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Brixton news, rumours and general chat: Summer 2019

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Pics from Saturday's party at the Dogstar

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In photos: Pride after-party at the Dogstar with Brixton Buzz DJs, Sat 6th July 2019
 
urbanspaceman said:
Infuriating to read in Brixton Blog that two Lambeth Street Trading staff turned up and claimed that each exhibitor must pay £100. The way the story is written it looks like these officials are running a shakedown racket.
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I find it odd that Lambeth does so little to support a free and interesting event that clearly brings loads of people into Brixton. If it was a Pop Brixton venture I suspect things would be a lot easier for the organisers. The way they won't even allow a road closure is pathetic.
 
Jimbeau said:
Look again at the picture. The man on the right is in profile and thus identifiable by anyone who knows him. You can't tell what they do for a living from their clothes. Their posture and gait shows they are walking, not 'confidently striding'. They are only going towards Brixton Village in the sense that it is further up the street and it is not a focal point of the composition. The deprived social housing behind them is not in the picture.

I'll leave this now as it's getting into the realms of the absurd and I can see myself starting to display the behaviours that have led me to engage so little with this forum in the past. Feel free to have the last word.
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Spot on
 
BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files

I watched this doc on Windrush generation who May tried to deport under her Hostile environment policy.

I noticed its only on I player for a few more days.

It has shots of Brixton.

This is a must see.

It has the stories of people caught in Mays Hostile environment.

What I found is that it gives new picture of the Windrush generation.

The British state was ambivalent about them from the start.

The 1948 Nationality Act have right to residents of British Empire to hold a British passport and be free to come here. Free Movement for people in British Empire.

Unfortunately for British state Black people decided to use this right.

From the start , using government papers in the doc as evidence, both Labour and Tory governments saw Black immigration as a problem.

But wanted to deal with it in way that was not as David Olusoga ( the historian who did the doc) as wrtten in secret government document "obstenibly" directed at Black people.

So racist immigration policies are part and parcel of the British state. But done in a way that's deniable.

What I took from the doc is that the only difference between Enoch Powell and the mainstream British politicians is that Enoch said it in public.

Really a must see this doc. Showed me side of this countries immigration policies , backed up by what was said in government papers, is racist.

Racist immigration policies are at the heart of the British mainstream political establishment.

Theresa May is just a continuation of what happened post war.

See this now with Brexit and rights of other EU nationals here.

Thanks to I think CH1 for pointing me towards this doc.
 
Gramsci said:
BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
I watched this doc on Windrush generation who May tried to deport under her Hostile environment policy.
I noticed its only on I player for a few more days.
It has shots of Brixton.
This is a must see.
It has the stories of people caught in Mays Hostile environment.
What I found is that it gives new picture of the Windrush generation.
The British state was ambivalent about them from the start.
The 1948 Nationality Act have right to residents of British Empire to hold a British passport and be free to come here. Free Movement for people in British Empire.
Unfortunately for British state Black people decided to use this right.
From the start , using government papers in the doc as evidence, both Labour and Tory governments saw Black immigration as a problem.
But wanted to deal with it in way that was not as David Olusoga ( the historian who did the doc) as wrtten in secret government document "obstenibly" directed at Black people.
So racist immigration policies are part and parcel of the British state. But done in a way that's deniable.
What I took from the doc is that the only difference between Enoch Powell and the mainstream British politicians is that Enoch said it in public.
Really a must see this doc. Showed me side of this countries immigration policies , backed up by what was said in government papers, is racist.
Racist immigration policies are at the heart of the British mainstream political establishment.
Theresa May is just a continuation of what happened post war.
See this now with Brexit and rights of other EU nationals here.
Thanks to I think CH1 for pointing me towards this doc.
Click to expand...
I was only at primary school during the Smethwick campaign, but I remember the fuss. If you read the Wikipedia entry you might raise an eyebrow.

Smethwick in the 1964 general election - Wikipedia


The losing Labour politician, Patrick Gordon Walker had an unusual career. He lost his seat in the 1964 General Election of Birmingham Smethwick to an overtly racist Tory campaign - which (according to Wikidepia) led to the formation of the first UK branch of the Ku Klux Klan - and a visitation by Malcolm X.

Gordon Walker was regarded as a bit of a joke in my neck of the woods, mainly because Harold Wilson wanted him as Foreign Secretary, but he couldn't win a seat.

One of his notable actions was in 1950 (under Atlee) when he was Commonwealth Secretary to get cabinet approval for Sertse Khama the African heir apparent as king of Botswana to marry his white girlfriend (from Blackheath). This union was fiercely opposed by the Apartheid government of South Africa and their tribal clients in Botswana.

Their story was the subject of at least two films - the latest being "A United Kingdom" staring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.
 
Gramsci said:
BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
Click to expand...

Amazing stuff. Thanks for the tip. I hope it will be influential in the corridors of power. Here's the Telegraph review, by Chris Harvey, for those who don't want to faff with the paywall:

"It was hard to ignore the stench of racism emanating from The Unwanted: the Secret Windrush Files (BBC Two). It clung to admired political figures, to government departments, to policy documents – it was everywhere.

Historian David Olusoga’s exposé of the forces at play behind the 2018 Windrush scandal was an absorbing trawl through confidential government files that brought uncomfortable truths to light and left reputations altered. It went back to 1948, when Operation Westward Ho was being toasted for successfully attracting 180,000 migrant workers from Europe to cope with the shortage of 1.3 m needed to rebuild Britain after the war. It was expected that they would settle here.

But the reaction to the arrival of a ship carrying British subjects from Kingston, Jamaica, in May 1948 was different. Many of them were former servicemen who had fought for Britain in the war then returned home to the Caribbean to discover there were no jobs. The new British Nationality Act gave them the right to move freely and live where they chose in the Commonwealth.

Yet when the Empire Windrush left port, a doom-laden telegram was sent from the governor’s office warning that 350 men were on their way hoping to find work. Olusoga had no hesitation in saying that the reason for the difference in reactions was that the migrants from Europe – some of whom had served in the Waffen-SS – “weren’t black, they were white”.

He dug up documents that showed Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee describing the voyage of the Windrush as an “incursion”. Attlee suggested it be diverted to East Africa so the men could take up jobs picking peanuts.

This sort of jaw-dropping moment was the norm. In 1962, home secretary Rab Butler came up with an immigration scheme based on employment prospects, the “great merit” of which was that it “made no distinction on grounds of race or colour but in practice operates on coloured people almost exclusively”.

Olusoga powerfully laid bare the roots of the “hostile environment” that culminated in last year’s scandal. We met people such as Anthony Bryan, who came here legally as a child in 1965. When he saw an immigration van in his street in 2017, he didn’t think it was for him, until officials were knocking at his door and windows to arrest him. This was a necessary history lesson that brought home how historical racism set a trap for those who had lived and worked here legally nearly all of their lives."

And here's the FT review, by Suzi Feay:

"Historian David Olusoga looks at the background to the 2014 Windrush Scandal, whereby hundreds of people from the Caribbean who had lived in the UK for decades suddenly had their citizenship called into question. In some cases, 50 years’ worth of continuous documentation was demanded as proof of the right to stay. In The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files (Monday, 9pm, BBC2), Olusoga uncovers a story of racial prejudice at the highest levels of government, dating from the moment the Empire Windrush docked. It all began with the 1948 British Nationality Act, designed to permit the free movement of citizens of the newly constituted British Commonwealth. Olusoga argues that it was always intended for the benefit of those countries with large white populations, such as Canada and Australia. The influx of immigrants from Jamaica, described as an “incursion” by Clement Attlee, was a wholly unintended consequence of the Act. Olusoga shows how the arrival of the Windrush immediately caused a flurry of anxious interdepartmental documents. It was feared black immigration could damage the “harmony, strength and cohesion” of the nation. “One boat! One boat! It’s not a flotilla,” scoffs historian Dr Denise Noble. Arrival documents show that the men on the Windrush were plumbers, machinists, carpenters and electricians, trades desperately needed in Britain after the war. The most shocking revelation contrasts the treatment of the Windrush and subsequent Caribbean arrivals with that of the white European Volunteer Workers, displaced persons from the Balkans and Germany, including prisoners of war. Being white, EVWs were welcomed, even though some were former members of Waffen-SS regiments. Olusoga contends that it was government policy to give preference to men who had fought against Britain over men who were veterans of British forces, “and all because those veterans were black”. Former soldiers returning to “the mother country”, such as Allan Wilmot, who can still remember his RAF number, talk about the abrupt change in attitude. He slept in Tube trains, at depots and washed dishes at the Cumberland Hotel. Nevertheless, Olusoga’s interviewees remain a cheery bunch, with many even laughing over their treatment at the hands of the system. But indignation bursts through. One woman recalls a stranger spitting in her face. Another protests: “I’ve paid my taxes and I’ve paid my National Insurance — then I was British, wasn’t I?” Olusoga traces the rapidly proliferating legislation that led to the so-called “hostile environment” rules to trap illegal immigrants. He demonstrates that the belief at the highest level that “Britishness was fundamentally a racial identity” existed long before Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech. Churchill, for example, warned the Postmaster General that employing too many “coloured people” could cause social friction. The programme has a bittersweet finale as some of the interviewees gain the citizenship they didn’t know they lacked. Their resilience is admirable; it’s a tragedy it needed testing."
 
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GarveyLives said:
Interestingly, many of those shouting the loudest about population growth are also from the same part of the planet where this also seems to be a simultaneous concern. Pointing out the apparent fear of genetic annihilation is probably not trendy either.
Click to expand...
I got an email from my GP enquiring if I wanted a sperm count.
As an unmarried almost 65 year old isn't it a bit late?

And if you ask for an appointment for some illness you've got the receptionists more or less tell you to fuck off.
 
David Clapson said:
Amazing stuff. Thanks for the tip. I hope it will be influential in the corridors of power. Here's the Telegraph review, by Chris Harvey, for those who don't want to faff with the paywall:

"It was hard to ignore the stench of racism emanating from The Unwanted: the Secret Windrush Files (BBC Two). It clung to admired political figures, to government departments, to policy documents – it was everywhere.

Historian David Olusoga’s exposé of the forces at play behind the 2018 Windrush scandal was an absorbing trawl through confidential government files that brought uncomfortable truths to light and left reputations altered. It went back to 1948, when Operation Westward Ho was being toasted for successfully attracting 180,000 migrant workers from Europe to cope with the shortage of 1.3 m needed to rebuild Britain after the war. It was expected that they would settle here.

But the reaction to the arrival of a ship carrying British subjects from Kingston, Jamaica, in May 1948 was different. Many of them were former servicemen who had fought for Britain in the war then returned home to the Caribbean to discover there were no jobs. The new British Nationality Act gave them the right to move freely and live where they chose in the Commonwealth.

Yet when the Empire Windrush left port, a doom-laden telegram was sent from the governor’s office warning that 350 men were on their way hoping to find work. Olusoga had no hesitation in saying that the reason for the difference in reactions was that the migrants from Europe – some of whom had served in the Waffen-SS – “weren’t black, they were white”.

He dug up documents that showed Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee describing the voyage of the Windrush as an “incursion”. Attlee suggested it be diverted to East Africa so the men could take up jobs picking peanuts.

This sort of jaw-dropping moment was the norm. In 1962, home secretary Rab Butler came up with an immigration scheme based on employment prospects, the “great merit” of which was that it “made no distinction on grounds of race or colour but in practice operates on coloured people almost exclusively”.

Olusoga powerfully laid bare the roots of the “hostile environment” that culminated in last year’s scandal. We met people such as Anthony Bryan, who came here legally as a child in 1965. When he saw an immigration van in his street in 2017, he didn’t think it was for him, until officials were knocking at his door and windows to arrest him. This was a necessary history lesson that brought home how historical racism set a trap for those who had lived and worked here legally nearly all of their lives."

And here's the FT review, by Suzi Feay:

"Historian David Olusoga looks at the background to the 2014 Windrush Scandal, whereby hundreds of people from the Caribbean who had lived in the UK for decades suddenly had their citizenship called into question. In some cases, 50 years’ worth of continuous documentation was demanded as proof of the right to stay. In The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files (Monday, 9pm, BBC2), Olusoga uncovers a story of racial prejudice at the highest levels of government, dating from the moment the Empire Windrush docked. It all began with the 1948 British Nationality Act, designed to permit the free movement of citizens of the newly constituted British Commonwealth. Olusoga argues that it was always intended for the benefit of those countries with large white populations, such as Canada and Australia. The influx of immigrants from Jamaica, described as an “incursion” by Clement Attlee, was a wholly unintended consequence of the Act. Olusoga shows how the arrival of the Windrush immediately caused a flurry of anxious interdepartmental documents. It was feared black immigration could damage the “harmony, strength and cohesion” of the nation. “One boat! One boat! It’s not a flotilla,” scoffs historian Dr Denise Noble. Arrival documents show that the men on the Windrush were plumbers, machinists, carpenters and electricians, trades desperately needed in Britain after the war. The most shocking revelation contrasts the treatment of the Windrush and subsequent Caribbean arrivals with that of the white European Volunteer Workers, displaced persons from the Balkans and Germany, including prisoners of war. Being white, EVWs were welcomed, even though some were former members of Waffen-SS regiments. Olusoga contends that it was government policy to give preference to men who had fought against Britain over men who were veterans of British forces, “and all because those veterans were black”. Former soldiers returning to “the mother country”, such as Allan Wilmot, who can still remember his RAF number, talk about the abrupt change in attitude. He slept in Tube trains, at depots and washed dishes at the Cumberland Hotel. Nevertheless, Olusoga’s interviewees remain a cheery bunch, with many even laughing over their treatment at the hands of the system. But indignation bursts through. One woman recalls a stranger spitting in her face. Another protests: “I’ve paid my taxes and I’ve paid my National Insurance — then I was British, wasn’t I?” Olusoga traces the rapidly proliferating legislation that led to the so-called “hostile environment” rules to trap illegal immigrants. He demonstrates that the belief at the highest level that “Britishness was fundamentally a racial identity” existed long before Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech. Churchill, for example, warned the Postmaster General that employing too many “coloured people” could cause social friction. The programme has a bittersweet finale as some of the interviewees gain the citizenship they didn’t know they lacked. Their resilience is admirable; it’s a tragedy it needed testing."
Click to expand...

Thanks for these reviews. I agree with them.

I think Olusoga is right to say Britishness was fundamentally a racial identity. This was common ground for Labour party and Tory party. Racism is at core of Britishness. But its presented in a way that its made to appear tolerant.

Living in central London I feel I'm now living in a different planet to rest of country.

My Polish friend went all the way and has become British subject. You have to pass a test now. Its laughable. The book on Britishness - yes one has to learn it- says despite slight mistakes this country is beacon of tolerance. Bollox.

This programme brought up the present issue of Brexit to me.

My EU friends from other EU countries are possibly to be caught up in the same situation.

The programme correctly shows how racist immigration policies are dressed up as impartial.

See this with Brexit from the start. The residents of this country who come from other EU countries were excluded from the referendum. Despite having the right to vote here.

Lot of parallels between the reaction to the Windrush generation and Brexit.

As Black British friend said to me the way some people to go on about Poles is same as the way that the way his parents were treated years ago.

The being concerned about immigration isn't racist line.

What Britishness is has been brought up again with Brexit.

East Europeans have replaced Carribbeans as the issue.
 
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CH1 said:
I was only at primary school during the Smethwick campaign, but I remember the fuss. If you read the Wikipedia entry you might raise an eyebrow.

Smethwick in the 1964 general election - Wikipedia


The losing Labour politician, Patrick Gordon Walker had an unusual career. He lost his seat in the 1964 General Election of Birmingham Smethwick to an overtly racist Tory campaign - which (according to Wikidepia) led to the formation of the first UK branch of the Ku Klux Klan - and a visitation by Malcolm X.

Gordon Walker was regarded as a bit of a joke in my neck of the woods, mainly because Harold Wilson wanted him as Foreign Secretary, but he couldn't win a seat.

One of his notable actions was in 1950 (under Atlee) when he was Commonwealth Secretary to get cabinet approval for Sertse Khama the African heir apparent as king of Botswana to marry his white girlfriend (from Blackheath). This union was fiercely opposed by the Apartheid government of South Africa and their tribal clients in Botswana.

Their story was the subject of at least two films - the latest being "A United Kingdom" staring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this.

Reminded me of a sci fi dystopia on BBC I Player I've started watching.

BBC One - Years and Years

Set in near future when Right Wing populist gets in control.

This country is I'm afraid going backwards in progressive terms.
 
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Gramsci said:
Set in near future when Right Wing populist gets in control.
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The OH has been watching that, was the far right leader Emma "XR"Thompson ? There was a similar sub plot in the recent BBC drama motherfatherson which had Richard Gere as a dodgy dealing yank press baron and Sarah Lancashire [Raquel off corrie] as the fascist, maybe it's part of the zeitgeist or something
 
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Gramsci said:
Thanks for this.
Reminded me of a sci fi dystopia on BBC I Player I've started watching.
BBC One - Years and Years
Set in near future when Right Wing populist gets in control.
This country is I'm afraid going backwards in progressive terms.
Click to expand...
I never had the commitment to watch that series. Maybe I need to suck it and see.
Apologies for reposting this trailer, but "The Guardians" must surely be the most easy to digest distopian fantasy about a fscist takeover in Britain.

It was on ITV - so it has Coronation Street earthiness. Best of all is the music by Norfolk dentist Wilfred Josephs - who also did the "I Claudius" music, and some of "The Prisoner".
 
BCBlues said:
Weren't Kevin Roland was it :D
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Ha! Thing is, I love pop music and I'll be the first to admit that some people may judge some of my selections as being deep in the 'cheese' territory.

But I have my limits. I quite like Dexys Midnight Runners, mind. But not that song.
 
Yeah Dexys have put some good stuff out. Eileen has just been played that much on the radio/tv it's got boring.
 
BCBlues said:
Yeah Dexys have put some good stuff out. Eileen has just been played that much on the radio/tv it's got boring.
Click to expand...
It is funny how some songs come back into fashion with Da KiDz. Bands like Duran Duran, Erasure and A-Ha are suddenly A-OK.

Although I don't think Come on Eileen will be enjoying revival quite yet.
 
Eileen's a wedding/60th Birthday get granny dancing tune.
I couldn't see my kids getting into that sort of stuff but my middle kid (21) is getting into Motorhead which baffles me as shes normally blasting the house with Drum n Bass.
 
BCBlues said:
Eileen's a wedding/60th Birthday get granny dancing tune.
I couldn't see my kids getting into that sort of stuff but my middle kid (21) is getting into Motorhead which baffles me as shes normally blasting the house with Drum n Bass.
Click to expand...
We get a lot of requests for 80s pop songs from people who weren't born when the song came out. But I like that as there's tons of great tunes from the era (and a shit load of dross too, natch).

It makes a welcome change from constant requests for crappy RnB songs with that fucking terrible autotune vocal effect that seems to be on every other song.
 
There is nothing wrong with the song other than it has been massively overplayed. It's a great tune from a great album.

Dexys played a very different version during their last tour. It was brilliant.

I wouldn't play it out, but I always play a Dexy's tune during my set. There, There My Dear, or Geno, Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache, The Horse, Burn it down (Dance Stance).....
 
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