Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Opposing imaginary ribaldry
Detestable protests at a library
Serious, stern of jaw and dour
Objecting to Drag Queen Story Hour
Reckoning kids are groomed and primed -
But why don't they protest at pantomimes?
Once more with apologies to Leonard Cohen ...
It never was a secret plan
The rise to power of Macho Man
He never used a subtle schmooze to woo you
Behold the hero of the hour
The billionaire who fought the power
The phoney rebel called out Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
R.I.P. Jo Cox MP
Crazed loner
Stay-at-homer
Helpline phoner
Hummer and groaner
Window licker
Timebomb ticker
Deranged and estranged
He's a stabber, a shooter
Overly obsessed with his computer
He's nothing to do with us, you see
No link to white supremacy
Not our responsibility
We're pillars of civility
Not killers, no culpability
We are not heroes, not the valiant sort
We let them take us, fell in to survive
The heroes are the ones who stood and fought
Our bodies packed together frail support
The nudging of her foot kept me alive
But we're not heroes, not the valiant sort
Our best fought underground, our martyrs caught
Resistance from the shadows, fire and strive
The heroes are the ones who stayed and fought
SpeakEasy: Spoken Word Brussels is an ‘open mic’ evening of spoken word (and a bit of music) in a basement in the Ixelles area of the city. Modelled on similar events in Paris and London, it has been taking place every two weeks since November last year.
Originally published on Workers' Liberty's website.
There was a discussion at Workers' Liberty's 'Ideas for Freedom' discussion weekend in 2006 about 'The Left and Cultural Relativism'. The two speakers were Janine Booth and Peter Tatchell. These are the notes from Janine's contribution.
This is the speech that I gave in the opening plenary of Workers' Liberty's 'Ideas for Freedom' event in 2013 - originally published here.
An alliterative ode on the occasion of the passing of an aristocrat:
Deborah the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire has died
Did ever a life-end alliterate with such alarming aloofness?
The chatelaine of Chatsworth, champion of chutney, Charles' chum
The Prince's pal passed away peacefully, apparently
In leaving your life, you leave your eulogist loads of licence for lyrical soliloquy
With the death of Debo the doughty, dashing duchess, a dynasty dies
The malodorous Mitfords, mates with Moseley, friends with fascists, hosted by Hitler
Who, she chastised, lacked Churchill's charisma
I'll do the eulogy if they like - but it's unlikely they'd like it a lot
Or even a little. What a loss.
from the pamphlet Radical Chains: Sexuality and Class Politics, published in 1999.
On 30 April 1999, a nail-bomb killed three people and injured dozens more. It exploded in the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street, the heart of gay Soho.