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| Poem: The memory sinkhole or the danger of history |
| 09.03.05 (8:23 pm) [edit] |
This poem appeared in the Green Left Weekly, Current Issue # 640.
The battle for freedom over tyranny
Is the battle of remembering over forgetting
- Milan Kundera
And yet there is another battle, but I'll save it for the end
As they write their lopsided histories of fiction
'cause they get paid to show only one side
where the others just don't count
this has been happening from the beginning of time
And even the adopted father of history comitted this
crime
So, where are the worker's histories, Herodotus?
I don't see them in your mmany anointed volumes
concerning rich minorities and your obsessive hatred of
the Persians,
Their struggles are just not mentioned and I want to know about them
Then and now
And I want to know why Lenin laughed at Churchill's
history of the Revolution
Written from so many miles away and before his time
And did that war end in 1918 or 1919 with the invasion of
the white armies?
And I want to know about James Connolly and read his
essay on landlordism
And I want to know what he said to his daughter working
in that textile mill
Before what came during 1916
And I want to know what Orwell meant when he said that
what he was witnessing in Spain in 1936 was not just a
Civil War but the birth of a revolution, and why that was then put down?
And I want to know about the Australian servicemen who revolted at Syndey Central
And why I can't tell the difference between the
concentration camps in Europe during the 1940's and the
last for the immigrants today
And what the Wobblies did in 'Frisco at the turn of last
century to stop longer hours on the docks. And what they
tried to do at Hoover Dam with workers dying everyday.
And I want to know why the CIA murders of trade unionists are mentioned in Colombia
Whilst being written off as "work accidents" in this country
And I want to know more about the Northwoods document and what they really did to the Maine? And why they are afraid of little Cuba.
And that other September 11 in Chile
And soon they'll be telling you their birthdate
And what literature you should be valuing
And why Shakespeare is looking so good when nobody
seems to understand a fucking line
And praising Alexander The Great's imperialism and not his mistake
And Genghis Khan's
And Caisus Caesar's
And Dubya's and not his mistake
And that function of patriotism that expires when the
servicemen return
With stories of their own and who are suddenly forgotten
and left off the streets
Then and now
And soon they'll be telling you what you're interested in
And where you should be putting what little they pay you
And calling you troublemaker when you start speaking -the
truth
And saying you don't have the understanding of putting
pen to paper
Just so you don't start writing your own histories
Or make your own films
Or forge your own guns in a desperate bid for freedom.
Brad Evans
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| A Socialist Party In Perth |
| 09.03.05 (8:05 pm) [edit] |
Yesterday I opted out of the fundrasing bash the Green Left Weekly supporters put on Saturday night. But I understand from talking to my mate Barry things went very well. Over 120 people paid between $17 and $30 to attend, so lots of money was made for the paper. A speaker from the Maritime Union Of Australia pledged his union's support for Australia's largest alternative media.
Alongside the other speakers were the Brigandistas, Emma Clancy and a couple of other members who travelled to Venezuela and Cuba to report on what they saw there. Their reports showed the depth of support Socialist ideas have in South America at the moment.
Then there was dancing to Latin music and also Indian food, and the whole place was decked with banners and streamers of left-wing orientation.
Apparently over 10 people attended the event from the Hills Brach of Socialist Alliance, where I am. The report I had suggested they really enjoyed their time.
Terrible stories emerging from New Orleans. It is believed up to 40 Australians remain unaccounted for. One woman was not told of the hurricane when she got off at the airport in New Orleans. I think with George Bush as your president, there would be very little pressure on authorities to address civil defence. I have heard that some Marines were shot at the Superdrome, at least one fatally, also there were only 200 Marines there providing "security" for 25,000 people. And what I find the most remarkable, they were'nt allowed to leave the Superdrome while everything from Child Rape to Suicide was carried out by gangs of people. That is unacceptable, and the people there who survived those sorts of traumatic sights deserve a good compensation in the civil courts for the government's stunning inefficiency.
Well I guess until later, you comments are welcome.
With Affection,
Matthew
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| Memories Of The Week That Was |
| 09.02.05 (2:56 pm) [edit] |
Hello again, this post is just about how the week went politically for me. I was able to sell Green Left Weeklies in Perth city at the Train Station overpass to Myer shopping centre. It went well. Three sales in forty-five minutes. I met a couple of new activist friends, popped into the Swan Valley Nyungar Community offices, did a stall at the University Of Western Australia with our petiton for withdrawing Australian troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and of course I attended the meeting on the Gaza Withdrawal.
The meeting on Gaza invited a mixed audience demographically, and there was an excellent review of the depiction of Palestinians in the "West Australian" newspaper and the capitalist mass media market in general. In comparison with Marines who are "ambushed by insurgents" we can see the Iraqis said to have died "in a crossfire" every night on the news. There were many more examples of the racism of the mass media. They don't report on the impact of the pass laws on working class people in Palestine, having to give up on plans for a higher education or not being about to seek sick grandmothers and friends outside the checkpoints gives terrorist sects a justification for their individual acts of terrorism.
The Socialist Alternative meeting went down very well. The discussion centred around how captialism prefers the nuclear family to provide childcare and education free of charge, and how nationalists often seek to "divert" the media from reporting on issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. I used the example of Charles Perkins, the well-known aboriginal rights activist, who in his dying days finally repudiated his statements in 1988 about Asian immigration, as an example of how people can be pulled into racist debates. I pointed out Charles Perkins expressed his greatest sorrow on an SBS television documentary for his mistake in believing in a cut in Asian immigration for aboriginal nationalist reasons. He was very remorseful about it. And that shows the alientation from our species being that Marx talks about in his earlier philosophical works.
And I spoke about the Swan Valley Nyungah Community holding a rally on the 21st of August that drew 200 people to launch the legal campaign against the privatisation of the sacred coastline, so that future generations will enjoy it for themselves as public lands. The state labor government and private transnational developers plan to build at various points in the Cockburn Sound/Coogee Beach area, a marina for millionaries to dock their boats, land infill from the sandhills to the Indian ocean stretching over 140 meters, an expensive desalination plant fuelled by an oil-powered power station. Not surprisingly over 20 different environmental organisations all over WA have sent in their solidarity to Iva Hayward-Jackson the Nyungah community activist and spokesperson for the protestors.
Everything went well also at the stall I attended on Wednesday. People were generally very supportive of our stall. Many signatures were collected and 9 copies of the "Socialist Alternative" magazine were sold inside 2 hours so I would that a great success. 4 new names were added to our contact list.
And tonight of course I party to the sounds of Latin American bands and savour some Indian cruisine as part of the fundraising bash the Green Left Weekly supporters are having here in Perth. I will be going along to dance - (it's ages since I danced, and nothing like the rumba or tango in my life) - so I hope to have a great night out. More comment on that later on. Of course the Brigadistas (a group of Socialists who travelled across South America) will be giving their report on Venezeula and Cuba. That too should be very interesting.
Well friends I guess that it's for now. I have found some good original poetry sites, and I will eventually have some poetry up for you. Thanks for your patience,
With Affection,
Matthew Davis
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