Through
the avenue of the Blanket I would like to
let people know of two new blogs that have recently
been established in Ireland.
The first is an online living diary written by myself.
It gives regular accounts from my own perspective
of the ongoing progressive campaigns and movements
that I am involved in and also accounts for many
of the previous movements, as recorded on the Blanket.
The second blog-spot is about a new activist Anti
Poverty Paper that I have played a part in setting
up, and our activism to date.
Below I give but a brief summary of what each are
about.
1) My
on line Diary (Please sign the petition in the
October Link)
2) Street
Seen
Briefly
As
a child growing up in Belfast I had seen many faces
from youth (through television, newspapers etc)
that I now engage with through debate and discussion
as an adult. Indeed, from the now leadership of
Republicanism to the leaderships of Loyalism I have
either shared platforms, television studios or sat
across tables from them on many an issue. May it
have been sharing a cab back to West Belfast with
Danny Morrison, after we had both participated in
a BBC Sunday programme on Religion and its attitude
to Racism, or sharing a debating platform with Billy
Hutchinson (PUP) on the 11 plus and its effect on
working class kids, at their conference. Each were
situations in which debate and dialogue were essential
to either bring an important issue to a wider audience,
or to a particular constituency.
Similar,
but in a context of resolution, I had sat across
the table at specific times from Loyalism's Combined
Leadership through to, in part, engaging with leaders
of Unionism from David Trimble to (much earlier
in my activism) that of Ian Paisley Junior. Again
criticism from some aspects of the left was forwarded,
this at specific times. Yet I have found that 'real
politick' is essential, and not what I term as 'formula
politics', more especially within Irish politics
given our recent history.
For
me such real politick has given me a growing understanding
not only of the history of our recent conflict and
those involved within it, but of a wider world and
its history. Yet with that real politick I still
can see through the eyes of a socialist, both local
and global.
And
so with that, I had been spokesperson of the Belfast
Anti War Movement against the Iraq war, which seen
the largest demonstration in the North History against
such a war, where tens of thousands came out onto
the North's Streets in demonstration and direct
actions etc. I then was founding member and Chairperson
of what became known as the Anti Racism Network
and Movement in which we mobilised thousands around
Belfast against the attacks on the minority ethnic
communities. This which seen pipe bomb attacks,
shootings, pregnant Chinese women being dragged
from their homes and attacked with bats and seeing
broken glass smashed in their faces, and we had
seen racist murder. Indeed such was the case, that
Belfast was then called the Race Capital of Europe.
It
then links to the mass Anti Sectarian rallies and
Anti Poverty rallies (in which I had again recorded
at the time and from the position of being a key
activist), through to recording our travels from
Belfast to the protests in Genoa through to Geneva
and much more.
It also details the formation of the grassroots
activists paper 'Street Seen'.
