.
It’s been an exciting week, and it’s been good to have the time to watch BBC 24 and CNN non-stop, both during and after the election. Momentous times.
The Guardian yesterday not only had a special Obama supplement but also filled most of the first half of the paper with Obama news and celebrations. There were also several pages of it in G2.
Obama speaks of change, and various commentators have been giving their views on the sorts of change that's needed. I’m interested in the very few that talk about changes to people’s emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and how they might be achieved.
Rebecca Walker in her column raises the issue of tackling what I guess Oliver James would call Affluenza:
"I predict we will instruct our children to strive for mental and spiritual health, in addition to physical health. We will expect them to do more with less, and to understand the finite nature of the world's resources."
It’s interesting that she sees the new Obama period as one for ushering in changes that are beyond the material, the economic, the legal, the political and the social. Mental and spiritual health issues ought to be high on everyone’s agenda, but rarely come into the news pages, as such.
She also makes a good point about Obama being a writer:
"America is at the end of one story, and the beginning of another. We are fortunate Obama is a writer. We need his heart and his pen and his intuitive understanding of narrative to bring us to the other side of the current crisis, having learned to turn tragedy - of which we are sure to see more - into insight, and the decline of a superpower into an educational epic of redemption".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/06/barack-obama-president-election
Meanwhile, in the special Obama supplement, another Walker, Alice, Rebecca’s mum, writes,
"I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters.
A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker
The Guardian seems to have reprinted this from TheRoot.com, where it was published on November 5th as an open letter to Obama, but curiously the Guardian has changed the opening, Dear Brother Obama, to Dear Barack Obama, and has also omitted the final sentence, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” Perhaps the sub-editor didn’t understand it.
http://www.theroot.com/id/48726
There’s another of Alice Walker’s recent articles that’s well worth reading at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/20/uselections2008.barackobama
Check out some of the pig ignorant comments that follow it, too.
-------------------------------------------------------
The key thing about Obama does seem to be that, unlike all his middle and upper class predecessors, he understands the lives, the aspirations and the needs of the vast majority of so-called ordinary people, and he seems determined to run the country for the benefit of ‘ordinary’ people, and not for the better-off, or for the sake of making the USA ever-more powerful and dominant. He sees clearly the correlation between squandering vast amounts of money on global domination and keeping the majority of the population in relative poverty with no access to proper health services and no decent schools for most kids.
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Have just caught up with the Rachel From North London blog, which had an excellent piece on Obama on Monday, 3rd November: “More than a righteous wind”
http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com/
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Going Forward
Damian Grammaticus (crazy name, crazy guy) reporting for the BBC from Beijing said something about what relations between America and China will be like, going forward.
I love this phrase. It instantly marks out its user as a prat. Going forward? How can relations go forward? When was it that people started talking about going forward when they mean in the future?
It’s one thing for dickheads and the general public to use whatever stupid so-called hip expressions they like, but how can professional journalists get away with using dumb expressions like going forward?
“He needs to prove he means what he says, going forward.” So says Emily Prat, reporting from the US. Not going backward, then? Or going sideways? AAAGGGHHH!
.
Showing posts with label emotional health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emotional health. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Layer 62 Expecting the Unexpected; Rhythm and Blues; Cooking and Eating.
.
Life is full of the unexpected. When I got up this morning I never expected to feel a chill in the air, all around the house, like the threat of autumn, like the end of summer, so soon. It was unexpected, and unwelcome.
I never expected to see a three-legged dog tottering past me on the way back from the shop. I never expected to see Steve The Greek propped up in his corner of the shop at such an early hour. I never expected the Guardian to be sold out, all bar one copy, before 10.30am.
I hadn’t expected the weekend to be so full of ups and downs. For the past two years the Gloucester Rhythm & Blues Festival has been nothing but fun and enjoyment, all the way. I certainly hadn’t been expecting to find Gloucester looking and feeling so tatty, so shabby, so desperately dying to have fun and not knowing how to.
It was like the six young women in the over-priced restaurant on Saturday evening, sitting around a table all wearing identical pink sashes and pink rabbit ears, looking faintly ludicrous, desperately wanting to have a good time, but knowing really, in their hearts, that it was impossible in such a place, with its total lack of atmosphere, and mediocre food.
As recently as last year Gloucester had seemed like a reasonably thriving small city, with good crowds of people turning out to enjoy various blues bands and some great musicians and singers in the open air, and in various venues around the place over the course of a weekend.
This year the very hotel I’d stayed in two years ago was closed down, with paint peeling from its walls and windows. A couple of the larger shops had also closed down. Loud, drunken voices echoed around the otherwise deserted shopping precincts, with their dead, dreary chain stores and their Summer Sale signs. I hadn’t been expecting any of that.
On the other hand, I hadn’t expected to find such a wonderful, perfect place to stay overnight on Saturday as Painswick. In the past, traveling in France and Italy, and also in England, I’ve managed to strike lucky with finding excellent overnight accommodation, even when searching in the early evening time. I thought my luck had run out.
Motoring into the nearby Cotswolds I picked at random from the road atlas a large village called Painswick, which I’ve never even heard of, to look around for B & B. My idea of a perfect B & B is a Georgian or Victorian country inn or hotel, set in lovely countryside, where there’s a bar serving excellent cask-conditioned ale, and where there are comfortable, quiet bedrooms.
The Falcon is such an inn. A sign outside said, “Rooms available. Great Rates.” And so there were. Or at least there was one - the very last one. I definitely hadn’t expected to find a place that was not only brilliant but also very cheap. It was heaven sent.
The weather on Saturday had also been unexpectedly sunny and warm. The forecaster had confidently predicted the opposite. Sunday morning was also bathed in wonderful sunshine, and was almost hot, even up there in the Cotswold hills.
Painswick was an unexpected treat, an incredibly beautiful Cotswold stone village, with every street full of lovely buildings, hanging baskets, and people. The Anglican church was stunning, set in a unique large churchyard full of 99 beautifully pruned, cut and shaped yew tress, which range in age from 200 to 400 years. There were three different exhibitions by local artists, designers and craftsmen in various parts of the village. The place was unbelievable, and a photographer’s paradise.
The blurb in the brochure about the village gives a flavour.
Painswick is set in the largest Area of Outstanding Natural beauty in the country.
There is a variety of small shops in the village, as well as welcoming hostelries and fine dining. The seeming tranquility off the main route through the village belies the vigour and concerns of the 2,000 or so villagers, and the seventy clubs and societies they sustain. Look closely, and find evidence of a deeply caring community.
.
--------------------------------------------------------------
.
The blues itself was wonderful, as it always is. Though it seemed a pity that the bands didn’t play on the open-air stage, like before. I didn’t expect that. The main venues were too small for the numbers of people who were hoping to be able to see as well as listen to the performers.
Mike Sanchez and the Portions, as ever, were fabulous. I’ve never seen a performer play with such gusto and panache, and such good humour. At the electric piano he does boogie woogie, rock and roll, and a whole range a stuff from Jerry Lee Lewis to Little Richard. It’s a happy man who finds his own voice, and in doing his special thing sees that he’s able to delight and energise crowds of people who love the music as much as he does, and love listening to it live.
He even makes a plea at the end for people to keep on going out to support live music. It’s his lifeblood.
I hadn’t expected people who were near the front of the stage, and therefore not under the large gazebos or inside the building, to keep on dancing and rocking when it started to drizzle, halfway through the Sanchez set.. There were some real characters there, though, who weren’t about to be put off by mere weather. So they got drenched, some of them, and still kept right on rocking and jiving. Long live rock n roll. Love live rhythm & blues.
----------------------------------------------------------------
.
I hadn’t expected to hear some sort of food expert on the radio this morning talking about obesity say, “We don’t really understand the link between poverty and obesity”.
YOU DON’T??? Which fucking planet have you been on?
Have these people never heard of comfort eating and drinking? What’s wrong with them?
Let’s run this past again. Poor people with restricted opportunities to find fulfillment, success, a decent standard of living and contentment in life are more likely to suffer from anxiety, stress and depression and therefore are more likely to self-medicate with fatty and savory food and various sorts of alcohol.
They are less likely to live near a gym or health club, tennis club, golf course, squash courts, swimming pool, etc. They are highly unlikely to have the confidence or means to afford membership of any of these. They are less likely to have friends who might encourage them to take part in these activities.
Their working hours and childcare responsibilities are likely to severely limit their ‘leisure’ time and the time available for looking after their personal fitness and wellbeing. They are therefore far more likely to put on weight, and far more likely to find it difficult to work off the weight once it’s been put on. They therefore find themselves caught up in a vicious circle and a downward spiral towards even higher levels of negative self-image, depression, anxiety, lethargy, inactivity and obesity.
Is this fucking rocket science, or what?
Do they go walking on Dartmoor or the Pennines or along the coast? No. Do they go cycling in the countryside, or in Normandy and Brittany, like some of my friends? No. Can they even afford a decent bike, or have anywhere to keep one, where it‘s not taking up living space and won‘t get stolen? No. Do they have a vehicle with a roof rack or a strap-on device for the boot or tailgate on which to transport bikes to their healthy holidays? NO! Can they afford healthy holidays? NO! NO! Do they feel depressed about that? Fucking hell YES! DRINK UP! Have another slice of pizza! Have another kebab! Have some more chips!
And yes, there are individuals on low incomes who somehow pull and push themselves back on track, join local authority gyms and go to local authority swimming pools, and regain decent levels of fitness and wellbeing. But MOST people cannot, will not and do not. End of.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
It make me angry to hear experts declaring, with regard to people’s confidence to cook and prepare decent healthy meals, “Nobody teaches kids the basics.” Even though food is an essential part of everyone’s culture, as are mealtimes. Of course we fucking don’t. We don’t have time do we? It’s not a priority is it? We’re too busy cramming kids for academic tests and we don't have either the time or the intention to interest them in being able to make soup or a proper simple bolognaise sauce or even being able to cook a piece of chicken.
So no wonder kids go through the entire school system without learning a thing about food or cooking, without the confidence or interest to experiment and invent and be creative, and so finally they become people who resort to eating the mush you get in cans and packets and ‘ready meals’. Expensive mush, at that. As are all the ‘fast food’ takeaway 'meals' that people spend small fortunes on - the ‘kentucks’ and ‘big macs’ and ‘chop sueys’ and ‘spare ribs’ and doners and pies and chips and pizzas. So no wonder they get poorer, and more lethargic, and poorer, and fatter, and more depressed . . .
Life is full of the unexpected. When I got up this morning I never expected to feel a chill in the air, all around the house, like the threat of autumn, like the end of summer, so soon. It was unexpected, and unwelcome.
I never expected to see a three-legged dog tottering past me on the way back from the shop. I never expected to see Steve The Greek propped up in his corner of the shop at such an early hour. I never expected the Guardian to be sold out, all bar one copy, before 10.30am.
I hadn’t expected the weekend to be so full of ups and downs. For the past two years the Gloucester Rhythm & Blues Festival has been nothing but fun and enjoyment, all the way. I certainly hadn’t been expecting to find Gloucester looking and feeling so tatty, so shabby, so desperately dying to have fun and not knowing how to.
It was like the six young women in the over-priced restaurant on Saturday evening, sitting around a table all wearing identical pink sashes and pink rabbit ears, looking faintly ludicrous, desperately wanting to have a good time, but knowing really, in their hearts, that it was impossible in such a place, with its total lack of atmosphere, and mediocre food.
As recently as last year Gloucester had seemed like a reasonably thriving small city, with good crowds of people turning out to enjoy various blues bands and some great musicians and singers in the open air, and in various venues around the place over the course of a weekend.
This year the very hotel I’d stayed in two years ago was closed down, with paint peeling from its walls and windows. A couple of the larger shops had also closed down. Loud, drunken voices echoed around the otherwise deserted shopping precincts, with their dead, dreary chain stores and their Summer Sale signs. I hadn’t been expecting any of that.
On the other hand, I hadn’t expected to find such a wonderful, perfect place to stay overnight on Saturday as Painswick. In the past, traveling in France and Italy, and also in England, I’ve managed to strike lucky with finding excellent overnight accommodation, even when searching in the early evening time. I thought my luck had run out.
Motoring into the nearby Cotswolds I picked at random from the road atlas a large village called Painswick, which I’ve never even heard of, to look around for B & B. My idea of a perfect B & B is a Georgian or Victorian country inn or hotel, set in lovely countryside, where there’s a bar serving excellent cask-conditioned ale, and where there are comfortable, quiet bedrooms.
The Falcon is such an inn. A sign outside said, “Rooms available. Great Rates.” And so there were. Or at least there was one - the very last one. I definitely hadn’t expected to find a place that was not only brilliant but also very cheap. It was heaven sent.
The weather on Saturday had also been unexpectedly sunny and warm. The forecaster had confidently predicted the opposite. Sunday morning was also bathed in wonderful sunshine, and was almost hot, even up there in the Cotswold hills.
Painswick was an unexpected treat, an incredibly beautiful Cotswold stone village, with every street full of lovely buildings, hanging baskets, and people. The Anglican church was stunning, set in a unique large churchyard full of 99 beautifully pruned, cut and shaped yew tress, which range in age from 200 to 400 years. There were three different exhibitions by local artists, designers and craftsmen in various parts of the village. The place was unbelievable, and a photographer’s paradise.
The blurb in the brochure about the village gives a flavour.
Painswick is set in the largest Area of Outstanding Natural beauty in the country.
There is a variety of small shops in the village, as well as welcoming hostelries and fine dining. The seeming tranquility off the main route through the village belies the vigour and concerns of the 2,000 or so villagers, and the seventy clubs and societies they sustain. Look closely, and find evidence of a deeply caring community.
.
--------------------------------------------------------------
.
The blues itself was wonderful, as it always is. Though it seemed a pity that the bands didn’t play on the open-air stage, like before. I didn’t expect that. The main venues were too small for the numbers of people who were hoping to be able to see as well as listen to the performers.
Mike Sanchez and the Portions, as ever, were fabulous. I’ve never seen a performer play with such gusto and panache, and such good humour. At the electric piano he does boogie woogie, rock and roll, and a whole range a stuff from Jerry Lee Lewis to Little Richard. It’s a happy man who finds his own voice, and in doing his special thing sees that he’s able to delight and energise crowds of people who love the music as much as he does, and love listening to it live.
He even makes a plea at the end for people to keep on going out to support live music. It’s his lifeblood.
I hadn’t expected people who were near the front of the stage, and therefore not under the large gazebos or inside the building, to keep on dancing and rocking when it started to drizzle, halfway through the Sanchez set.. There were some real characters there, though, who weren’t about to be put off by mere weather. So they got drenched, some of them, and still kept right on rocking and jiving. Long live rock n roll. Love live rhythm & blues.
----------------------------------------------------------------
.
I hadn’t expected to hear some sort of food expert on the radio this morning talking about obesity say, “We don’t really understand the link between poverty and obesity”.
YOU DON’T??? Which fucking planet have you been on?
Have these people never heard of comfort eating and drinking? What’s wrong with them?
Let’s run this past again. Poor people with restricted opportunities to find fulfillment, success, a decent standard of living and contentment in life are more likely to suffer from anxiety, stress and depression and therefore are more likely to self-medicate with fatty and savory food and various sorts of alcohol.
They are less likely to live near a gym or health club, tennis club, golf course, squash courts, swimming pool, etc. They are highly unlikely to have the confidence or means to afford membership of any of these. They are less likely to have friends who might encourage them to take part in these activities.
Their working hours and childcare responsibilities are likely to severely limit their ‘leisure’ time and the time available for looking after their personal fitness and wellbeing. They are therefore far more likely to put on weight, and far more likely to find it difficult to work off the weight once it’s been put on. They therefore find themselves caught up in a vicious circle and a downward spiral towards even higher levels of negative self-image, depression, anxiety, lethargy, inactivity and obesity.
Is this fucking rocket science, or what?
Do they go walking on Dartmoor or the Pennines or along the coast? No. Do they go cycling in the countryside, or in Normandy and Brittany, like some of my friends? No. Can they even afford a decent bike, or have anywhere to keep one, where it‘s not taking up living space and won‘t get stolen? No. Do they have a vehicle with a roof rack or a strap-on device for the boot or tailgate on which to transport bikes to their healthy holidays? NO! Can they afford healthy holidays? NO! NO! Do they feel depressed about that? Fucking hell YES! DRINK UP! Have another slice of pizza! Have another kebab! Have some more chips!
And yes, there are individuals on low incomes who somehow pull and push themselves back on track, join local authority gyms and go to local authority swimming pools, and regain decent levels of fitness and wellbeing. But MOST people cannot, will not and do not. End of.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
It make me angry to hear experts declaring, with regard to people’s confidence to cook and prepare decent healthy meals, “Nobody teaches kids the basics.” Even though food is an essential part of everyone’s culture, as are mealtimes. Of course we fucking don’t. We don’t have time do we? It’s not a priority is it? We’re too busy cramming kids for academic tests and we don't have either the time or the intention to interest them in being able to make soup or a proper simple bolognaise sauce or even being able to cook a piece of chicken.
So no wonder kids go through the entire school system without learning a thing about food or cooking, without the confidence or interest to experiment and invent and be creative, and so finally they become people who resort to eating the mush you get in cans and packets and ‘ready meals’. Expensive mush, at that. As are all the ‘fast food’ takeaway 'meals' that people spend small fortunes on - the ‘kentucks’ and ‘big macs’ and ‘chop sueys’ and ‘spare ribs’ and doners and pies and chips and pizzas. So no wonder they get poorer, and more lethargic, and poorer, and fatter, and more depressed . . .
Friday, May 16, 2008
Layer 38 License To Kill
.
Bob Dylan - Infidels
License To Kill
Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will.
Oh, man has invented his doom,
First step was touching the moon.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
Then they bury him with stars,
Sell his body like they do used cars.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there facin' the hill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.
All he believes are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.
But there's a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker,
Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned.
May be an actor in a plot,
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.
Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled.
Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Violence 1
Do soldiers have a license to kill?
“Waltz With Bashir” is “a daring new animated documentary that follows Israeli director Ari Folman as he tries to piece together memories of the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps“.
It’s in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Folman was on the radio this morning explaining how he intends to do everything he can to persuade his sons never to take part in any violence whatsoever, regardless of any demands that the State or the Army may make of them. He wants his work to persuade everyone that violence can never be a solution to conflict.
“Folman was a soldier in the Israeli army when it invaded Lebanon earlier that year. It allowed Christian militiamen into the refugee camps and stood by as they went on a killing spree shortly after the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel.”
Well there’s still hope for the Middle East, and for the world, when artists like Folman are able to release powerful films that highlight State and military atrocities, and make the case for shunning violent solutions to problems in all circumstances.
Violence 2
Bob sings, “Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.”
(License To Kill)
Well this now clearly includes girls and women, as we know it always has, though maybe to a smaller degree.
This week we’ve been hearing news reports that more and more girls are behaving aggressively and violently, and being generally anti-social. Factors are assumed to be alcohol, our ‘pushy, acquisitive age‘, an ‘economy driven by competition’, and an attitude that’s usually described as ‘laddish’, which presumably means being loud, crude, cocky, rude, insensitive, threatening, gangsterish, binge-drinking, insulting, bragging, attention-seeking, inconsiderate, lacking self-control, over-sexed and generally disgusting.
Clearly what we’re dealing with here are girls who completely lack emotional, social and spiritual intelligence, and we need to ask ourselves why. It’s not hard to see that there are issues about role models, cultural influences, values, greed, sensation-seeking, etc.
And still our education system does nothing to provide for the real developmental needs of these young people, which are to do with substantial amounts of time to consider themselves and others objectively, philosophically and psychologically; to learn something about desirable human values; to learn techniques of self-restraint and self-control; to learn how to relate in positive ways to others, including those outside of the immediate peer group, etc.
None of the above work and learning is really happening, and where it is timetabled in schools it isn’t done well, and it generally isn’t taken seriously, either by the kids or the teachers, and especially the kids who are most in need of it. Neither are schools offering one to one and small group counseling sessions, or opportunities to explore kids’ levels and aspects of EQ and SQ with sympathetic adults. It’s not in the National Curriculum, you see. Kids often have to actually get themselves permanently excluded from mainstream schools before they can access some of the good things and the good teachers that may be on offer in Special Schools. How mad is that?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/16/ukcrime.gender
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/15/ukcrime.youthjustice1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s another stanza of Bob’s to think about, from another track from Infidels, a track called “I and I”.
Took an untrodden path once, where the swift don't win the race,
It goes to the worthy, who can divine the word of truth.
Took a stranger to teach me, to look into justice's beautiful face
And to see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Note the words “worthy”, “truth”, and “divine” - which are favourite words of mine.
As in
“And think not that you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.”
It’s always good to re-read “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran from time to time.
http://leb.net/gibran/works/prophet/prophet.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5484/Gibran.htm
Collins defines “divine” as:
“To perceive or understand (something) by intuition or insight” (spiritual intelligence) and
“To discern (a hidden or future reality) as though by supernatural power”.
The whole notion of hidden realities I find very interesting. This is fertile territory for reflection and meditation. As is the whole realm of the spiritual, the metaphysical, the supernatural, if you like. This is indeed the realm of intuition and insight. Looking within, not without.
We must train ourselves to let insight pierce and illuminate the dark areas, where logic, reason and the senses cannot penetrate, since our knowledge is always so limited and so open to interpretation, since our senses often fail to make sense of what’s around us, since reason is often based on false premises.
We need these things on the school curriculum.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another song to check out on Infidels is “Man Of Peace”.
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/peace.html
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/license.html
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/iandi.html
.
Bob Dylan - Infidels
License To Kill
Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will.
Oh, man has invented his doom,
First step was touching the moon.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
Then they bury him with stars,
Sell his body like they do used cars.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there facin' the hill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.
All he believes are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.
But there's a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker,
Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned.
May be an actor in a plot,
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.
Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled.
Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.
Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?
Violence 1
Do soldiers have a license to kill?
“Waltz With Bashir” is “a daring new animated documentary that follows Israeli director Ari Folman as he tries to piece together memories of the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps“.
It’s in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Folman was on the radio this morning explaining how he intends to do everything he can to persuade his sons never to take part in any violence whatsoever, regardless of any demands that the State or the Army may make of them. He wants his work to persuade everyone that violence can never be a solution to conflict.
“Folman was a soldier in the Israeli army when it invaded Lebanon earlier that year. It allowed Christian militiamen into the refugee camps and stood by as they went on a killing spree shortly after the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel.”
Well there’s still hope for the Middle East, and for the world, when artists like Folman are able to release powerful films that highlight State and military atrocities, and make the case for shunning violent solutions to problems in all circumstances.
Violence 2
Bob sings, “Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.”
(License To Kill)
Well this now clearly includes girls and women, as we know it always has, though maybe to a smaller degree.
This week we’ve been hearing news reports that more and more girls are behaving aggressively and violently, and being generally anti-social. Factors are assumed to be alcohol, our ‘pushy, acquisitive age‘, an ‘economy driven by competition’, and an attitude that’s usually described as ‘laddish’, which presumably means being loud, crude, cocky, rude, insensitive, threatening, gangsterish, binge-drinking, insulting, bragging, attention-seeking, inconsiderate, lacking self-control, over-sexed and generally disgusting.
Clearly what we’re dealing with here are girls who completely lack emotional, social and spiritual intelligence, and we need to ask ourselves why. It’s not hard to see that there are issues about role models, cultural influences, values, greed, sensation-seeking, etc.
And still our education system does nothing to provide for the real developmental needs of these young people, which are to do with substantial amounts of time to consider themselves and others objectively, philosophically and psychologically; to learn something about desirable human values; to learn techniques of self-restraint and self-control; to learn how to relate in positive ways to others, including those outside of the immediate peer group, etc.
None of the above work and learning is really happening, and where it is timetabled in schools it isn’t done well, and it generally isn’t taken seriously, either by the kids or the teachers, and especially the kids who are most in need of it. Neither are schools offering one to one and small group counseling sessions, or opportunities to explore kids’ levels and aspects of EQ and SQ with sympathetic adults. It’s not in the National Curriculum, you see. Kids often have to actually get themselves permanently excluded from mainstream schools before they can access some of the good things and the good teachers that may be on offer in Special Schools. How mad is that?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/16/ukcrime.gender
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/15/ukcrime.youthjustice1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s another stanza of Bob’s to think about, from another track from Infidels, a track called “I and I”.
Took an untrodden path once, where the swift don't win the race,
It goes to the worthy, who can divine the word of truth.
Took a stranger to teach me, to look into justice's beautiful face
And to see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Note the words “worthy”, “truth”, and “divine” - which are favourite words of mine.
As in
“And think not that you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.”
It’s always good to re-read “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran from time to time.
http://leb.net/gibran/works/prophet/prophet.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5484/Gibran.htm
Collins defines “divine” as:
“To perceive or understand (something) by intuition or insight” (spiritual intelligence) and
“To discern (a hidden or future reality) as though by supernatural power”.
The whole notion of hidden realities I find very interesting. This is fertile territory for reflection and meditation. As is the whole realm of the spiritual, the metaphysical, the supernatural, if you like. This is indeed the realm of intuition and insight. Looking within, not without.
We must train ourselves to let insight pierce and illuminate the dark areas, where logic, reason and the senses cannot penetrate, since our knowledge is always so limited and so open to interpretation, since our senses often fail to make sense of what’s around us, since reason is often based on false premises.
We need these things on the school curriculum.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another song to check out on Infidels is “Man Of Peace”.
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/peace.html
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/license.html
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/iandi.html
.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Layer 36 Man in a Long Black Coat
.
For all its cares and woes, life is still full of awe and wonder. For instance, music continues to amaze me. Whenever I hear some brilliant new music, especially when it’s by a genius like Bob Dylan, I’m transported to new peaks of pleasure and enjoyment, and something like spiritual bliss.
This morning I saw Macca, of all people, being interviewed on an Open University programme and talking about how for him music was always about discovery, and how much he’s always enjoyed discovering news things when he sits at a piano - new sounds, new chords, new melodies, whatever.
He’s 60+ and still has a childlike joy in discovery and invention. What a pity that our children for the most part do not - especially those who need it the most in order to bring joy into their lives, but go to school only to face drills, rote learning, tests, and so-called ‘catch-up programmes’, all of which leave no time for voyages of discovery and invention, even if they should be fortunate enough to have teachers who see the need for such things in the first place.
The more I think about what Ashley Walters was talking about on the radio yesterday, the more angry I get. “A lot of our kids are bright, talented, artistic. But they’re not given opportunities to grow and use their talents . . .” And he should know. There’s a guy who had no issues with literacy - he loved books, reading and writing. Yet he was still denied the opportunity to develop as a talented artist by his school, though he was fortunate enough to have a parent who saw the need to arrange special classes for him outside of ‘school’ hours. Most parents do not.
I had two different friends talk to me yesterday about the news regarding the House of Commons Select Committee report on testing in schools, one of whom was talking to me on Skype from Namibia! Good news travels fast, eh?. They both expressed hope and optimism that the report would cause the government to scrap SATs and put in place a more enlightened system.
I’m afraid I dampened their enthusiasm by saying that I can’t bring myself to believe that the current consensus, mind-set, conspiracy, dogma, hegemony, call it what you will, is going to collapse because of a puff of wind from a Select Committee, whose seeking after truth is not valued by the big boys and girls who seek only to perpetuate their own position and power, and pay far more attention to the editorials of the right-wing press and its owners, and can hardly be expected to recant all they’ve been doing and admit they’ve been idiots and have pursued policies that are anti-child and anti-education (as more enlightened people know it).
I also suggested that an incoming Tory administration is also very unlikely to show more enlightenment. Since when has Conservatism been about enlightenment and doing things in the true interests of the working classes and underclasses?
No - the best we can hope for is that in about 10 years time some sort of coalition of the enlightened finally comes to power, though I’m not holding my breath for that either. After all, this is the country that has a history of successful counter-revolutions against any progressive or radical movements that managed to make political headway - be they peasants and Levelers, Roundheads, anti-monarchists, anti-Tory, social democratic, Europhile and Eurocentric, educationalists, etc. We’re not still a monarchy for nothing. We’re not still on the fringes of the European Union for nothing. We don’t have a ‘special relationship’ with the USA for nothing. We’re not a world centre of business and finance for nothing, either.
Frankly our education system has never set out to encourage free-thinking, progressive, radical criticism of the status quo. No-one in government has ever set the education system the task of producing emotionally literate, creative and enlightened thinkers who will challenge the status quo and drag the country into an era of social justice, peace and prosperity for all.
No - what they want is for more kids to get exam passes and prepare themselves for ‘the world of work’, as if passing so-called academic tests actually does that anyway, as any enlightened business person or industrialist well knows - and that is not an oxymoron. Such people do exist.
Our political masters, however, can see no further than the utilitarian view of education - and according to them our schools are there to serve the university system and to regulate who has access to that system, and thereafter access to the professions, and to careers in business, the senior civil service, etc. Gatekeeping - sorting sheep from goats.
Skilling people to become productive units and to earn money is the name of the game, not enabling people to find a voice, to develop creative thinking skills, to see the rat race for what it is. ‘Education, more than wealth or power, is the key to human dignity.’ Wise words. Regrettably our education system isn’t designed to enable young people to discover human dignity, and only provides for the academically able to pursue real wealth and power.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what’s all this to do with a man in a long, black coat?, I hear you ask. As well you might, dear reader. Well yesterday my good friend N came round and turned me on to two Bob Dylan albums that have passed me by over the years - Infidels and Oh Mercy. I apologise to His Bobness for my slackness. I must have had my mind on other things.
It was N who’d managed to get me a ticket to see Bob at Wembley last year. When we were in the Caribbean N had played me Jokerman, the opening track on Infidels, which blew me away with its driving rhythms and lyrical & melodic genius.
Oh Mercy kicks off with ‘Political World’, which rocks and rolls as well as anything has ever done in the history of blues and rock. “We live in a political world / under the microscope / you can travel anywhere / and hang yourself there / you’ve always got more than enough rope.” Indeed we have.
Take a look at the rest of the lyrics: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/political.html
The whole album is a melodic masterpiece, with superb musicianship, incredible writing, great basslines, brilliant harmonica solos, and so on. Dylan sings as well as, if not better than, ever.
And so to The Man with the Long Black Coat. The song begins with chirping crickets, slow, echoing guitars, and suddenly, thirty seconds into it, a tapping foot (one two three, one two three,) and a piercing blast of slow, spine-tingling harmonica blues, followed by and accompanied by a low-slung bass - a single note per bar - dom . ., dom . ., dom . . . It sounds like doom, though it might be liberation. The guitars seem to gently and melodically speak of hope, but the harp wails out notes of heart-breaking sadness. “People don’t live or die / people just float / she went with the man with the long, black coat.”
http://www.bobdylanonline.com/songs/coat.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret Mizen, mother of Steven Mizen, a South London 15 year old who was stabbed to death this week, was quoted on the radio today. “Anger killed my son. There’s too much anger in the world. My prayers are with my son’s killers and their families.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/13/do1302.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1949676/Bakery-murder-Mother-speaks-of-Jimmy-Mizen
The speaker on today‘s ‘Thought For Today’, the Reverend Roy Jenkins, spoke about angry and resentful young (and old) people who awake every day to yet another day of being treated unfairly. He spoke about millions of people who are affected by global hunger and poverty, every day of their lives. He spoke of powerful people who exploit the poor. He spoke of a need for us to engage with ‘creative anger‘.
Such an engagement is what I’d prefer to call creative channeling of one’s passions. Passion for life and for social justice. Passion for creating more joy and more enlightenment. Passion for global brotherhood and sisterhood. First we need to see things as they really are, and see clearly where the solutions might lie, and then we can begin to create a movement for peaceful change throughout our societies and the world at large.
In the words of Ashley Walters (yesterday’s blog), you can’t fight fire with fire. But we can all take a peaceful stand and insist on running the world more justly and fairly. We can all band together and stand up for human values, a more spiritual world, and an education system that will over the long term create more emotionally and spiritually intelligent people and a more enlightened world.
------------------------------------------------------------------
I’d really thought we’d heard the last of the public schoolboy tones of Tone on the radio. I can’t stand hearing Blair speak - on any subject. To hear him talking about Middle East peace is painful indeed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Postscript
Trawling the net for the lyrics to Man In The Long Black Coat I came across a beautifully written San Franciscan blog that includes some excellent pieces on the Hurricane Katrina disaster and on the 40th anniversary of the killing of Martin Luther King. Enjoy them at
http://dontcallmeishmael.blogspot.com/2006/08/man-in-long-black-coat.html
For all its cares and woes, life is still full of awe and wonder. For instance, music continues to amaze me. Whenever I hear some brilliant new music, especially when it’s by a genius like Bob Dylan, I’m transported to new peaks of pleasure and enjoyment, and something like spiritual bliss.
This morning I saw Macca, of all people, being interviewed on an Open University programme and talking about how for him music was always about discovery, and how much he’s always enjoyed discovering news things when he sits at a piano - new sounds, new chords, new melodies, whatever.
He’s 60+ and still has a childlike joy in discovery and invention. What a pity that our children for the most part do not - especially those who need it the most in order to bring joy into their lives, but go to school only to face drills, rote learning, tests, and so-called ‘catch-up programmes’, all of which leave no time for voyages of discovery and invention, even if they should be fortunate enough to have teachers who see the need for such things in the first place.
The more I think about what Ashley Walters was talking about on the radio yesterday, the more angry I get. “A lot of our kids are bright, talented, artistic. But they’re not given opportunities to grow and use their talents . . .” And he should know. There’s a guy who had no issues with literacy - he loved books, reading and writing. Yet he was still denied the opportunity to develop as a talented artist by his school, though he was fortunate enough to have a parent who saw the need to arrange special classes for him outside of ‘school’ hours. Most parents do not.
I had two different friends talk to me yesterday about the news regarding the House of Commons Select Committee report on testing in schools, one of whom was talking to me on Skype from Namibia! Good news travels fast, eh?. They both expressed hope and optimism that the report would cause the government to scrap SATs and put in place a more enlightened system.
I’m afraid I dampened their enthusiasm by saying that I can’t bring myself to believe that the current consensus, mind-set, conspiracy, dogma, hegemony, call it what you will, is going to collapse because of a puff of wind from a Select Committee, whose seeking after truth is not valued by the big boys and girls who seek only to perpetuate their own position and power, and pay far more attention to the editorials of the right-wing press and its owners, and can hardly be expected to recant all they’ve been doing and admit they’ve been idiots and have pursued policies that are anti-child and anti-education (as more enlightened people know it).
I also suggested that an incoming Tory administration is also very unlikely to show more enlightenment. Since when has Conservatism been about enlightenment and doing things in the true interests of the working classes and underclasses?
No - the best we can hope for is that in about 10 years time some sort of coalition of the enlightened finally comes to power, though I’m not holding my breath for that either. After all, this is the country that has a history of successful counter-revolutions against any progressive or radical movements that managed to make political headway - be they peasants and Levelers, Roundheads, anti-monarchists, anti-Tory, social democratic, Europhile and Eurocentric, educationalists, etc. We’re not still a monarchy for nothing. We’re not still on the fringes of the European Union for nothing. We don’t have a ‘special relationship’ with the USA for nothing. We’re not a world centre of business and finance for nothing, either.
Frankly our education system has never set out to encourage free-thinking, progressive, radical criticism of the status quo. No-one in government has ever set the education system the task of producing emotionally literate, creative and enlightened thinkers who will challenge the status quo and drag the country into an era of social justice, peace and prosperity for all.
No - what they want is for more kids to get exam passes and prepare themselves for ‘the world of work’, as if passing so-called academic tests actually does that anyway, as any enlightened business person or industrialist well knows - and that is not an oxymoron. Such people do exist.
Our political masters, however, can see no further than the utilitarian view of education - and according to them our schools are there to serve the university system and to regulate who has access to that system, and thereafter access to the professions, and to careers in business, the senior civil service, etc. Gatekeeping - sorting sheep from goats.
Skilling people to become productive units and to earn money is the name of the game, not enabling people to find a voice, to develop creative thinking skills, to see the rat race for what it is. ‘Education, more than wealth or power, is the key to human dignity.’ Wise words. Regrettably our education system isn’t designed to enable young people to discover human dignity, and only provides for the academically able to pursue real wealth and power.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what’s all this to do with a man in a long, black coat?, I hear you ask. As well you might, dear reader. Well yesterday my good friend N came round and turned me on to two Bob Dylan albums that have passed me by over the years - Infidels and Oh Mercy. I apologise to His Bobness for my slackness. I must have had my mind on other things.
It was N who’d managed to get me a ticket to see Bob at Wembley last year. When we were in the Caribbean N had played me Jokerman, the opening track on Infidels, which blew me away with its driving rhythms and lyrical & melodic genius.
Oh Mercy kicks off with ‘Political World’, which rocks and rolls as well as anything has ever done in the history of blues and rock. “We live in a political world / under the microscope / you can travel anywhere / and hang yourself there / you’ve always got more than enough rope.” Indeed we have.
Take a look at the rest of the lyrics: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/political.html
The whole album is a melodic masterpiece, with superb musicianship, incredible writing, great basslines, brilliant harmonica solos, and so on. Dylan sings as well as, if not better than, ever.
And so to The Man with the Long Black Coat. The song begins with chirping crickets, slow, echoing guitars, and suddenly, thirty seconds into it, a tapping foot (one two three, one two three,) and a piercing blast of slow, spine-tingling harmonica blues, followed by and accompanied by a low-slung bass - a single note per bar - dom . ., dom . ., dom . . . It sounds like doom, though it might be liberation. The guitars seem to gently and melodically speak of hope, but the harp wails out notes of heart-breaking sadness. “People don’t live or die / people just float / she went with the man with the long, black coat.”
http://www.bobdylanonline.com/songs/coat.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret Mizen, mother of Steven Mizen, a South London 15 year old who was stabbed to death this week, was quoted on the radio today. “Anger killed my son. There’s too much anger in the world. My prayers are with my son’s killers and their families.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/13/do1302.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1949676/Bakery-murder-Mother-speaks-of-Jimmy-Mizen
The speaker on today‘s ‘Thought For Today’, the Reverend Roy Jenkins, spoke about angry and resentful young (and old) people who awake every day to yet another day of being treated unfairly. He spoke about millions of people who are affected by global hunger and poverty, every day of their lives. He spoke of powerful people who exploit the poor. He spoke of a need for us to engage with ‘creative anger‘.
Such an engagement is what I’d prefer to call creative channeling of one’s passions. Passion for life and for social justice. Passion for creating more joy and more enlightenment. Passion for global brotherhood and sisterhood. First we need to see things as they really are, and see clearly where the solutions might lie, and then we can begin to create a movement for peaceful change throughout our societies and the world at large.
In the words of Ashley Walters (yesterday’s blog), you can’t fight fire with fire. But we can all take a peaceful stand and insist on running the world more justly and fairly. We can all band together and stand up for human values, a more spiritual world, and an education system that will over the long term create more emotionally and spiritually intelligent people and a more enlightened world.
------------------------------------------------------------------
I’d really thought we’d heard the last of the public schoolboy tones of Tone on the radio. I can’t stand hearing Blair speak - on any subject. To hear him talking about Middle East peace is painful indeed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Postscript
Trawling the net for the lyrics to Man In The Long Black Coat I came across a beautifully written San Franciscan blog that includes some excellent pieces on the Hurricane Katrina disaster and on the 40th anniversary of the killing of Martin Luther King. Enjoy them at
http://dontcallmeishmael.blogspot.com/2006/08/man-in-long-black-coat.html
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Layer 35 On The Ropes, SATs, and So Solid Crew
.
Ashley Walters - Radio 4 - On The Ropes. “John Humphrys in conversation with successful people who have weathered storms in their careers.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/ontheropes.shtml
Listen Again; http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/ontheropes
The blurb for the programme says:
"The tag “bad boy rapper” is easy to hang on Ashley Walters. He's an actor now - currently appearing in "Oxford Street" at the Royal Court theatre in London - but as Asher D of So Solid Crew he went straight to number one in the singles charts and had a platinum-selling album but he also went to jail after police found a loaded handgun in his car.
For this week’s On The Ropes Ashley Walters talks to John Humphrys about what drove him to buy a gun and why he believes the politicians and black community leaders who accused So Solid Crew of glamorising violence and gangs five years ago were wrong. He says if they'd taken the trouble to understand the message they were bringing from the streets of South London they might have heeded the warnings about trouble to come.
He also tells how prison changed him, how he would never buy a gun again and how he still gets stopped regularly by the police when he's driving - most recently, he says, because he was wearing a £300 hoodie!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Points from the programme:
Hoodies are a product of our society. They’re fuelled by anger. Nobody cares why they’re so angry, why they feel separated and segregated from society. Lots of these kids don’t have good parents, never go on holiday, never have good books provided for them.
They don’t find their own “voice”, they don’t understand or relate to the political system. Getting a gun is a weakness, but I didn’t understand that you can’t fight fire with fire. I didn’t understand.
People don’t trust the police. They’re the biggest gang in our area. They still pull me up for wearing a hoodie.
A lot of our kids are bright, talented, artistic. But they’re either not given opportunities to grow and use their talents, or they turn their back on them out of fear of the unknown. They hold on to what they know, even if it’s just the street, and their gang.
It’s almost impossible to stay aloof from the culture of the streets unless you literally stay at home. The older kids pull you into their way of thinking, into taking drugs, into dealing drugs, without even thinking about what they’re doing.
I’m now trying to change things that are wrong in my community. I’m some kind of a spokesperson, and I’m trying to have a positive effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asher_D_(British_rapper)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/mar/24/race.world
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/interview-ashley-walters-goes-from-bad-boy-to-black-role-model-and-rising-star-of-british-film-461049.html
http://music.guardian.co.uk/urban/story/0,,2081457,00.html
----------------------------------------------
Yesterday a good friend, who’s never used drugs in her life apart from cigarettes (long since given up) and alcohol (in moderation) sent me a text saying that her son hadn’t smoked cannabis for two days. “He feels wonderful and never wants to ‘puff’ again.”
Ashley Walters’ mother and my friend are both public service professionals. Both of them are strong women, and both would be totally against drug taking, but both of them, like lots of parents, are helpless to influence their kids in the face of the peer pressure on the streets, and the desperate need of kids to belong to a ‘crew’, a gang, or just a group of friends who are out there, just trying to have some fun. But as Mick Jagger says, it’s easier said than done.
Ashley Walters is clearly an intelligent, thoughtful and articulate individual, who wants a decent life for himself and his family, and would like to make a difference to the lives of black kids, and the black community in general. He denies he ever glamorized guns and violence, and only bought a gun because drugs and fame had made him paranoid, and he genuinely feared for his life, given the kind of people he knew who were resentful and jealous of his fame and his wealth.
On the programme he talks of instilling in his kids the right values. He wants them to learn how to live well.
He’d better not expect any help from the education system, any more than it helped him to understand life, understand himself and other people, develop emotional intelligence and learn how to handle himself, or understand why human values are important.
It’s hard to measure those types of learning, so no-one does. It’s easier to measure the memorisation of mathematics and words and science - easier to grade those sorts of knowledge through the use of tests. Therefore those are the things that are valued, those are the things that are measured, those are the only things that the education system really gives a damn about. Note: I'm talking about the system here. There are thousands of good people working in schools who do the best they can to support the whole of each child's development, but the refrain everywhere is either 'we don't have time for that', or 'we're told we have to concentrate all our time on "the basics"'.
The media today is full of reports on the Commons Select Committee and its report on SATs and testing. It would be wonderful to think things might now change. Wonderful but hopelessly and naively optimistic. Try to listen to the last few minutes of the Radio 4 Today programme (on Listen Again on the BBC website) for the reading aloud of emails from parents on the subject of SATs, which of course their kids are sitting this very week.
Ashley Walters - Radio 4 - On The Ropes. “John Humphrys in conversation with successful people who have weathered storms in their careers.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/ontheropes.shtml
Listen Again; http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/ontheropes
The blurb for the programme says:
"The tag “bad boy rapper” is easy to hang on Ashley Walters. He's an actor now - currently appearing in "Oxford Street" at the Royal Court theatre in London - but as Asher D of So Solid Crew he went straight to number one in the singles charts and had a platinum-selling album but he also went to jail after police found a loaded handgun in his car.
For this week’s On The Ropes Ashley Walters talks to John Humphrys about what drove him to buy a gun and why he believes the politicians and black community leaders who accused So Solid Crew of glamorising violence and gangs five years ago were wrong. He says if they'd taken the trouble to understand the message they were bringing from the streets of South London they might have heeded the warnings about trouble to come.
He also tells how prison changed him, how he would never buy a gun again and how he still gets stopped regularly by the police when he's driving - most recently, he says, because he was wearing a £300 hoodie!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Points from the programme:
Hoodies are a product of our society. They’re fuelled by anger. Nobody cares why they’re so angry, why they feel separated and segregated from society. Lots of these kids don’t have good parents, never go on holiday, never have good books provided for them.
They don’t find their own “voice”, they don’t understand or relate to the political system. Getting a gun is a weakness, but I didn’t understand that you can’t fight fire with fire. I didn’t understand.
People don’t trust the police. They’re the biggest gang in our area. They still pull me up for wearing a hoodie.
A lot of our kids are bright, talented, artistic. But they’re either not given opportunities to grow and use their talents, or they turn their back on them out of fear of the unknown. They hold on to what they know, even if it’s just the street, and their gang.
It’s almost impossible to stay aloof from the culture of the streets unless you literally stay at home. The older kids pull you into their way of thinking, into taking drugs, into dealing drugs, without even thinking about what they’re doing.
I’m now trying to change things that are wrong in my community. I’m some kind of a spokesperson, and I’m trying to have a positive effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asher_D_(British_rapper)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/mar/24/race.world
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/interview-ashley-walters-goes-from-bad-boy-to-black-role-model-and-rising-star-of-british-film-461049.html
http://music.guardian.co.uk/urban/story/0,,2081457,00.html
----------------------------------------------
Yesterday a good friend, who’s never used drugs in her life apart from cigarettes (long since given up) and alcohol (in moderation) sent me a text saying that her son hadn’t smoked cannabis for two days. “He feels wonderful and never wants to ‘puff’ again.”
Ashley Walters’ mother and my friend are both public service professionals. Both of them are strong women, and both would be totally against drug taking, but both of them, like lots of parents, are helpless to influence their kids in the face of the peer pressure on the streets, and the desperate need of kids to belong to a ‘crew’, a gang, or just a group of friends who are out there, just trying to have some fun. But as Mick Jagger says, it’s easier said than done.
Ashley Walters is clearly an intelligent, thoughtful and articulate individual, who wants a decent life for himself and his family, and would like to make a difference to the lives of black kids, and the black community in general. He denies he ever glamorized guns and violence, and only bought a gun because drugs and fame had made him paranoid, and he genuinely feared for his life, given the kind of people he knew who were resentful and jealous of his fame and his wealth.
On the programme he talks of instilling in his kids the right values. He wants them to learn how to live well.
He’d better not expect any help from the education system, any more than it helped him to understand life, understand himself and other people, develop emotional intelligence and learn how to handle himself, or understand why human values are important.
It’s hard to measure those types of learning, so no-one does. It’s easier to measure the memorisation of mathematics and words and science - easier to grade those sorts of knowledge through the use of tests. Therefore those are the things that are valued, those are the things that are measured, those are the only things that the education system really gives a damn about. Note: I'm talking about the system here. There are thousands of good people working in schools who do the best they can to support the whole of each child's development, but the refrain everywhere is either 'we don't have time for that', or 'we're told we have to concentrate all our time on "the basics"'.
The media today is full of reports on the Commons Select Committee and its report on SATs and testing. It would be wonderful to think things might now change. Wonderful but hopelessly and naively optimistic. Try to listen to the last few minutes of the Radio 4 Today programme (on Listen Again on the BBC website) for the reading aloud of emails from parents on the subject of SATs, which of course their kids are sitting this very week.
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