going to show that-/
You cant see that our society's -corrosive- and thats what packing them bombs with -explosives-/
Drag said it aint the gun its the nicker that -shoots it- thats -ruthless- but in fact the -truth is-/
Our -future's- where the -youth is- and we let them -lose it- and then funked up terrorists came and -abused it-/
For their own ends
we got the situation on lockdown now but the threat they intend never ends/
It just pends and procrastinates while we -defend- false freedom upon which our whole way of life -depends- and is based/
we've been debased and we're quick to -pretend- that we're innocent....not guilty...we're the victims of animosity/
and it only when bombs drop on our -civilians- that -our children- are taught killings an attrocity/
and thats shocking me...its gotten me down on my knees..whats rotten here god tell me please.../
why dont you have answers? why are our nations keepers concerned with advances/
in -intelligence- they're -telling it- like we're at war with a country and -dilligently selling it-/
to keep masses -prevented- from prying into our government's -past record- where they'll find a history -thats cheequered-/
and -peppered- with problems like funding the bombing of Iran or the wholesale shipping of whole family clans/
let Blair take the stand and demand that he tells how many of those buildings that we made -redundant- were -funded- by our banks/
and Immortal was right god overslept on the 7th thats why the government tells half truths about september 11th/
its -historical significance- is met with -rhetorical indifference- to the wholesale slaughter/
of -indigenous- populations of daughters who live in this country we bombed in the villages/
our best pillars are -pillaging- the homes of women and children we take their last vestiges/
and I wonder why Bush aint been -arrested yet- cos he's breeded a nation that'll -never forget-/
but -the best is yet- to come we been acting like Romans since 2001 imposing our style of democracy on/
people who never -bothered me son- in understanding this problem we haven't begun/
and I know people listening be glistening with sweat cos they're mad that their wet greasy palms be exposed/
to the rest this flow's far from over and yet you're already hot collared/
by my on the spot holla about how ya like to drop dollars on oil so much that you'll spoil all chances to -foil this feud- so the -blood boils profuse- and you -hope that we choose-/
to choke on your half truths this aint no milkcalf blues cos you're bleeding us dry/
you're the reason some citizens are -seething on hate- -feeding on lies- and -pleading to die-/
this problem wont -recede anytime- soon dont assume that you've got us all blind/
to insane thoughts in sane minds you're the epitome of a terrorist defined/
oh, and if ya readin an ya know what the meanin of the first few lines is, i tried to download it, but it wouldn't let me cos it doesn't do mac just wet pc, forget pc its whack, but i'm liking the fm make it last, i drop fast and I drop good an i got a better collection of records than your entire 'hood but if ya wanna test me jus check me tsebelis next time ya online I'll play shlit an blow minds with my mad tunes an rhymes.......(easy rhymes are too easy to drop, lol, an there's prolly only a couple of people who'll understand what i just wrote, an only one who'll understand all of it, but if ya do then get at me -1-)
(Just talking)
Who's Next? Who? Who Are You? The Who? hahahhahaha see, see, these nickas be tryin to drop this rock an roll shlit to rock this an give vish of being reeeaaaalllll an raaaawwwww but they don't know nothin at al, I mean, these nickas be livin in big houses they don't know nothin about it when's the last time they walked down brick lane? I mean they aint seen how insane it can get on the streets....but we do, so drop the beat.......
(first verse kicks in)
and it's -easy- for the -sleazy- straight track slimebacks they aint had to struggle/
I seen nickas get into coffins by tryin to get out of trouble/
so don't act -befuddled- by our monsoon of hate cos it starts as a puddle/
and your pretence means this -problem tends- to infinity with forgotten ends/
or -rotten ends- that be *worse* so I spit this *first verse curse* only to return with a 2nd/
I hope someone *hears* me *disperse* with you into a *hearse* I'm like a *merce*nary beckoned/
To -*reckon* with it all- I'm -wrecking it all- destroy ya boy like I'm a frucking wrecking ball/
You're a *sket an you'll fall* On ya ethnic forms I'm *checkin it all* oh an Im vetting ya calls/
To the *emergency services* the *emergence* of me is *servin this* *resurgence* of beef *mergerers*/
Cos the gangs are *murderous* but when they *hear of this* conspiracy ya got to be wearin us out/
There'll be no doubtin the *other colours* when ya beat on us all then we all become brothers/
And make *mothers* cry for ya -dyin- boy why ya be -lyin-? The truth'll make ya shudder/
Like a boat with a broken *rudder* ya cant erase the past, ya dont have history rubbers/
But ya shoulda sought protection from the niggas that ya slept on my tech's on ya lover no not ya wifey the other/
The papers that make ya act like a slave bitch to raise it higher/
But ya cant take this wit ya an I got ya dyin in the diner/
Rewindin to me asking why ya sanctioned violence/
My excuse for my actions.... is that you produced silence/
okay, dont think that this is how i think, i'm just spittin so dont take it serious, i do have some serious thoughts, as my earlier posts show but as no one bothered to post responses to those I'll go with the idea that controversy sells....
]]>Anyhow, that's it for today. I was just feeling all mushy and stuff having seen myy lil nepheews again and realising how they're growing up and stuff.
]]>*The
*Of Wales (so that registers/anything that has last name folowed by first name reads 'prince, of wales')
*The Baby Formerly Known As....
*HRH (hey, its a welsh baby, ya dont need vowels, lol)
so, whaddya think? am i really evil? i'm sorry, but names like megan or peter just dont cut it.
however, my one serious suggestion was Dylan, both for the Dylan Thomas check and the Bob Dylan one too.
]]>how i long to return to my 'non-summer abode' (lol) where i have a nice purty G5 and a G4 laptop and none of this utter hassle.
however, there is one good thing about this hell, and thats that i am using windows again, i'm a total mac addict ya see (music recording dictates that one). and i'm realising how much better the mac interface is from lowly windows. why do people buy these crap operating systems? bear in mind that i am on crappy 98 and nothing more recent, but i've used those too, and they're all just shoddy imitations of mac os's from about 3 years ealier.
geez, i just wish i could find those darned broadband connection discs so i could get my laptop logged on to this connection.....
]]>ive had a soft spot for Southy ever since i first saw them play with matt le tissier against my number 1 team, the mighty liverpool. i love seeing them do well, provided they aint playin my reds....
my predictions for this season? Southy get promoted and win the carling cup, and liverpool win the prem and europe and, in a bizarre stroke of scheduling fortune, this all happens in the days following my having completed finals. oh well, ya gotta dream....
]]>perhaps i should clarify a few things before i proceed, because what i say may be deemed offensive if i don't provide some sort of explan. that said, i think this explan sucks - if i can get away with saying what i say then so should everyone else be able to. but still......
i'm mixed race. to be honest i'm not entirely sure how mixed race i am. but for the large part, i'm a mixture of nigerian and welsh. born and raised in england. which is really brilliant because (I play football) it means if i played footie for a national team, i could play for enlgand, wales or nigeria.
which brings me to point one, which is actually an aside re that idiot minister/peer who complained that ethnic minorities support cricket teams like the west indies and not england. to qualify this, he probably isn't quite an idiot, i haven't read fully what he said, but i do know he wanted a 'cricket test' introduced because he thought that ethnic minorities supporting non-uk national teams meant they weren't integrating properly. this is just dumb. period. if i'd played footie professionally (I quit cos I'm a girl and i realised that ya dont get paid, but have it on good authority that if i'd been a boy i'd have got signed to play pro) then I probably would have chosen to play for nigeria. but thats because at the time (when they were in the world cup, '94) they were better than england were so it would have improved my chances of lifting the cup or something. its not cos i am in denial about my britishness. i still support nigeria and wales, and i love it when they do well (which aint often, lol). but thats not denial of englishness or my britishness. its just a recognition that i have other influences/allegiances. i dont know what i'd do if they played each other, at least not if it was nigeria v england or wales. but, in the upcoming england v wales game, i want england to win cos they're more likely to do well overall (and i've supported them constantly, whereas i tend to just check in on the others, there's less coverage), tho i'll feel pangs of hurt as well as celebration for any goals that get scored from either side. sometimes i do find it amusing to watch england lose at sports, but thats more for the sheer irony of it - we're really great at inventing the games, then sittin back and watchin others thrash us at them, be it cricket, tennis, or football. but that still isn't a denial of my britishness, its just my ability to detach myself from a certain situation and view it from an objective standpoint.
anyway, back to my original point, 'ethnic rebranding.' I love the media jumping on that term because its exactly what i thought when i heard the idea. i can understand why you might rebrand hair shampoo or trainers if they're not selling very well, but renaming ethnic minorities because they aren't integrating very well is not going to have qutie the same effect is it? in other words, I'm not like a pair of nike air max!
i also find it quite insulting that some person who has never met me thinks they can decide my identity for me, screw that. (this is a bit flippant, see my next point)
more importantly, the only effect this will have is changing the series of tickboxes i'm forced to complete every time i apply for university, a job, healthcare, etc., etc. i hate having to do that. i can see why it is necessary, but at the same time there's always that naggin question of 'did i get in because i fulfilled their quota of ethnic minorities for this year?' and that just plain sucks. i go to oxford uni and i joke that the only reason i got in was because i single-peronally gave them their quota of ethnic minorities, working class, low income, comprehensive shcooled, single parent familied, no prior family history of university, people. plus, it puts me in the tricky situation of having to answer a question i just really dont give that much thought to. i had to fill in a form once when i was about 8 yrs old and i couldnt decide which box to tick so i asked my mum (she's the welsh one). trying to be really pc, she said "well...how do you see yourself?" i responded with my take on the whole shebang of box-ticking-ethnic-idnetity-crap and said "in the mirror like everyone else." i pretty much stick to that, even today years later. i know a lot about 'black history' and about 'white history' and i have opinions about both. and i am aware that i cant be too por-black because i'm part white and nor can i be too pro-white because i'm part black. and having faced racial abuse and harrassment on a serious level from a young age i find it hard to be intolerant and prejudiced (except against everton or man utd. fans but thats not prejudice, lol, prejudice is unfairly judging someone based on an arbitrary fact about them, but they support everton/man utd. so they deserve all they get, j/p). but i really dont think about how black or white i am unless someone asks me am i black or am i white, or they make an issue out of it. the way i see it, I'm S* T'** (my name here and it should be 4 of * but it wnot let me do that, lol), and everything else is secondary. I'm just me, and while these things have an influence they don't define me...maybe that's why i dont take too quickly to other people using them to define me for me?
but like i said, all its gonna do is affect the titles of the tick boxes you fill in on forms. it wont get to the root issues, the problems in society or the underlying causes. 'and i can see that is a problem' as a poet once said. i remember filling in forms when they didnt have all that many categories, and i ticked 'black african' because they didnt have an 'other' box and i couldn't tick 'white'. i also remember ticking 'other (please explain)' which grated slightly because it made me feel insignificant, like my racial group isn't worth giving a category to. it was the 'please explain' bit that grated, made me feel like it implied i had done something wrong by being born mixed race. bear in mind that i was real young back then, but i'm sure a better wording could have been thought of, lol.
this 'rebranding' thing could be taken to absurdium, with 23 pages of diff categories to appease all the disgruntled people in society, but it still wont fix the real problems that we face in today's society. its like, the point is here *
and this idea is here * (imagine it miles awy, this ite wont lemme do that either, lol)
i really couldn't care less if the next time i filled in a form it had a nice little section just for me that said 'mixed race: afro-british' because it wouldn't make a difference. I'd still get called nigger by people who didn't like the colour of my skin once I'd finished form-filling and rejoined the real world. and mosty people dont find out my 'ethnic mix' until they've known me for ages because i usually find that if i'm with decent people, the issue just doesnt really come up all that often.
besides which, Im nigerian/welsh born and raised in england for god's sake. I've fully accepted the fact that there will never be a box that fully encapsulates me, and nor do i want there to be because even if they had a box saying 'nigerian/welsh/english' i'd still think i'm more than just the sum of my parts. i found it funny going around fresher's fair and seeing all these jewish society stalls and scottish society stalls and american society stalls and all that, i made a joke bet with my friends that there wouldn't be a 'nigerian-english-welsh society stall'.
getting a little more serious tho, i hate the way people think they can play with semantics and have a real effect when they haven't even fully considered the semantics they're using. some politicans complain that ethnic minorities don't identify with british society or being british or stuff like that. some of them probably even think that this 'rebranding' would help minorities to identify with british society. but i think thats where the semantics could possibly do with being changed. to be perfectly honest and clear: i dont identify with british society, or nigerian society for that matter, i identify with myself because i'm the only thing that i'm identical to. i relate to british society. and i can do that and still relate to nigerian soceity at the same time. i can relate to my family who have experienced what i have experienced and i can relate to politicians who want to make society better because i want that too. essentially, what im trying to say here is that we identify with ourselves, we relate to other people. there is a difference. i'm british and i'm a part of british society because i can relate to other britons, but i dont have to identify with them. i have lots of friends who i wouldn't say i identify with, i just relate to them. i cant identify with them because they are not me (or I, or whatever). the very word 'identity' is an all or nothing concept, and its defunct when talking about several (or numerous) people because they aren't all or nothing the same. 'relate' has much more subtlety and shades to it, and i think that if we started looking at what it means to 'be british' in terms of what relates (i.e. links) the people of britain, instead of looking at it in terms of what gives british people their 'identity' which is prone to attempts to shoe-horn people into a narrow conception of 'british' then we may start to get somewhere...
anyway, that's a helluva long post for a topic (ethnic rebranding) that i dont really care about.
hit me back, cos i wanna know what people think.
]]>The most important result was:
Liverpool 1-0 Sunderland
but, I also got
Rangers 3-1 Celtic
AND...
Southampton 2-1 Portsmouth
now all I need is for Southy to get promoted at the end of the season, Rangers to win the Scot Prem and the cup, Liverpool to win the league and the euro championship...
]]>It seems like a bit of a catch 22 to me. If he does attend there will be some kind of furore about him attending the funeral of one Labour politician and refusing to attend the funeral of another. But if he doesn't attend then he'll face criticism on the same grounds as the criticism for not attending Cook's funeral and also for not listening to that earlier criticism. Its a tricky situation for him, I dont know what I'd do if I was in his position.
]]>The attacks in London were in many ways inevitable, both in terms of the gobal situation right now and in terms of Britain's history. I dont need to tell you that the bombers were homegrown, but I'd recommend that you read The Making of a Terrorist, written by the brother of one of the 9/11 hijackers.
We in Britain have always held a certain amount of pride in how we have dealt with race relations compared with our American counterparts, we're proud to proclaim our tolerance of others. But, as the recent murder of Anthony Walker showed, that isnt always the case.
We have had ethnic minorities in Britain for 500 years. Those years have seen riots, colours and copious attacks. Many people have been marginilised, not only by overt racism but also by the institutional and structural racism that has often kept ethnic minorities in the lowest socio-economic bands. Furthermore, we hae maintained that they must integrate in our British society, our community and our culture. This 'them and us' rhetoric is so divisive, creating the impression that any dissent, no atter how small, is akin to being an enemy. That's dangerous because it pushes people away instead of pulling them in and it creates an adversarial relationship between groups of people that can oly serve to exacerbate the current situation.
I'm not against the integration of ethnic minorities into British society, I just think tha a new sense of Britishness must be established. It's long overdue. Indian and Chinese food is amongst the most popular, our music has for over 50 years been influenced by our ethnic minorites, many of our best sports men and women are black, and we have had minority MP's since 1898 (20 years before we had women MP's). For every Nightingale we have a Seacole, but this has been underplayed for too long a time creating the illusion that Britain is a white society that minorities must adapt to. Its hardly the way to reach the disaffected youth before the become dangerous. The best way to taclke terrorism is to prevent people from becoming terrorists in the first place.
I have total condemnation for what happened, and I dont want this post to be interpreted as providing justification for recent events; it doess not do that and nor was it intended to. But if we are serious about moving forward we have to look back over our history unflinchingly. We have to discard the divisive rhetoric and start asking some important questions, of ourselves as much as of anyone else, about what exactly it means to be British.
Apologies for the lameity of this post, I wanted to structure it better and argue more cogently, but this came out instead. There are a lot of distinct and complex issues mixed up in all this mess and I'll ty to break them down and post more clearly on each one in the coming weeks. Some posts about Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook will also be forthcoming.
~1~
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