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News archive - July 2005
GREAT MS DYNAMITE INTERVIEW!
July 27, 2005, 12:31 AM
We met up with Niomi McLean-Daley, aka Mercury-winning artis Ms Dynamite, star of the first major LMHR carnival - in Manchester - back in 2002, to talk to her about her involvement in LMHR for Alan Miles' LMHR/Rock Against Racism documentary “Who Shot the Sheriff?”.
The interview took place just prior to her appearance at the Live8 Concert, and before recent tragic events in London.
LMHR: Why did you get involved in LMHR, in campaigning against the BNP?
MsD: I just can't believe that in the year 2005 that they're able to exist. There are young - or old - people looking for someone to believe in and I think it's really sad that people like the BNP are there to fill the gap in someones life. Hate breeds hate. Its immoral and its disgusting. As a black woman I feel completely insulted that they're even allowed to exist.
LMHR: Do you agree then that we should campaign for the BNP to not be allowed to have a platform for their views. For example, in the recent General Election the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all screened the BNP's election broadcast. Are you in favour of a ban on BNP broadcasts?
MsD: 100 per cent! Definitely, I would love to see them banned. I believe to an extent in freedom of speech, especially as a music artist - people might not agree with what I'm saying. The difference is I'm not saying I dislike someone because of the colour of their skin or their sexual preference. Its very dangerous for them to be able to speak out in the way they do and for them to be seen in that way. Kids might grow up thinking "that's alright, I;ve seen it on the TV and they;re sitting in the houses of parliament with the government" - well, what would that say about our government? They'd be happy to sit next to them [the BNP] in parliament or wherever? And the government's supposed to be making the world a better for me? I don't believe you're trying to do that - if you're going to sit next to the BNP!
LMHR: You've suggested that racism is a systemic problem - do you think that to tackle racism you also have to tackle wider problems in society, or is racism something that can be tackled as a single issue?
MsD: If someone asked to make a plan of how to tackle racism, the first thing I'd insist on is that every level of the education system, from nursery onwards, that kids are learning about different cultures, To me racism is about two things: greed and money, and fear. If you were to make everyone aware of other people's culture and stamp out these stereotypes you stamp out the fear. If you've learned about other cultures then you're not going to be overwhelmed by all the stereotypes put out in the media and so on.
Secondly, its about going through every single aspect of the system - and changing it. It's don't think it's that's difficult to do, but it's a case of whether the people in the right places want to do that. Obviously they don't though - or something would have been done about it!
There's a bigger picture. People make money out of racism. People keep other people down through racism. People can brainwash and trick predominantly poor people into fighting against each other. We don't get anywhere by fighting each other. The problem is the system that's got us thinking this way in the first place. If we're busy fighting each then there's people [points upwards] who're making millions, and we're not going to get anywhere in our lives - as a people.
LMHR: Racism now seems to be focused on two groups in our society: asylum seekers and immigrants (the two get lumped together), and Muslims. Ms D: The subject of immigration is something that really touches me. Let's be real. This whole country, everything we have, is built on what was stolen from the rest of the world by thus country. People are tricked into believing people are coming and "stealing our jobs" etc. First of all, the government has money that's supposed to be spent on helping asylum seekers, and I bet that money doesn't even get spent. Number two, these people are coming from war torn countries, they don't have a home they don't have family and at the very least they're coming from poverty, coming here for the hope of a better life. As a human being, no matter what country you end up living in, surely you're entitled to that? Surely you're entitled to have food in your belly, 'cos there's more than enough to around! But we're tricked into believing that asylum seekers are the ones causing all our problems. No they're not! If we've got money - billions in fact - to spend on a war that's got nothing to do with us , then we've got the money to feed, give shelter to people who need our help, half of which have probably come from a war that we've been a part of, that's killed half of their family and blown half of their country! Don't we owe them a job, a house? If someone takes someone from my family, you can never make up for that. People need to get their facts straight on this - and then they'd see things differently.
As regards Muslims I can't believe people are sucked in by that either. It's obvious that everything is linked - the war, oil etc etc - and yet we're supposed to hate Muslims. We've just a war with a country that's predominantly Muslim, that was blatantly not for the reasons we were told it was for. Speaking as a black woman I know what it feels like I know whats its like to be used as a scapegoat in this society. Nine out of ten people I like to believe are not evil, greedy or heartless people. It's clearly obvious what's going on and my heart really does go out to Muslims. As black African or Caribbean people we've been there - and are there still - but we're just not top of the list now.
LMHR: As part of the "war on terror" our government wants to further restrict civil liberties - like bringing in ID cards. They also want to scapegoat young people - with ASBOs, bans on wearing on hoodies etc.
Ms D: ID cards is about too much control - in the wrong people's hands. What's it got to do with them where I am, who I am, what I'm doing? If I'm not hurting people what's the problem? It's all about controlling people and I'm totally against ID cards.
I's love to see them try to make a law that you cant wear a hoodie - it s just ridiculous. You can't tell people how to dress! If you don't like the what I dress - don't look at me! To me, thats blatantly a cultural thing, its gone beyond that now but it came from a hip-hop thing, predominantly a black thing,
[Asks to stop interview as she spots a black driver being stopped by police across the street from the restaurant we're sitting in!]
Ms D: On the way over here I saw SEVEN police cars come to stop and search ONE boy standing outside a chicken shop. How about if I call them tonight when my house is being robbed - will there be seven police cars then?
LMHR: Not unless you get a bigger house.
LMHR: Moving on to music. You're known as an artist with a social conscience. Do you see yourself as part of a tradition, and if so who to you are the pioneers of conscious music?
Ms D: There are lots of artists who've inspired me by taking a stand, the legends like Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye. I feel that the music of their era had many artists who were saying something, without them being seen as "conscious" as such. Music seemed to mean something different through that whole era - like within Soul music, people were going through the era of the civil rights movement and that was expressed so much in the music. Only recently I was listening to an old tape my Dad made, and I realised that all these songs I never thought much about before, listening to them now they're really conscious - I'm like 'oh my god - is that what they meant?" - they're talking about racism, they're talking about civil rights. Talking about reggae I don't feel like things have changed much for black people in the West Indies, things have probably got worse and that does reflect in quite a few reggae artists still today.
[Looks across street] God - they're searching that man's car now! The disgusting thing is - that's just normal in London today.
Music in this day and age has become something different - its much more about just making money, turn on any TV or radio station. Too many people are buying crap music, music that's not positive or expressive. There's so many ways you can express what you've been through, yet the main music right now is pop music, its just based on sex and money, stuff we should be talking about of course but in a completely different way.
There are so many conscious artists in this country who should be getting heard. I went to an underground hip-hop show last night and I was nearly crying cos they were so good. There were these amazing MCs talking about Bush and Blair and Palestine, but in such a clever way. There are more established artists who will speak out in an interview or supporting certain campaigns or whatever, but you wont hear that stuff in their music. I cant understand if you feel so passionately about things why you don't say that in your songs. For me, it's part of life, it's how I feel.
LMHR: How, for you, does music relate to politics, to struggles?
Ms D: Music is one of the most powerful creative tools that people have in life. One song can do so much, it can take you through different emotions, it can leave you happy for the rest of the day. When kids are really young, we sing to them, we sing nursery rhymes. There's a reason for that. Don't get me wrong - you can't blame certain bad things simply on music. But music does have a huge role to play in highlighting things are wrong in our society.
LMHR: At Love Music Hate Racism gigs we've tried as far as possible to mix different kinds of music, to make sure we have black and white artists performing together, in the great tradition of Rock Against Racism mixing punk and reggae before us. Do you think this is a good thing for the campaign to do, or do you think it doesn't matter?
MS D: Having different artists from different backgrounds doing different genres of music together is really important. It's all about unity, and what better way to symbolise what the campaign's all about? It's all about getting a wider understanding of where we're all coming from.
I feel like LMHR stands for us being united as human beings, and more than anything I feel that young people grow up in a very multicultural world now. Young people are a lot more united than people give us credit for.
[At this point we end the interview. Ms Dynamite calls her brother to ask who the amazing artist was she was talking about having seen last night. It turns out be to rapper Lowkey, who performed at March's Stop the War rally. She passes on his number and he later plays the LMHR night at the Marxism 2005 festival]
PEACEFUL PROTEST AT BNP LEADER GRIFFIN'S TRIAL THIS THURSDAY 21 JULY
July 19, 2005, 04:37 PM
Our friends at Leeds Unite Against Fascism send this ...
Nazi colours show through
Following the terrible bombings in London, the BNP have cynically used an image of the tragedy to try and get support in a by-election, and Nazi graffiti has gone up in areas of Leeds where there has been a lot of police activity investigating the bombings. After one community march for peace and unity at the weekend, a group of white, Asian and black neighbours painted out a swastika and C18 insignia that had been daubed in a park frequented by children and adults of many religions and backgrounds.
Join the protest and show we are united
The next hearing in the BNP trial (see below for a report of the previous one) is on Thursday 21 July at Leeds Crown Court. Nick Griffin, Mark Collett and John Tindall are due in court at 10.30am.
There will be a peaceful protest outside Leeds Crown Court from 9.30am.organised by Leeds Unite Against Fascism. We are urging as many supporters of Unite as possible to attend, to continue to show the solidarity we have built at the last 2 court demonstrations. Please meet outside Leeds Crown Court from 9.45am onwards to show your support for Unite and protest against the BNP. We want to show maximum unity from our communities in Leeds in condemning their politics outside the court on Thursday.
Get in contact: tel: 07932 221014 leeds_unite@hushmail.com
For more info: www.leedsunity.org.uk www.uaf.org.uk
Peaceful protest at the courts was a success.
Over 100 protestors from Unite groups, trade unions and faith groups turned up at Leeds Magistrates to protest against members of the BNP accused of inciting racial hatred.
The hearings took place after Nick Griffin, Mark Collett and John Tindall appeared on Channel 4’s documentary. All 3 are accused of inciting racial hatred.
The peaceful demonstrations were a great show of solidarity from Unite supporters across the Region and showed once again that people in Yorkshire and Humberside will not tolerate the BNP’s fascist behaviour.
As usual the BNP turned up in force, shouting their racist abuse and with minders to try and intimidate Unite supporters. It was ironic then that the only disturbance the police had to deal with was separating the two factions of the right who were present – the BNP and the White Supremacists. The BNP is lead by Nick Griffin and the White Supremacists by John Tindall – and the two groups ended up arguing amongst themselves and had to be separated by police.
Unite supporters were present at both hearings, which took place on 19 May and 16 June. Following these hearings the trial has been sent to Leeds Crown Court.
BNP HUMBLED IN BECONTREE
July 18, 2005, 12:33 PM
Becontree by-election
After concerted anti-fascist campaigning involving UAF and others, the BNP were soundly defeated in last night's Becontree by-election on the border of east London and Essex. Their sick stunt of putting out a leaflet with a picture of the London bus bombing saying ""Maybe it's time to start listening to the BNP" clearly backfired with a vote rejecting the Nazis' racist rubbish.
This is the BNP's second serious defeat in Barking & Dagenham borough within a month and shows the power of united broad-based local anti-fascist campaigning to expose the Nazis and to mobilise the anti-Nazi vote. Of course 19% is still a serious vote for the BNP but this was another place where they expected to win.
The BNP have no base in London and we aim to help keep it that way!
Congratulations to everyone involved in keeping east London Nazi-free.
Join Unite Against Fascism
Results:-
Alok Agrawal Lab 1171 59.8%
John Luisis BNP 378 19.3%
Anthony Chytry C 283 14.5%
John Bolton UKIP 125 6.4%
Turnout 25.9%.
TODAY'S RAR/LMHR FILM SHOWING POSTPONED
July 07, 2005, 12:12 PM
Owing to the tragic events in London, today's preview of "Who Shot the Sheriff" has been postponed. We're working on a new date and time, hopefully still during the Marxism 2005 festival over the next few days.
The LMHR scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday 9th are currently going ahead as planned.
EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF THE ROCK AGAINST RACISM/LMHR DOCUMENTARY FILM "WHO SHOT THE SHERIFF" IN LONDON TOMORROW 7 JULY
July 06, 2005, 02:44 PM
FILM PREMIERE 'WHO SHOT THE SHERIFF?'
2pm, Thursday 7 July, Friends Meeting House, London
Directed by Alan Miles, 'Who Shot the Sheriff?' gets its London Premiere on Thursday 7th July, at Friends meeting House, Euston Road NW1 2BJ.
Featuring interviews and unseen footage of artists from the Rock against Racism (RAR) movement of the 70s and the Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) movement today including The Clash, Misty in Roots, The Libertines, The Specials, Estelle and Babyshambles among many others.
Archive footage from the Punk era appears alongside with modern day stars helping to tackle the influence of right Nazi groups like the British National Party.
Film-maker Alan Miles, RAR founder Red Saunders, and RAR-supporting legend The Specials' Jerry Dammers will be speaking and answering questions about the film and using music today to continuing the struggle against racism and fascism.
This is an hour-long preview of the film which will be finished and premiered in early autumn, with a national tour to follow. Enquiries for public screenings are welcomed.
The film has been made possible by the generous support of the Amicus trade union.
Entry £5/£3 concs. on the door or free with ticket to festival (see below)
Being shown as part of the 'Marxism 2005' political and cultural festival. www.marxism2005.net
The festival also hosts two LMHR benefit events on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July featuring Sway, Swiss, Bruza, Kill City, Metro Riots, Skitz & Rodney P + more. See the LMHR website for full details.b
TWO AMAZING LMHR LINE-UPS IN LONDON THIS WEEKEND 8/9 JULY: METRO RIOTS / BASHY / BRUZA / AKIRA THE DON / SKITZ & RODNEY P + more...
July 04, 2005, 07:55 PM
There are TWO great LMHR benefit shows at London's Conway Hall this weekend, happening after we were invited to take part in the 'Marxism 2005' festival & conference which starts this Thursday (www.swp.org.uk/marxism).
On Friday 8 July, from 9pm-midnight we have a storming indie/rock line-up featuring...
KILL CITY
Lisa Moorish's electro-rock outfit doing an exclusive acoustic set
METRO RIOTS
Our favourite bluespunkrock combo also go unplugged
AKIRA THE DON
You'll either love him or hate him - we love him! Signed to Eminem's label Interscope, Akira makes satirical witty hip-hop, but he looks like a glam rocker with a Salvador Dali 'tache and makes hip-hop that owes as much to the knockabout humour of Chas N Dave or the weirdness of Prince as it does to Run DMC. Anyway, a political soul, Akira hates Bush n Blair, which is good enough for us. Unique.
Then - on Saturday 9 July, again from 9pm-midnight there's an umissable night of live UK black and urban music featuring a host of some of the country's top hip-hop, grime and r&b stars...
ALL 100% CONFIRMED:-
RODNEY P AND SKITZ (1XTRA - HOSTS)
The UK's favourite hip-hop DJ with his partner-in-crime the UK's most legendary MC. Among LMHR's biggest supporters.
SWAY
Cheeky, conscious, trivial, serious, grime AND hip-hop - Sway's got more angles than yer average rapper.
PLAN B
Simply a massive talent, just signed the The Streets' label 679. Like if Eminem was a cockney grime MC who could sing like Usher and play r&b acoustic guitar all at the same time. Don't miss.
BASHY
A viciously good grime MC, but we have to admit Bashy caught our ear with the most political grime tune to date "F*** Tha Government!" (with Bruza), which of course he'll be performing on the night.
BRUZA
The next-to-blow east London emcee? Massively popular in London and beyond right now, Bruza's unique style and "Get Me!" catchphrase can't be ignored easily.
SKEME,BIG P AND LAURIE STERLING
The UK's best conscious rappers alongside Sterling Collat partner glorious chanteuse Laurie.
AKALA
Fresh from appearing at Live8 last Saturday with sister Ms Dynamite, but Akala's forged his own wicked path on the UK scene, with recent hit "Roll Wid Us" and his label Illastate.
GEMMA FOX
A great great singer with soul and sass to burn.
SWISS (SO SOLID)
Following Asher's showstopper at this event last year, we have another conscious So Solid rapper performing for us.
DJ EXCALIBAH (1XTRA)
1Xtra's Excalibah represents homegrown hip-hop to the fullest.
MC D
Highly respected UK hip-hop veteran.
MILLION DAN
Once a ragga-jungle star with Congo Natty, now a champion UK hip-hop MC with his own unique style.
LOWKEY
Played the massive Stop the War demo earlier this year, representing the new wave of young British Arabs picking up a mic - and recommended to us by Ms Dynamite for his lyrics and flow!
REVEAL
Lowkey's partner in crime - a great, political, young MC to watch out for.
PARIZ_1
Female rapper from Nottingham who shone out on the classic Street Dreams track "My Life's Like" featured on last year's LMHR election CD.
COREY JOHNSON AND BLADE (DEFENDERS LOS)
Longtime LMHR supporters, hip-hop and r&b from south London heavyweights.
SOUNDPROOF ENTS
Also on Saturday, just before the music starts (at around 8.45pm) there'll be a short debate on "Racism in Britain Today" featuring some of the artists along with Weyman Bennett from Unite Against Fascism.
Entry on each night is £5 or £3 for concessions.
Added to that there's an exclusive preview of Alan Miles' great RAR/LMHR documentary film "Who Shot the Sheriff" being shown on Thursday, and lots of other interesting meetings and debates over the course of the festival - see the flyers below for full details.
Info: 07838 156 052 // www.lmhr.org.uk // lovemusichateracism@hotmail.com
Download PDF flyer
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