LOVE AFTER BABEL AND OTHER POEMS – CHANDRAMOHAN S

Posted on July 21, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged caste, Chandramohan S, colonialism, creative writing, culture, Dalit, Deeptha Achar, featured, Hayan Charara, Hindu right, imperialism, India, intersectionality, islamophobia, Letters to Namdeo Dhasal, Love After Babel and Other Poems, Malayalam, migration, Muslims, oppression, poetry, post-colonial, radical politics, resistance, South Asia, translation.

By Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya

The following was originally published as the afterword to the collection Love after Babel and Other Poems by Chandramohan S, published in January 2020 by Daraja Press. The collection won the Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista Outstanding Book Award in January of this year. You can order a copy direct from Daraja Press here.

They ask me why do you write poems?
I write poems – the people have the right to…bear arms.

These lines, taken from his one-stanza masterpiece ‘Why Do I Write Poetry?’, encapsulate the very essence of Chandramohan S’ approach to his craft in his third collection, Love after Babel and Other Poems. These poems are unapologetically weapons, fighting against the pre-modern notion of caste in all its insidious 21st century glory.

BLACK REBELLION: CRUSHING THE MYTH OF THE ‘DOCILE SLAVE’

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged Africa, amistad, appropriation, black, black history, black lives matter, Brazil, british history, culture, education, empire, featured, Haiti, harriet beecher stowe, history, Jamaican, john henrik clarke, male revolt, mammy, maroon, obeah, race, racism, rastafarian, rebellion, saramaka, slavery, suriname, uk, uncle tom, uprising.

by Lisa Insansa Woods

The structure of white supremacy feeds off the narrative of the ‘docile slave.’ Painting Black people in history as submissive beings upholds the white conscience; it tapes over white people’s historical and present reliance on oppression for their mental stability and superiority, by suggesting that Black people were willingly inferior. When, in reality, Black people have been rebelling with might since their capture.

NORFOLK LOVES SOUND SYSTEM CULTURE, BUT WHERE’S THE COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM?

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged 1312, ahmaud arbery, appropriation, arts, BAME, black, black lives matter, braithwaite, british history, burru, culture, dick hebdige, drum and bass, education, empire, featured, Jamaican, jungle, music, naybinghi, obeah, party, punk, race, racism, rastafarian, reggae, subculture, uk, underground, whiteness.

by Lisa Insansa Woods

Norfolk’s music, gig and free party scene is a vibrant stream of colour, with bright red, gold and green gushes moving through the illuminous pool. Reggae, dub, jungle, drum n bass and techno can easily be discovered blaring from a stack of speakers in a venue or elusive field in and around Norwich. Norfolk loves sound system culture, but many of those same people who dance to this music are quiet in the struggle against racism.

“Babylon A Fall,” they shout. But what does that actually mean? Continue Reading

RACIST FOOTBALL CHANTS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG IN BULGARIA

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged antigypsyism, Bulgaria, culture, discrimination, ERRC, Europe, fans, featured, FIFA, football, Gabrovo, hooligan, human rights, media, othering, racism, Roma, sexual harrassment, simeonov, soccer, sport, UEFA, UEFA Nations League, Vasil Levski, violence, Vojvodinovo, warning, world cup.

by Jonathan Lee

Content warning: sexual assault, racist slurs, violence

On Monday 14th October, a UEFA Euro Qualifiers match between Bulgaria and England was forced to stop on two occasions after racist abuse from Bulgarian fans was aimed at Black players on the England team. The match, which was already subject to a partial stadium ban for previous incidents of racism, saw black clad, nazi saluting, monkey-chanting skinheads hijack the proceedings and force the stadium to issue announcements and the refereee to halt the game.

The three step UEFA protocol (which reached the second step on Monday night, the third would have abandoned the match) has been criticised for being ineffective and too soft to counter discrimination. Whilst UEFA’s public reaction to the racism has been firm, calling for “football’s family” to “wage war on the racists”, whether or not neo-nazis should be given two free gos at abusing Black English players before they are punished is a valid point.Continue Reading

A TALE OF TWO DISCIPLINES – INTERVIEW WITH SALAH EL NAGAR

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Ananya Wilson Bhattacharya, arts, Brexit, culture, Egyptian poetry, featured, food, Hope and Bear, interview, norwich, poetry, Ramses Egyptian Food, Salah El Nagar.

By Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya

Since the Norwich poetry scene largely consists of current or former students and local writers, a chef originating from Cairo doesn’t seem to fit the mould. But Salah El Nagar has achieved local fame, both for his widely translated Arabic poems, and for his cooking. By day, he runs Ramses Egyptian Food, usually located in the market in the heart of Norwich city centre (he also runs pop-up stalls at venues around the city). By evening, you can find him at the Birdcage, promoting acceptance, diversity, and gender equality through his poignant and witty poems.

ENGLAND FOOTBALL FANS BACK TO OLD (HOMOPHOBIC) WAYS IN PORTUGAL

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged Brexit, culture, decorum, discrimination, england, Europe, fans, featured, FIFA, football, homophobia, hooligan, human rights, media, othering, portugal, soccer, tommy robinson, travel, UEFA, UEFA Nations League, violence, warning, world cup.

by Jonathan Lee

After the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, England football fans had enjoyed a slightly improved reputation internationally for behaving themselves a bit better at away games in Europe. This illusion was shattered last week in Portugal for all the world to see, as boozy lads in shorts and polos attacked locals with bottles, wrecked cars, and clashed with police on the streets of Porto. It turns out that, without Russian ultras and law enforcement to keep them in line, England’s lads-on-tour stag party of intolerance and imperialist nostalgia is just as present in the travelling fan culture as it always has been. Embedded homophobia, a staple of the hooligan culture of old, also reared its ugly head again in Portugal with some England fans feeling unsafe among their own supporters.

“I experienced more homophobia in 3 hours here than I did in 3 weeks in Russia,” said Joe White, an English football fan and co-founder of LGBT+ supporters group Three Lions Pride. “And this has all come from England fans” he added. “LGBT+ is clearly not welcome.”

HOW IS A GYPSY SUPPOSED TO LOOK?

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged amazon, artistic, arts, big fat gypsy wedding, bigotry, carmen, chocolat, cultural appreciation, cultural appropriation, culture, disney esmeralda, esmeralda, Europe, featured, film, free spirit, Gypsies, gypsy, Gypsy fashion, Gypsy lord, heritage, jennifer lee, literature, media, orientalist, photography, play, plot, plot device, race, Roma, Roma communities, Romany, Romany Gypsy, society, stereotypes, sub culture, travellers, western film, western literature, wuthering heights, ZEKE.

by Jonathan Lee

I am probably not the image most people have in their mind when they think of a Gypsy.

My mother is of mostly Irish-American stock – which gives me a few ginger wisps in my beard, and a smattering of freckles across my nose and cheeks. My hair is dark brown, not black. I don’t wear a lolo diklo (red scarf) around my neck, or a staddi kali (black trilby hat) on my head. Most of the time I wear jeans and t-shirt, I rarely ever dance on tables, and I have no piercings or tattoos. I live in an apartment in the centre of a European capital with a woman whom I am not married to, and I travel only about 20 minutes maximum by foot every day to go to work.

If I ask you to close your eyes and picture a Gypsy in your mind’s eye you probably see someone with bangles and gold hoop earrings, floral patterned clothing, long hair, and dark flashing eyes. They may or may not have a tambourine, and may or may not be wearing a turban with a little gem in the centre holding it up. Maybe you see a fortune teller, or a travelling metalsmith? Perhaps a musician? If you are European, more likely you also see a beggar, a thief, a criminal.Continue Reading

SORRY ANDREW SELOUS MP, BUT GYPSIES & TRAVELLERS WILL NOT BE ASSIMILATED

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged act, andrew selous, antigypsyism, assimlaion, bill, black history month, Caravans Sites Act, commons, culture, discrimination, featured, GRT, human rights, integraion, international, law, local authorities, policy, racism, response, Roma, Romani, Tory, travellers, uk.

By Jonathan Lee

Meet Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, Andrew Selous.

Andrew recently took a break from opposing gay marriage, overseeing prison cuts, calling for benefits cuts for non-english speakers, and claiming disabled people work hard because they’re grateful just to have a job, and turned his attention to Romani Gypsies and Travellers.

On 13th November, he proposed a bill in the Commons to convert existing sites for Gypsies and Travellers into settled accommodation, remove any obligation on local authorities to build more permanent sites, and make unauthorised encampments a criminal offence.

He also added a bit about making provision for the education of Gypsy & Traveller children, which is nice.Continue Reading

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE! RUSSIA WELCOMES ENGLAND FANS WITH OPEN ARMS

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged animals, Championshipè, culture, daily mail, decorum, discrimination, england, fans, featured, FIFA, football, human rights, media, othering, Russia, Russian, Sergei Skripal, soccer, travel, violence, warning, world cup.

by Jonathan Lee

You would be forgiven for thinking that any England football fan who decides to follow their team to the 2018 FIFA World Cup must be either crazy or a hooligan looking for trouble. UK Police Chiefs, senior MPs, sports experts, and – most perniciously – the British press, have all issued sombre pronouncements warning of the dangers awaiting any English football fan foolish enough to brave the shady hinterland of Mother Russia.Continue Reading

THE GREATEST PRICE OF AUSTERITY? PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged austerity, Community, contribute, culture, dinosaurs, dioramas, economic disparity, Edinburgh, education, featured, funding cuts, george osborne, libraries, literacy, local authorities, museums, national museum of scotland, national museums, NHS, Philip Hammond, politics, poverty, public buildings, public institution, public museums, public spaces, public spending, reading, reduce stress, robots, save libraries, social mobility, steam trains, working class, young readers.

by Edward Grierson

As a child, I always looked forward to a visit to the National Museum of Scotland. An hour’s journey to Edinburgh was always a small price worth paying if it meant passing a wet weekend or day out from the holiday among dinosaurs, dioramas, steam trains and robots that could spell your name. Since then the museum has undergone countless changes, but whenever I return, I can always be certain to discover something new.

However, those trips to the museum were much more than just a fun day out. I can confidently say that they were a major formative influence for me, particularly in inspiring my love of nature. Without the influence of the National Museum of Scotland, I would not be who I am today. I can also confidently say I’m not the only one. I speak for countless others whose interests, whatever they are, were inspired by visiting trips to a museum.Continue Reading

culture

LOVE AFTER BABEL AND OTHER POEMS – CHANDRAMOHAN S

By Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya

BLACK REBELLION: CRUSHING THE MYTH OF THE ‘DOCILE SLAVE’

by Lisa Insansa Woods

NORFOLK LOVES SOUND SYSTEM CULTURE, BUT WHERE’S THE COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM?

RACIST FOOTBALL CHANTS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG IN BULGARIA

A TALE OF TWO DISCIPLINES – INTERVIEW WITH SALAH EL NAGAR

ENGLAND FOOTBALL FANS BACK TO OLD (HOMOPHOBIC) WAYS IN PORTUGAL

HOW IS A GYPSY SUPPOSED TO LOOK?

SORRY ANDREW SELOUS MP, BUT GYPSIES & TRAVELLERS WILL NOT BE ASSIMILATED

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE! RUSSIA WELCOMES ENGLAND FANS WITH OPEN ARMS

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