Darcus Howe On The London Riots [Video]

Uploaded by mYcHeMiCaLrOmAnCeGaL

Transcribed by Guanaguanare

Fiona Armstrong: I am now joined by Darcus Howe who is a writer and broadcaster and we can speak to him now and Marcus Dowe[sic] is in Croydon. Marcus Dowe[sic], are you shocked by what you've seen here last night?

Darcus Howe: No, not at all. I have been living in London for fifty years. There are so different moods and moments but what I was certain about, listening to my grandson and my son, is that something very, very serious was going to take place in this country. Our political leaders had no idea, the police had no idea, but if you looked at young blacks and young whites with a discerning eye and a careful hearing, they have been telling us, and we would not listen, that what is happening in this country to them.

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, if I can just...

Darcus Howe: But what is morally wrong....

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, if I could just stop you for a moment... Mister Howe, for a moment. You say you are not shocked. Does this mean that you condoned what happened in your community last night?

Darcus Howe: I condone.... Of course not!! What I am going to condone it for? What I am concerned about more than anything else... there is a young man called Mark Duggan. He has parents, he has brothers, he had sisters and few yards away from where he lives a police officer blew his head off...

Fiona Armstrong: Well Mister Howe, we have to...

Darcus Howe: Blew his face off with a...

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, we have to...

Darcus Howe: Let me finish....

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, we have to wait for the official enquiry before we can say things like that. We don't know what happened to Mister Duggan. We have to wait for the police report on it.

Darcus Howe: I understand.... Mister Duggan is dead.

Fiona Armstrong: If I can take you on a little bit. You were talking about your grandson, you were talking about young people...

Darcus Howe: We don't have to wait for an enquiry...

Fiona Armstrong: You were talking about your grandson, you were talking about young...

Darcus Howe: They have been stopping and searching young blacks for no reason at all. I have a young grandson. He is an angel and he began to think he was coming of age when the police slapped him up against the wall and searched him and he thought he had now had a gold star. I asked him the other day apropos of a sense that something was going seriously wrong in this country, I say, "How many times have the police searched you?"
He said, "Papa, I can't count, there are so many times."

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, that may well have happened and if you say it did, I am not to gainsay you but that is not an excuse to go out rioting and cause the sort of damage that we have been seeing over the last few days.

Darcus Howe: Where were you in 1981 in Brixton?

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe...

Darcus Howe: I don't call it rioting. I call it an insurrection of the masses of the people. It is happening in Syria. It is happening in Clapham, It is happening in Liverpool. It's happening in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and that is the nature of the historical moment. It takes...

Fiona Armstrong: Mister Howe, Mister Howe, if I can just ask you. You are not a stranger to riots yourself, I understand, are you? You have taken part in them yourself?

Darcus Howe: I am not a.... I have never taken part in single riot. I have been on demonstrations that ended up in a conflict and have some respect for an old West Indian negro and stop accusing me of being a rioter because you want for me to get abusive. You just sound idiotic. Have some respect!

Darcus Howe: I have grandchildren...

Fiona Armstrong: Darcus Howe, thank you very much for joining us from Croydon. Darcus Howe there, writer and broadcaster.

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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Darcus Howe, my hero, for standing your ground and speaking your mind despite the obvious agenda of the IDIOTIC mainstream puppet of power. Will Mizz Armstrong ever ask the masters of war in an interview if their killing of citizens in far away places and doing catastrophic damage to their countries suggests a penchant for "riots". Not at all. This is the cold, despicable, self-serving nature of the beast.

Kobo Town's song "Blood and Fire" is coming to mind more often recently:

BLOOD AND FIRE
Kobo Town

The year was 1999 A.D.
all the people were kicking up a scene
in the countryside and in the city
tired of tyranny
so they marching in the cold, in the rain, in the heat
in the plaza, in the hall, in the square, in the street
breaking down the walls, unafraid of defeat
unafraid of the powers that be
‘Cause the powers that be never cared
the powers that be never shared
when hunger marched, drought parched the land
wealth and power never lent a hand
so with nowhere to turn, people riot and burn
street clash, broke glass, order overturned
people wonder when it will stop
you could only push the people so far…

From Gaza to Jaffna, [blood and fire]
Soweto to Rio, [blood and fire]
La Paz to Chiapas, [blood and fire]
Karachi to Dili, blood, blood, blood and fire

What must fall to be free? Blood and fire.
What must fall to be free?
What must fall to be free? Blood and fire.

Independent a half century
but people still living in misery
ten thousand strong humanity
marches on the city
where they calling out for bread, out for gas, out for heat
out for water, shelter, opportunity
in front of reporters, riot police
they state their demands defiantly
soon the tear gas filling up the air
rubber bullets bouncing everywhere
the crowd is told to disperse or expect the worst
if they don't clear out and disappear
so ignored and abused, nothing left to lose
people run up and down, frightened and confused
people wonder when it will stop
you could only push the people so far…

From Gaza to Jaffna, [blood and fire]
Soweto to Rio, [blood and fire]
La Paz to Chiapas, [blood and fire]
Karachi to Dili, blood, blood, blood and fire

What must fall to be free? Blood and fire.
What must fall to be free?
What must fall to be free? Blood and fire.

Look where the newspapers put all the blame
what a shame, where the newspapers put all the blame
they call it an unruly mob, criminal element
no face, no story, no name
but desperation is the order of the day
the neighbourhood erupts in the fray
some stand and fight -------------
some run and some choose to stay.

Blood and fire in Sarajevo [blood and fire]
Blood and fire in Soweto [blood and fire]
Blood and fire in Freetown, Georgetown, [blood and fire]
Managua, Jakarta blood, blood, blood, blood and fire all around
in the country, in the town
Blood and fire will fall around
All around in the country, in the town
Blood and fire, it will fall all around.

What must fall to be free?
Blood and fire must fall to be free.
What must fall to be free? Blood and fire!

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

T&T Diaspora - Bridgeport, CT, USA

Trinidad and Tobago Association: Sharing a culture of tolerance and harmony.
Written by Karen Kovacs Dydzuhn
The Bridgeport News.com | Wednesday, 03 August 2011 11:02

[Top left, Michael Gittens, Sharon Brown-Stewart, Michael Capasso, Gita Capasso; and bottom left, Cornelius Medas and Denis Granado, gather at Seaside Park, where they hold the Trinidad and Tobago national flag. (Photo by Ria Ari)]

"Tucked away in the Caribbean, just 15 miles from South America, sits Trinidad and Tobago, small islands whose beaches, culture and annual Carnival attract visitors from around the world.

Until recently, immigrants from these two countries didn’t realize how many of their fellow countrymen lived in Fairfield County, particularly in Bridgeport and Stratford.

“There’s a whole lot of people living here in Bridgeport alone, but no one knows each other,” said Michael Gittens, who hails from the islands.

Gittens said that he and a group of close friends often discussed hosting a party for Trinidadian and Tobagonians, but no one actually did anything about it until last summer.

After spearheading last August’s “Days in the Park” outdoor party at Seaside Park, Gittens said he was surprised to learn that Trinidadians often lived in the same neighborhoods without knowing one another.

The successful beach party drew 200 people and served as the inspiration for founding the Trinidad-Tobego Association, a group that endeavors to share awareness about its tropical homeland with the community.

The second “Days in the Park” event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Gita Capasso emigrated from Trinidad to Stratford in 2001. She said her husband, Mike, whom she met in the United States shortly after she moved her, saw a flyer for last year’s party.

The couple, their three grown children and friends had a great time consuming traditional luncheon fare, listening to calypso music and meeting new friends. “It was very relaxing,” Capasso said.

This year, Capasso said the association invite the entire community to attend.

“You do not have to be from Trinidad or Tobago,” she said. “We want to share our culture with people. I think it will be a lot of fun.”

Traditional food will be served, along with snow cones and popcorn, all available for purchase. Proceeds will be used to support a college scholarship for a Bridgeport student.

Entertainment includes live Calypso singers, steel pan music, Tassa music, and chutney music. For the children, face painting, arts and crafts projects and kite making will be available.

Cadet Roach is the steel drum band set to perform. A popular Trinidadian game, marble pitching, will also take place. Members of the Bridgeport Fire Department will be on hand to offer safety tips.

“It’s a huge undertaking because we’re still such a small group, but we wanted to do something for the community,” Capasso said. “The idea is to create some awareness about the islands in this part of the world.”

She explained that she left last year’s event feeling like she wanted to continue to meet with Gittens and help him organize a more formal gathering for this year. Like Gittens, she felt like “something was missing.”

Gittens said that people hailing from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago often participate in festivals and parades sponsored by other Caribbean countries because — until now — they didn’t have one that they could call their own.

The closest in feel to the Carnival that takes place annually in Trinidad and Tobago occurs on Labor Day Weekend in Brooklyn.

Gittens said that people often mistake him for being Jamaican, African American or Haitian. “People don’t even know where Trinidad and Tobago are located,” he said.

Denis Granado, formerly of Trinidad, describes 116-square foot Tobago as “paradise” and said it is even smaller than Connecticut.

With its French, West African, Indian, Creole and European influences, Granado describes the countries as the “original melting pot.”

Granado said that 45% of its population is African, 45% is East Indian and the remaining 10% of the people descend from Asian, Lebanese, Syrian and European countries.

The three members of the association said that although the country was ethnically diverse, its inhabitants are tolerant of each other’s differences and live in harmony despite those differences.

Gittens said Trinidadians and Tobagonians truly live out their country’s motto of “Many Faces, One People.”

“Everyone adopts the holidays and traditions of their neighbors,” Capasso said.

In forming the association, the group hopes to encourage that kind of unity in their respective American communities.

“We are used to coming together as a people,” Capasso said.

The founders of the Trinidad and Tobago Association hope that people “young and old, big and small” come out to experience a taste of their beloved country.

“We thank the mayor of Bridgeport and his team for helping to make this happen,” Capasso said. “We’re excited to relax, listen to music and have some good, clean fun.”

For more information, e-mail [email protected] or twitter @ttassocofbpt2 or call 203-257-7006. The Trinidad and Tobago Association is also on Facebook." SOURCE

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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Alado Yeh [Song]

Uploaded by ListenForLife1
ALADO YEH
Performed by Val Serrant
By Lord Nelson

Being unfamiliar with the words of the chants, I transcribed them as I heard them. If you know the words, please consider sharing them with us: [email protected]

Alado ani walo alado shango alo
Alado ani walo alado

Alado yeh, alado yeh, alado yeh ayaba shango wori loye
Alado yeh, alado yeh, alado yeh ayaba shango wori loye

I see my spirit travelling though space and time
When a voice command me, he say, "Seek and ye shall find."
Beauty all around me, pretty water for miles and miles
Then the voice inform me, "This is the river Nile.
And this land is sacred, seen by very few.
Your foreparents' knowledge now I pass on to you
I am the Orisha so sacred to the Yoruba
Use these words to call me where you are whether near or far."

Just say...

Alado yeh, alado yeh oh, alado yeh ayaba shango wori loye
Alado yeh, alado yeh, alado yeh ayaba shango wori loye.

Now my spirit floating, drifting like a cloud
Hearing voices calling, I look down and see a crowd
Drumming and they chanting in a different tongue
Music so enchanting, I had to go down
Watching what they doing, trying to understand
It was so amazing since I came from another land
The high priest approach, hold and shake my hand
"Welcome home, my son, welcome to shango land."

Shango is my culture, Yoruba my tongue
My god Oludomare, Orisha, Oshun and Ogun
My calabash, my obi, my candle and my oil
This is what they hand me and say, "Son go home now and toil."
You may laugh and shun me and treat me with scorn
But I know who go help me since I was reborn
So when you hear I chanting and knocking my drum
All who say they mocking, just wait til my power come... ey

Alado yeh, alado yeh oh, alado yeh ayaba shango wori loye
Shango baba wa, shango baba wa, shango baba wa, shango baba wa.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Val Serrant and Lord Nelson! This song has a special significance for me and I am grateful for Val Serrant's rendition.

"And this land is sacred, seen by very few.
Your foreparents' knowledge now I pass on to you
I am the Orisha so sacred to the Yoruba
Use these words to call me where you are, whether near or far."

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare