and they're OFF!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen!
The countdown to when the General Election would be announced is over... Now it's just the small matter of a whole month of wall-to-wall coverage of every minutiae to do with the Thursday 6th May event.

Sky and BBC had 'Breaking News' from before 9am until after 4pm saying the election was being announced. We saw coverage of a helicopter taking pictures of another helicopter because the Queen was travelling back from Windsor.
Yes...if there's a tenuous link, you going to hear about it..

I myself have been waiting for and been rewarded with footage the BNP would love. People of colour complaining about "them immigants" [sic]. People who would deny to others the rights afforded to them and their parents.

No it's not quite an Obama moment, but it is democracy in action... It's going to be a lovely election, and despite my whinging, I now I'll, as ever, be up all night watching it...

Toronto's First Africentric School to open...

An 'Africentric' school is to open in Toronto; designed to fill a perceived gap in educational provision. It's backers hope it will combat high drop-out rates among Black children, with resources much more aligned to what they would be interested in or relevant to their lives.

I'm not sure I get the point of this... It appears that the parents interviewed think the school will fill the historical void that they should be providing in the home themselves. I send my son to school to learn the fundamental skills to provide and educational foundation he'll need in a 21st Century Western society; the rest I provide at home. Abdicating parental responsibility for a fundamental area like this is, to be frank, lazy...

Schools should teach the facts behind the enslavement of my ancestors and the murderous middle passage; however this should not denude the responsibility that parents have themselves to teach the next generation of what has happened, the lessons learned, and how this should not affect their aspirations for the future.

Unless this also addresses factors such as stopping high instances of teen pregnancy, removing the culture of low aspiration and moving our youth away from stereotyped careers of sport, music and other entertainment, then it it won't address those factors that we, as a group, can address ourselves...

De-Africanised World Cup 2010

Interesting article that highlights some of the fears I had for this tournament. The world have waited an age for this even to be the show case of all that, not just South Africa, but the entire continent had to offer.

Now we can see, like in many other examples, Western cultural imperialism has taken over to such an extent, that the opening ceremony will simply be a host of western music, and if we're really, really lucky, we might get to see a Black man with a drum and a spear at some point in the proceedings.

What's the point of hosting the thing, bankrupting your nation, if at the end of it, you won't be paying more than lip service to what continues to be the cradle of humanity.

This is a golden opportunity to demonstrate that Africa, unlike what the prevalent coverage, is much more than starvation, war, despots and corruption.

This is where we in the Diaspora can make our voices heard to supplement the protests in South Africa itself, and perhaps shame the organisers into doing the right thing...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/28/world-cup-south-africa-musicians-opening-ceremony-protests

Yes....I've been rubbish...again!

Once again I've been lazy.. letting life get in the way of spreading my two pennuth throughout the blogosphere.

I've let Obama go by, elections, earthquakes and wars go by... Time to talk about what is happening and will be happening!

Olympic Handover to London 2012. A Celebration of...Hip Hop??!

Picture the scene: It's a warm afternoon in Beijing on August 24th 2008. The Olympic Games are being wound down in the closing ceremony. As with every one of the previous Games, the present hosts hand over to the next hosts, this time it'll be for London 2012.

With the eyes of the watching world, and in their infinite wisdom, the PC-obsessed organisers of London 2012 feel that a troop of Street Dancers best represent all that is good and progressive about Europe's biggest city.

Yes, a load of American-influenced youths best represents all that there is about our Capital. A bunch of stereotype wannabes are to represent me.

No thanks...

As talented as some of these kids are, I can't help but yawn profusely when I see or hear the phrase "Street Culture". From my standpoint, there is nothing positive whatsoever that comes from it. It's anti-intellectual, aggressive, misogynistic, materialistic and quite stale to be frank.

I for one will be asking our new Mayor, Boris Johnson to rekindle his disdain for this kind of thing, and kick this whole proposal to the kerb. Surely we can do better than this...

Palpable Nonsense #1

If proof were needed that the United Kingdom is now home to red-tape and idiocy, we can see it in this story. Here were have Learco Chindamo, whom notoriously murdered a school Headteacher in 1995, using the odious Human Rights Act as a get-out from being deported.

What annoys me is that fact that time and time again, this Act is being used by Terrorists, Criminals and generally those for whom it was never meant to serve. People who wish to harm us and others use the act because they fear for their safety. More guilty are those, like Nigel Leskin, who represent these people. They actively seek to release people like Chindamo back into society...

The Government say they will vigorously appeal against this ruling, but I am certain it will be a waste of time. he will stay in the UK, and that will be that.

Dumb Brother...

Oh lawdy... What is with Brian Belo? This gentleman has been educated in the fourth (moving to fifth soon) richest country on the planet.

However, for some reason feels that having that dream combination of relaxed hair avec blue colour contacts looks the business.

(shakes head) Sorry pal...

I'm not even going down the road of how he conducts himself...at least not today. Have a look-see for yourself and make up your own mind...

"of [insert ancestory here] decent...."

I have no problem with the two 16-year olds (one of them, left) being put on trial in Ghana of charges of possesion and cocaine trafficking. At worst they were knowing smugglers hoping to make a quick buck; at best they were just stupid. Nevertheless, they need to see some serious time inside as a deterrant to others.

No. My problem is that the BBC, like many media outlets since 7/7 made the casual observation that:

"Yasemin is the daughter of immigrants from Cyprus, while Yatunde is of Nigerian descent. Both are UK citizens."

So... in other words, they're like me. Born here. Parents not born here. Therefore....what? not quite totally British? What are they saying?

Oh...they're not white.

What is the relevance of that sentence in that article. I'll tell you what it is...it's a punctuation; a clear marker that is designed to separate those girls, me and approximately 29% of the London populace, 8.67% from the rest of the 'host' UK population.

It the same as when at the end of a news report of a murder ends with "Operation Trident are investigating". That's non-subtle code for black-on-black murder. Therefore no need to worry Daily mail readership, as it's just 'those lot' killing one another.

I'm not one to play the race card; too many in my community often do this to their own detriment. However, this is one area that continues to irk me.

I have to ask the question: at which point will I ever be recognised as truly British, or will that pigeon-hole forever be there?

Cartoon Protestors Gaoled...

So...the Cartoon Protesters are going down, AND getting serious sentences, I have to be honest and say I was pleased when the news.

Freedom of speech is one of the most important factors in what makes us a democracy, but there responsibilities that have to be observed when exercising that right. Inciting death, murder and violence under the guise of protest is just wrong. In this instance, there was the irony of people objecting to images of the Prophet being depicted as a terrorist calling for violence to be meted out on the cartoonists, other nations and it's citizens.

Yes, freedom has it's limits...

Not only was it doing a disservice to their community, but it was perpetuation the exact stereotype some have of the fringe elements whom follow that religion.

In terms of the PR war, the Muslim community have much to do to gain the upper hand. One could argue that because the majority are not of the fanatical leaning, then they should not need to do this.

In November 2005, al-Qaeda killed 57 at a wedding in a hotel in Jordan. A few days later 100,000 Jordanians took to the streets to protest against this atrocity. This led to the unprecedented spectacle of the al-Qaeda leadership having to defend they actions; They went too far and had lost all sympathy of the general populace in Jordan.

Such a tactic would be very powerful if repeated here, and would remove that impression that many in the Muslim community have, that the British people generally see them as not being vocal on this matter. A "Muslims Against Terror" protest would be a powerful symbol.

However, this does not mean that people should abdicate they duty to not promote hatred; to this end, the right sentences were passed today.

Yes... I've been rubbish!

Not that I have the biggest following....yet, but I've been somewhat absent for the last several months.

Where have I been?

• Enjoying being a father to a wonderful son;
• Watching Tony B.Liar leave Downing Street
• Cringing at seeing Gordon Brown trying to learn how to smile;
• Despairing at the daily carnage in Iraq;
• Still disliking Judy Sarpong's varied comedy weaves;
  
• Promising that I'd be updating this blog.

Enough procrastinating... let's get to it...

Bonkers Blair

I had the misfortune to sit through Tony B.Liar's speech in Los Angeles last night. I was surprised to learn that the War in Iraq wasn't about Weapons of Mass Destruction, or Regime Change...

No, the war in Iraq was in fact about values.

It was about spreading democratic values to negate Muslim extremism...

The man makes me laugh. he changes his principles with the wind, and listening to him last night made me and others realise how truly out of touch he is with the electorate in the UK. Yes, we elected him, but to ride roughshod overall and sundry shows what an opportunist he has become. Whenever he now visits the US, we can all see that he is laying the ground for what will be the most lucrative speaking circuit of all time.
This man has gone from being even handed in the Israel/Palestine question. he's moved from a position prior to being PM of saying that Israel should move back to pre-1967 borders (as per various UN resolutions) to one where the Tel Aviv government are given free rein to perform a land-grab at will. He is an audience sycophant of the highest-order. A chameleon if you will...
Don't get me wrong. B.Liar is one of the finest political orators ever seen. Sometimes, when he speaks on other topics, I find my position shifting to his viewpoint. Not this time. he has allied himself so closely to Bush that he has given himself little room for manoeuvre. He now sees the World in the simplistic Black and White of Redneck George.
"Yer either wid us or ag-ainst uzz" No it's more complicated than that.
I abhor what Hezbollah stand for and what they're doing. But for Israel to be given carte blanch to carpet bomb Lebanon, is just wrong. Blair, Olmert and Bush fail to realise that each time we see a dead innocent child, woman or man, it creates more extremism. each time an innocent dies, he makes it harder to find a solution.
I am embarrassed that a LABOUR Prime Minister is remaining silent whilst Israel is committing war crimes, justifying it in defeating terror... He's saying that it's EVERYONE else that's out of step by not seeing things from Israel's perspective. I was pleased though that he didn't go so far as to say that being against Israeli policy makes you anti-Semitic. That would be just wrong. It's like those people in of my ethnicity who shout racism should someone criticise black people for any reason.

THEN, this morning we hear about the previous night B.Liar was hob-nobbing with the walking stereotype misogynistic criminal and sexual deviant, Snoop Dog, or Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr to give him his proper name. I guess B.Liar thought he was getting down with a hero of "Black culture" rather than actually speaking to someone who continues to hold us back from realising our potential...
(...but that's a whole other topic I'll talk about soon...!)

Black Men and Relaxed Hair... Never the twain....

I always said I'd talk about this when I did my blog...

I'm sorry, but Black men who relax their hair... It's just WRONG. I loved the World Cup, not just because Ghana did so well, but also because it showcased a litany of hairstyle howlers.

There appears to be some kind of mental condition that afflict certain footballers of colour that causes them to take leave of their senses. The two most guilty of this crime are Messers Didier Drogba, and Emmanuel Adebayor.

What di rass dem do to dem head ee?

It looks greasy and nasty..... Soul Glow has nothing on these guys. I mean, a black guy in an alice band...please!

What really makes me laugh is this process:

1. These men go into a hair salon;
2. They ask for their hair to be relaxed;
3. Once the process is complete they look in the mirror and give their approval;
4. They PAY THE PROPRIETOR and then...
5. They LEAVE the salon happy...!

Sorry guys... You should get shown the red card.

Career Politicians of Colour....

Being an African British MP is quite often a hiding to nothing. When you're a person of colour AND a member of Parliament, you really have to walk a massive tightrope; who's interests are you really meant to serve and where should your career go? The two are mutually exclusive.

It's a bit like white people who wear dreadlocks, nobody really likes you; many white people think it looks stupid and many black people find it offensive. You're alone on an island of defiance...

Let's take the situation of Mr David Lammy. He inherited the Parliamentary seat that was held by Bernie Grant. Bernie was a firebrand MP in the old tradition, who would be at the forefront of all things left-wing and radical. He was the inverse opposite Margaret (henceforth to be described as Maggie) Thatcher. If there was a shooting, death in custody, changes to immigration policy etc, he, Diane Abbot would be there protesting about the injustice of it. Grant put his constituents first and foremost in all his actions (a few controversies aside).

Lammy's misfortune is that he's in the wrong seat for the type of person he want to be, i.e he want to be a career politician in a seat that has high maintenance constituents, and a cherished deceased black MP. Comparisons are obviously made. This highlight's the problem of true politicking; once you become a career politician, you have to start towing the party line. For his constituents of colour, seeing Lammy defending immigration policy, the War in Eye-raq are unpalatable.
Some people in some discussion groups (Blacknet for example) even have harsh words for him because he had the temerity to break up with the queen of lip-gloss Julie Sarpong, and married a white woman. This is unfair, but unfortunately, it's part of the mind set of a great many people.

Lammy and Grant are chalk and cheese. One being a firebrand campaigner, and the other, quite frankly has been anonymous to the many people who share his ethnicity. Grant sought to shake things up; Lammy seeks to climb the political ladder.

This whole situation highlights the problem of being a racial pioneer. What ARE you allowed to do as far as your community is concerned? How far can you go before those nasty "sell-out" comments come to the fore?

Lammy certainly isn't that. In my opinion, he's a career-minded and positive role-model that our youth should be looking at, not another sportsman, DJ, MC (yawn) or person wanting to follow a clichéd stereotype.