Black history month

[mids]

Oh hi there.

[mids]

[mids]

Is it just me or does BHM's star seem to have faded a bit? It doesn't seem as prominent as it once was.

[perrykneeham]

Dunno. It must be tricky, comparing all that SID. And, indeed, SID.

[mids]

Jesus. Christ. All. Mighty.

"You wanted to see me broken

Head bowed and tears in my eyes?

More for you; you didn’t realise

That my strength is powered by your lies.

You are the wrong one, the violent one, the weird one;

Where was I?

I am the Chosen One

Because I am of the First Ones.

You see this skin I’m in

This beautiful mahogany brown

This skin you don’t like [shot of Kamala Harris], I believe.

So why you try so hard to achieve [shot of Dawn with a bemused fruit juice seller]

By burning yourself with the sun?

For me there’s no need

Because I am the Chosen One

For I am of the First Ones [another shot of a pharaoh like African figure].

I know I’m black and beautiful

An African freedom fighter [shots of US civil rights figures, including Martin Luther King]

My skin is my protection,

And you, my friend, don’t matter.

Because I am the Chosen One

For I am of the First Ones.

You created a structure

That made you seem great

But the simple reality is [shot of Dawn speaking in the Commons]

It is all fake.

Because I am the Chosen One

For I am of the First Ones.

So you wanted to see me broken?

Head bowed and tears in my eyes?

More for you, you haven’t realised

My strength is despite your lies."

www.spectator.co.uk/article/dawn-butlers-bonkers-black-history-poem/

[mids]

Presumably line 3 is meant to be "More fool you".

[perrykneeham]

Stop it with your colonial spellings and conventional expressions.

[moggyonspeed]

At least with John Keats' To Autumn there is no doubt as to the subject matter at hand.

Conversely, who exactly is Butler's poem supposed to be describing (targeting even)? The reader, who may be black themselves? Racists and white supremacists, in which case I say more power to her elbow? Or to whites in general, in which case this poem smacks of racism itself.

As for the notion that she is "... of the First Ones ..." - well, this is palpable nonsense, as all we are talking about here is a question of degree rather than absolute. She herself is of Jamaican heritage so her family, like the families of white-skinned, red-skinned or yellow-skinned people, are still part of that black diaspora that began 60,000 to 70,000 years ago in the African Rift Valley. Over the last 40,000 years or so since that diaspora made its way to what is now the UK, our skins have lightened because science informs us that it will. So, in another 40,000 years or so, chances are her distant offspring will be indistinguishable from what most white folks look like today - though I struggle to believe that she would view those distant offspring in the same terms as in her poem. Then, of course, if she is saying that she is superior merely by dint of her skin colour - well, we're arguably back in racist territory again, aren't we?

[perrykneeham]

More fool to her elbows.

[mids]

"One of the nation’s last surviving passengers of the Empire Windrush has died aged 98, The Independent has learned.



Alford Gardner passed away on Tuesday, according to his son Howard."



This bit isn't true. It is, in fact, all made up.

"HMT Empire Windrush arrived in England nearly eight decades ago, bringing hundreds of people from the Caribbean who answered Britain’s call to help fill post-war labour shortages."

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/windrush-pioneer-alford-gardner-death-b2622559.html

[perrykneeham]

Alf Garnett?

[Repat Van]

Oct 1, 2024 8:35:49 GMT mids said:

Kemi isn’t black - why is her photo posted here?

[flatandy]

As I think needs reiterating: poetry is sh*t. The problem is all rooted in thinking poetry has value.

[perrykneeham]

It's waaaaaay better than cricket.

[flatandy]

Nobody pretends their fumble at silly mid off is going to change peoples’ societal perceptions. Nobody is under delusions that a 15 ball 2 run inning is a deep insight into their soul.

[perrykneeham]

Pish. Cricket afficianados cracking on that it's a metaphysical experience all the time.

[moggyonspeed]

Deeply worrying that I agree with baloo on this.

As my dear departed Mum would say, even when the Ashes made the news headlines, "Aah ... men playing bat & ball again." I was quite good at sport at school, but only rugby stayed with me into adulthood. I now find myself agreeing with the Yanks' questioning of a game that can be played at international level for a full five days and then be declared a draw.

[flatandy]

No attention span, these young ‘uns.

[flatandy]

I’d rather five days of a 1970s flat Indian pitch draw than 5 minutes of performed poetry

[moggyonspeed]

Didn't the great T.S. Eliot once write an epic poem about cricket called The Wasteland or summat?