A 2011 report from San Francisco

This is an article I wrote in September 2011 in relation to protests against police brutality in San Francisco at the time. Given the current events in the USA, its still relevant so thought I would share it again.

Report from an American city up in arms

Protest is alive and well in the US, well at least in San Francisco, where weekly protests have been held against police brutality. This follows the recent killing of two people by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police. Kenneth Harding, a 19 year old African-American was shot in the back as he ran away from police who suspected him of having not paid his $2 fare on the BART train. Charles Hill, a homeless man was gunned down on a station platform. These two killings by BART police took place in the space of a month.

These events have led to the setting up of the No Justice, No BART Campaign who have organised the weekly protests. Targeting busy BART stations during evening rush hour, they have provoked a hugely disproportionate response by the Police. Police have shut off mobile phone use in BART trains and stations to stop protesters from organizing. Witnesses to the killings and protesters have been intimidated and even thrown in prison.

For the duration of the first two protests, police closed all Downtown BART stations also affecting the MUNI subway system which shares many of the same stations. On Thursday 8^th September, protesters at Powell St. station, (one of the busiest in the city) attempted to open the station gates so passengers could get on the trains without paying. The police responded by closing the station and kettling around 100 protesters inside. Other protesters outside handed out leaflets to bewildered would-be passengers, and shouted slogans and abuse at the riot cops blocking the station entrance.

 

The BART serves some of the poorest areas in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay area. The two men shot dead by the police were both shot in poor neighbourhoods in San Francisco. This is part of a growing problem of police brutality in the poorest areas of American cities. In Oakland, which is connected to San Francisco by the BART, and is much less well off, statistics show that 80% of the time when police draw their guns they shoot. This has contributed to a growing fear and distrust of the police in poor areas, particularly in black and Latino areas, as police patrol these areas heavily armed. This fear would likely have contributed to Kenneth Harding running away from police despite the fact they only suspected him of fare dodging.

 

These actions have brought into question the whole necessity of police on trains and in stations as well as the whole need for transit fares. Statistics have shown that the amount raised by ticket sales only covers the costs of issuing and policing the tickets. Other costs are covered by general city funds. So by getting rid of fares and policing of them, the BART system could be made both safer and more accessible.

 

The issues of the BART police relate into wider issues in American society today. With the continuing economic crisis, homelessness and poverty are on the rise. Public services to help people get out of these situations are having their funding cut just when they are most needed.

In San Francisco, instead of increasing funding for homeless services, the authorities have introduced a law against people sitting or lying down on the street. Of course, criminalising sleeping on the street does nothing to solve the problem and only increases anger of people already frustrated by cutbacks in essential services. This feeds into the anger and distrust of police and authority, who are responding with force and zero tolerance for dissent.

 

What is happening in San Francisco though is only a microcosm of what is happening around the United States. San Francisco is largely quite a wealthy city without the poor ghettos that exist in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. All the conditions are in place and it would be no surprise for events similar to the recent riots in England to happen in these cities.

Ireland, I Despair!

First I must apologise if this article comes across as a rant, but the events of the past week have left me in such despair I couldn't stop myself. Ireland has made so much progress in the last 25 years and a conservative minority are determined to hold it back. During the past week they had two victories.

First came the decision from the BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) to uphold a complaint from the Family and Media Association (FMA), an extremely conservative Catholic organisation. The complaint was that a discussion on the Derek Mooney show on RTE radio about same sex marriage had not been balanced. The discussion was about the day being the anniversary of the first civil partnerships in Ireland and involved someone who had got a civil partnership on the first day they were legal. Tiernan Brady of GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) was also on the show. Derek Mooney is also gay, so there were three gay men on the show, talking about a significant milestone in the history of LGBT rights in Ireland. It was in this context that they discussed the upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage.

Of course, in relation to referendums, RTE is supposed to be completely balanced and impartial so as not to influence the vote in any way. Although try telling that to RTE when there was a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty or the referendum on the Austerity Treaty, when RTE clearly favoured the government position.

The complaint here was made though that there was no opposing views voiced in this incident, that Derek Mooney should have balanced the views of his guests. What the BAI and the FMA are basically saying is that Mooney should have been obliged to have an anti-equality bigot on his show to say why Mooney does not deserve equality.
But then what next? Are we going to say that a black presenter must have Aine NiChonaill, the notorious racist, on their show? Or if a Jewish person were presenting the show, they must have a Nazi on it? That's ridiculous, and downright offensive. And nobody would say that, but for some reason, when it comes to LGBT people, and their rights, suddenly they must be balanced with extreme bigots.
And it just follows on from the ridiculous case where RTE paid 'compensation' to John Waters, the bigot and 'columnist' and the Iona Institute after Rory O'Neill aka Miss Panti Bliss, called them homophobes on TV.

The conservative, predominantly Catholic right are running scared though. Poll after poll in recent years has shown a majority of people support same-sex marriage rights as well as a womens right to choose, the other great fear of conservatives. And they are fighting back, trying to shut down debate and discussion as they know they are losing the propaganda war.

But the polls bring me on to the second, horrible news item of the week. I thought after the case of Savita Halapannavar in 2012, I could never be surprised by the abortion issue in Ireland anymore. But when it comes to abortion, or womens rights in general, Ireland always has the capacity to shock.

At the weekend, the story of a young woman was revealed. She was newly arrived in Ireland in April, most likely an asylum seeker, a rape survivor, and 8 weeks pregnant. She asked for an abortion which was denied her.
Being forced to continue the pregnancy she attempted suicide at 16 weeks. She then went to a GP in July who referred her to a hospital where she was assessed to see if she was eligible for an abortion under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy (PLDP) Act. Due to her attempted suicide and mental state, she should have been eligible under the law, but she was denied the abortion. She then went on hunger and thirst strike at which point the HSE got a High Court order allowing her to be force fed. In the court, the young woman, and the foetus had separate legal representation. Yes, a foetus had its own lawyer, paid for by the state, ergo, by us, the taxpayers. She was then deceived into ending her hunger strike and then persuaded or more likely coerced into having a caesarean section to deliver the foetus prematurely after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

What is most shocking and horrifying, and I did feel sick when first reading about the case, is that this women endured physical and mental torture at the hands of the state. A woman who was already incredibly vulnerable, she had just survived a rape, she was in a new country, with not much English. And who was so traumatised by the pregnancy that she attempted suicide, and later went on hunger strike.

At no point during this case, was the womans life or health considered, or at least considered first. The foetus came first, when the woman was force fed, it was to keep the foetus alive until it became viable for a C-section to happen. The poor woman had no bodily autonomy during this pregnancy, but particularly after she came into the remit of the HSE when she was referred to the hospital.

When pro-choice activists warned last year that the PLDP Bill did not go far enough and that it would create problems and confusion, we were dismissed by the government who said the legislation went as far as necessary and that it would protect women. And while this young woman might not have died, she has been left traumatised for life. She suffered treatment at the hands of the state that no one should have to face.

And when I say state, this case clearly highlights the interconnectedness of the ruling class running the state. The womans suffering resulted from collaboration between politicians and the church who continue to criminalise abortion, healthcare providers who deny abortion services, and the judiciary who back them up.

In the same way the BAI case showed the collaboration between those at the top of the Irish media, the regulatory bodies and the legal professions.

All working together to preserve the status quo, an Ireland in which women have no rights or bodily integrity while pregnant. An Ireland in which LGBT people are only tolerated as long as they don't talk about it or demand too much equality. Too much equality? I didn't think that was possible, but clearly it is a problem that the likes of the FMA and Iona Institute have identified.

I hope now, the next year will see a reassertion of progress and moves toward equality. The referendum on same-sex marriage takes place in the Spring. I am determined that the silent majority in this country who support equality will no longer be silenced by a vocal and increasingly shrill minority who would deny such equality.

Hopefully there will also be a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment as that has to be the first step in decriminalising abortion in Ireland and giving women the right to choose. The government would love to just ignore the issue and hope it goes away again, and it is pro-choice activists duty now to ensure that the issue stays alive and that a referendum is very much kept on the agenda.

2014-15 Season Preview

Premiership Prediction 2014-15

1.   Chelsea

2.   Arsenal

3.   Manchester City

4.   Liverpool

5.   Manchester United

6.   Tottenham Hotspurs

7.   Newcastle

8.   Everton

9.   West Ham United

10.               Stoke

11.               Southampton

12.               Sunderland

13.               Hull

14.               Crystal Palace

15.               West Bromwich Albion

16.               Queens Park Rangers

17.               Leicester City

18.               Aston Villa

19.               Swansea City

20.               Burnley

 

This looks set to be Chelsea’s year. They have made the best signings and Mourinho is in his second season since returning to Chelsea. In his second seasons at Porto and Inter, he won the league and Champions League doubles, and won his only La Liga title in his second season at Real Madrid.

Diego Costa is a good bet to finish top scorer, as he has all the attributes to thrive in the Premiership, and he brings the aggression as well as goal-scoring threat that was lacking in the Chelsea attack last season. Fabregas should settle into the midfield smoothly as replacement for Lampard. And for the first time since, this team resembles closely the phenomenal Chelsea team of 2005. The only question mark is over Torres and Drogba as back up to Costa. Torres isn’t performing and Drogba might not have the legs anymore.

 
Arsenal have strengthened significantly this summer with Ospina, Debuchy and Chambers being significant improvements on Fabianski, Sagna and Jenkinson. Chambers has looked surprisingly calm and assured so far. But the big change is the signing of Alexis Sanchez. He brings the pace, aggression and directness that was lacking in the Arsenal attack last season, particularly when Walcott got injured. As well as his own attributes, Sanchez should help bring out the best in Mesut Ozil as well after he had a quiet first season.
If Arsenal can bring in the centre back and defensive midfielder they still need, and they have been linked with a number of them, then they should be able to put in a sustained title challenge.
They should also be helped by Shad Forsythe, the fitness coach who will help reduce the amount and duration of injuries which have cost Arsenal so dearly in the past 10 years.

Manchester City might be reigning champions but they have stagnated so far this summer. They have strengthened the defensive side with Caballero, Mangala, Sagna and Fernando which should help cut out the defensive mistakes from last season. But with Negredo injured, and Aguero so injury-prone this year, City could struggle up front. And if anything happens to Toure, they will be in trouble because Lampard is certainly not an adequate replacement.

 
Next will be Manchester United and Liverpool. Which order they finish in depends very much on who they sign within the next two weeks.
So far United have signed Herrera and Shaw, both of whom are good players, but they will not be enough to mount a title challenge, and probably not enough to get in the top four. They still need a couple of defenders and a midfielder. They will be helped though by playing fewer games due to not being in Europe.

Liverpool sold the best player in the league and have spent the money on expanding the squad, although so far, with the exception of Dejan Lovren, it seems to be more a matter of quantity rather than quality. They desperately need to sign a better striker than Lambert or they will struggle to replace the goals of Suarez. Markovic, Can and Moreno could take time to settle and are unlikely to make an immediate impact. Lallana is overrated at £25m, and when you consider that a player like Toni Kroos moved for less than that this summer, clearly that money could have been better spent.

 
I’d expect Tottenham to improve this season under new manager Mauricio Pocchettino. So far their transfer business has been quiet but if they sign Wilfried Bony and Mateo Musacchio, as expected, they should have enough to challenge for the top four as they already have a very strong squad. Having had a season to settle in, Christian Eriksen, could be one of the top players in the league this season.
 
Newcastle have done some very good transfer business this summer. Janmaat is a more than adequate replacement for Debuchy while they have significantly strengthened in their weak spot in attack with Riviere, Ayoze, Ferreyra and DeJong while Cabella is an outstanding playmaker and a real coup of a signing. If they can maintain some consistency they should finish in the top 8.
 
A lot of pundits are tipping Everton to challenge the top four but they have not strengthened at all from last season. There is a lot of talk about the £28m spent on Romelu Lukaku, nearly doubling their transfer record, but he was at the club last season, as was their other major signing Gareth Barry. They might have been better off bringing in Bony and Remy who would have cost a combined 28m and would have provided greater options and more goals. The on-loan Atsu replaces the on-loan Deulofeu who was a better player. That just leaves Muhammed Besic, who has potential, but his youth and lack of experience, as well as the strength Everton already have in midfield, mean it could take a while for him to break into the team. The squad is also likely to be stretched by playing in the Europa League especially as the likes of Distin, Jagielka and Osman are all getting on.
 
West Ham and Stoke have both made decent signings and should finish comfortably in mid-table, while Sunderland should improve after their narrow escape last season.
 
Southampton have been decimated in the transfer window, although they did very well to get £88m for Lallana, Shaw, Lovren and Chambers. Pocchettino is also a big loss. Ronald Koeman has a very mixed record as manager, he did well with Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord but disappointed at Benfica and was disastrous at Valencia and AZ. He has made some good signings though, even if they paid way too much for Shane Long. If the new signings settle they should be comfortable in mid-table, if they don’t, they could be in for a relegation battle.
 
That leaves the bottom eight teams, any of whom could be relegated, depending on injuries, suspensions, transfers or even sheer bad luck.

Hull could finish higher, but have just sold their best striker, and unless they can get someone in fast they could struggle for goals. They should have enough quality in the rest of the team to stay up though.

Crystal Palace have had a disappointing summer, missing out on all their main transfer targets. This has now led to rumours of manager Tony Pulis being unhappy and wanting to leave. If he stays, they should have enough to be safe, although it will be tougher than last season and it certainly won’t be pretty. If Pulis leaves, at this late stage of the summer, they will struggle.

 
West Brom have appointed Alan Irvine who is completely unproven at this level. It is a gamble, but they showed with Steve Clarke in 2012 that it can pay off. They have made some excellent signings which should strengthen their defence. Much depends on Ideye Brown in attack, I’m not sure if he will be good enough. They will be hard to beat though and despite most pundits predicting they will be relegated I think they will stay up.
 
I expect QPR to be the best of the promoted teams. They have plenty of players with premiership experience as well as Harry Redknapp who will be keen to do well in what will probably be his last job. They have also made some good signings while clearing out a lot of the bad ones left behind by Mark Hughes.
 
Leicester have a good blend of experience and youth and having dominated the Championship last season should just about have enough to stay up.
 
Aston Villa are the fourth most successful team in the history of English football and have been in the top division continuously since 1988. They have hovered around the relegation zone for much of the 90’s and 00’s though and this looks like it will be the season they get relegated. They only just avoided it last season, and so far this summer they have signed Joe Cole, Senderos and Richardson all on free transfers and Aly Cissokho for £2m. Cole is long past his best and barely played last season at West Ham, Senderos has never quite been good enough at this level and Richardson was relegated with Fulham last season. Meanwhile Cissokho flopped last season at Liverpool. Villa are too reliant on Benteke in attack who probably would have left by now if he wasn’t injured. And Ron Vlaar, the captain and defensive rock looks set to leave.

There has been a lot of speculation that the new assistant manager, Roy Keane will replace manager, Paul Lambert if Villa start badly although its hard to see how that will make any difference considering that the owner is refusing to spend any money. It’s a sad way to go, cast aside by a disinterested American owner, but it shows the perils of being bought out by businessmen who have no previous connection to the club.

 
We still don’t know the full reason why Michael Laudrup was sacked by Swansea last season. They were struggling, but given his previous achievements he should have been given more time. His replacement, Garry Monk looks out of his depth and is unlikely to last the full season. A number of key players have left, and their replacements are vastly inferior. Loaning out Michu is particularly baffling. With Wilfried Bony looking set to join either Tottenham or Liverpool, Swansea will struggle badly.
 
Burnley’s promotion was a massive achievement, considering their budget and size of their squad. But they look out of their depth here particularly as they haven’t managed to make any noteworthy signings. This season could be a long hard slog for them.

Brutal, yet beautiful - 12 Years a Slave - Film Review

Brutal, yet beautiful, 12 Years a Slave is a stunning cinematic achievement. The film is based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup, a freeman from New York, who in 1841, was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He spent twelve years in slavery in Louisiana before being freed. It is a harrowing story, and director Steve McQueen does not hold back from showing the violence involved in slavery in graphic detail.

12 Years a Slave has been hailed as the first major film to deal seriously and closely with the issue of slavery in America. Previous films, such as Steven Spielbergs 2012 recent epic bore, Lincoln, and his earlier film Amistad, have tended to focus on the legal and political battles to abolish slavery, and have shied away from showing the brutal realities of slavery. The only film to come close to 12 Years, was last years Django Unchained. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Django was more of a comic exploitation film and most of the focus was taken by white characters. Leonardo DiCaprio as the slave owner Calvin Candie and Christoph Waltz as the bounty hunter Dr King Schultz were utterly compelling, while the main character, the slave Django, played by Jamie Foxx, appeared underwritten and quite frankly boring.

12 Years a Slave has Solomon Northup, played in a brilliant performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, squarely at the heart of the film. There are brilliant performances by Michael Fassbender as the sadistic slave owner Epps, and Paul Dano as an overseer, while a number of other big name actors also appear in various roles. But none of these detract from the central character and performance. This film is about the slaves experience and nothing is going to distract the audience from that.

Yet there is also an important tension within the film as Solomon Northup is not always a sympathetic character. There is an important early scene in New York, when Solomon is in a shop. A black slave sees him and is surprised by Solomons ability to live freely. Solomon ignores him and turns away when the slave is called away by his master. Solomon seems to show no sympathy for the plight of slaves until he becomes one. Even then, he is very keen to look out for himself but shows little thought for the suffering of other slaves around him. He refuses to help one of his fellow slaves, who has been raped by Epps, when she asks him to kill her as she cannot go on living. He shows another woman no sympathy when she is distraught having been separated from her children.

When Solomon does attempt to resist the brutality, he is savagely beaten. One particularly stark scene shows Solomon being hung from a tree in retaliation for fighting back against an ignorant overseer. As he struggles to stay alive, by keeping his toes touching the ground, life goes on around him as usual, showing that such brutality was completely normal at the time. One of the reasons that Solomon is so badly treated was because he was clearly an educated man, in the eyes of the racist plantation overseer, Solomon had ideas above his station, he has to be taught a lesson.
Solomon learns early on that he must deny who he is, he must deny his past as a freeman, he must pretend to be illiterate, he has to hide his character.
Some critics have accused the film of being too cold and dispassionate, and that we do not get enough of a sense of Solomon's character. This is understandable though, when Solomon cannot show his true self, through the vast majority of the film he is pretending to be someone he is not.

12 Years a Slave is a very important film, for finally showing the brutal realities of slavery, and the effect it had on its victims. For the first time, audiences are getting to see this in graphic detail, finally such a dark episode in American history, for so long brushed under the carpet, is being shown. It is a shame that it has taken so long, but also that it required an English director, and mostly British production for such a film to be made.


Setting aside the plot and theme, on a purely cinematic level, 12 Years a Slave is also a stunning film. Steve McQueen, is a Turner Prize winning artist, who only turned to feature length film making with his debut Hunger in 2008. His earlier work was mostly in short films and photography and looked at issues of race, sexuality and violence.
McQueen's artistic background is very clear in 12 Years a Slave. His films are known for their long camera shots, close-ups and an almost obsessive attention to the human body. All this features in abundance in 12 Years. McQueen, deliberately compared the visual style of the film to the paintings by the Spanish artist, Francisco Goya:

"When you think about Goya, who painted the most horrendous pictures of violence and torture and so forth, and they're amazing, exquisite paintings, one of the reasons they're such wonderful paintings is because what he's saying is, 'Look – look at this.' So if you paint it badly or put it in the sort of wrong perspective, you draw more attention to what's wrong with the image rather than looking at the image."

The film is a visual feast, making it utterly compelling. It draws the viewer in, and as much as they may want to look away during the scenes of graphic violence, they are unable to. This is important, McQueen is showing something that needs to be seen and thus ties the style in neatly with the thematic importance of the film.

Together with the fantastic performances by a brilliant cast, it is no wonder that 12 Years a Slave is picking up plenty of awards and is the overwhelming favourite to win big at the Oscars. This is a brilliant film, that deserves all the praise it is currently receiving. It may be the first, but hopefully it wont be the last film to properly deal with the issue of slavery in the America's. And while I was impressed by his earlier films, 12 Years a Slave is on another level, and I look forward in earnest to the next film from Steve McQueen.