Dear Diary

Dear Diary

In his seminal manual on governance, 1984, the political scientist George Orwell instructed those who would have absolute power to have hate as a key tool and to prime it often.

Those who are in power have heeded Orwell’s instruction well and Hate Week is upon us once more.

This week we are expected to hate two groups of people. We are expected to hate families with more that two children who need assistance from the State to get by. And we are expected to hate families with children who are here because they need refuge.

My neighbour says there's a good chance the State will be sending doctors into the streets next week to sterilise people from these families.

My neighbour says there's a chance the State will be rounding up people from these families and forcing them into work camps.

My neighbour is not sure which, between the mass sterilisation and the work camps, is going to come first.

On Zimbabwean schools that banned cereals after students used them to brew beer

In September, The Chronicle reported that a number of boarding schools in Zimbabwe have banned students from bringing certain types of breakfast cereals to school because some of the students are using the cereals to brew beer.

The report was subsequently picked up by a number of international media organisations, among them, SABC News, The Guardian, TIME and RT.

To me, the incident suggests the students are highly resourceful, creative and enterprising. It also suggests they have multi-faceted skills and aptitude that should be encouraged, rewarded and developed.

The schools mentioned in the report are: Tennyson Hlabangana High School, Cyrene Boys High and Embakwe.

Does anyone know what the schools' science teaching and learning resources and facilities are like? Are the schools OK for textbooks, equipment, facilities and resources or can they do with support in sourcing these?

a love poem of sorts?

at the job centre
a woman in her forties
in tears

her mother
in her seventies
intervenes

Poets and Musicians in Solidarity with Refugees

A video that appeared on The Guardian website yesterday does a number of things that we, in Leicester and the East Midlands, are also working on.

The video starts with Benedict Cumberbatch reading 'Home', a poem that talks about why people leave home and why they are using the Mediterranean to try and find places of safety.

The poem reminds me of Momodou Sallah's "Barca or Berserk". It also reminds me of "Poems for People", an anthology of poems and short fiction that Poets in Solidarity with Refugees are currently working on.

The Crowded House song, "Help is Coming", reminds me that in Leicester, a significant number of musicians, singers and songwriters are currently looking at producing a musical recording and at staging a concert in solidarity with refugees.

Both the Poets in Solidarity with Refugees and the Musicians in Solidarity with Refugees initiatives also aim to support the men, women and children who are in Calais as well as those who are using the Mediterranean in an effort to find places of safety. The initiatives also aim to raise funds for groups that work with refugees and asylum seekers.

to bits

unreservedly
unconditionally
uncritically

deeply
madly

without rhythm
rhyme
reason
or method

to bits

Britain: 'Soft Touch' or Hostile Environment?

On 25 June 2015, I took part in a live telephone interview with BBC Radio Leicester's Jim Davis. During the interview, I said my sympathy is with the people who are trying to use Calais as a way into Britain because they have traveled far and because the journeys they have taken are extremely dangerous. I said a lot of them are coming from war-torn countries and that if what is happening to their countries were happening in Britain, people in Britain would be using any means they can to leave this island for places they think are safe.

I also said that I don't not accept the popular fiction that Britain is "a soft touch" because the exact opposite is true: Successive governments have said (publicly) that they want to create a hostile environment for immigrants in Britain. This hostility finds expression in the vile Immigration Act 2014, for example.

Here is how the interview went:

JIM DAVIS: Good morning, Ambrose.

ME: Good morning.

JIM: What would you like to say, Sir?

ME: Ah, a few things.

Firstly, listening to others who have been speaking, I notice that people seem to be making a distinction between 'immigrants' and 'people'. What seems to be getting lost is that when we talk about 'migrants', we are talking about people.

And also, those who are trying to get into Britain from Calais, they have my sympathy. The journeys that they have taken are among some of the most dangerous in the world today.

And we also need to remember that they are fleeing things like war, persecution and famine. And if what they are fleeing from were happening in Britain today, almost everyone in Britain would be trying to leave by any means necessary.

And, the other thing is that, for me, the crisis is not what is happening in Calais... The crisis is in war... The crisis is in the existence of failed states... The crisis is also in how Europe has been and is shutting down all routes to safety. And...

JIM: We can cast our minds, Ambrose, to a vote in the British House of Commons, a few years ago, where the politicians elected by the good people of Britain chose not to intervene in the Syrian crisis and step aside. Can we only therefore blame ourselves for the fact that so many thousands of people are fleeing the very persecution you speak of and seeking sanctuary and refuge in safer, calmer lands such as our own, as a result of no will to politically intervene when the war was breaking out?

ME: I would actually dispute your... your... what you say... that Britain has not intervened in Syria.
Britain has intervened in Syria. The conflict in Syria is what it is because of British and American intervention. Britain and the US, for example, have been funding armed groups in Syria right from the start of the conflict and they continue to do so, even now.

And, also, some of the people who are at Calais are Syrian. They form the bulk of the people who are at Calais.

And, speaking of Syrians, again, Britain has said that it will not take in more Syrian refugees.

JIM: Tell me a little of your own story, Ambrose. Just briefly, a few words, and your backstory.

ME: Ah... my backstory... the backstory I'm comfortable speaking about is that I came to the UK in 2002. Before that I was a teacher and a journalist. I've also experienced the immigration and asylum system in the UK. I've got friends who are still going through the asylum process. And I can tell you that from those experiences, my own and my friends', Britain is anything... it's not the soft touch... saying that Britain is a soft touch is a popular fiction. It's not true. The exact opposite is true. Britain is extremely hostile, not just to asylum seekers but to immigrants in general. And, also...

JIM: And you not just talking about the system there, are you? You are also talking about members of the public who...

ME: I am talking about the system.

JIM: OK.

ME: The system... Successive governments...

JIM: Knowing what you know now, though, Ambrose, would you have made the same choices 13 years ago?

ME: I think the choices I made, I made them because I didn't know... you know... what I know now. If I'd known what I know now, probably, I would have... you know... tried something else.

JIM: Having come through the system, though, do you feel like this is your home now and that you are welcome and have a right to be here?

ME: I do.

JIM: Good.

ME: I absolutely love this city and I've got friends and family right here in Leicester. Leicester, for me, is home. Has always been. Right from the day I first got here.

JIM: Ambrose, thank you so much for your insight and I am so grateful for your willingness to discuss your personal situation.

*An audio version of the session is accessible at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02t904q and my contribution starts at 42 minutes 20 seconds.

I think it's unfortunate that I got sidetracked into a conversation on my backstory because the backstory is a side issue. Instead of talking about myself, I'd very much have wanted to talk about the despicable Immigration Act 2014. But there you have it. Maybe I'll get to talk about the vile Act another day.

The Gospel According to Bobba: 'Engaging, thought-provoking, easy to read and fun'

The Gospel According to Bobba (CivicLeicester, 2015) presents a collection of Bobba's sayings for the first time ever.

The Gospel opens with the observations:

Bobba says
every day
can be
a beautiful day

and it goes on to deal with subjects that include defining the good life:

Bobba says
the good life
starts
with comfortable socks
and
comfortable
underwear

to celebrating the joys of a cup of tea and biscuits:

Bobba says
there's something about tea and biscuits
which makes the world
a beautiful place

to presenting a way of dealing with challenges and fears:

Bobba says
in a country
that's afraid of its own shadow
schools
should be places
where light is cast on shadows

The volume is engaging, thought-provoking, easy to read and fun.

The Gospel is available as a paperback and as a kindle ebook.