Fite Dem Back
Linton Kwesi Johnson
we gonna smash their brains in
cause they ain´t got nofink in ´em
we gonna smash their brains in
cause they ain´t got nofink in ´em
some a dem say dem a niggah haytah
an´ some a dem say dem a black beatah
some a dem say dem a black stabbah
an´ some a dem say dem a paki bashah
fashist an di attack
noh baddah worry ´bout dat
fashist an di attack
wi wi´ fite dem back
fashist an di attack
den wi countah-attack
fashist an di attack
den wi drive dem back
we gonna smash their brains in
cause they ain´t got nofink in ´em
we gonna smash their brains in
cause they ain´t got nofink in ´em
These links come courtesy of Fightdemback:
Racism, Free Speech and the College Campus
By Tim Wise
As has been the case for as long as I can recall, an American college campus is once again embroiled in controversy over the expression of racism in its hallowed halls, and what it may seek to do in response.This time the place is Bellarmine University, a Catholic college in Louisville, Kentucky, where, for the past several months, freshman Andrei Chira has been sporting an armband for “Blood and Honour”–a British-based neo-Nazi and skinhead-affiliated musical movement, that calls for “white pride” and white power.
Russian parliament urges tougher laws against extremism
By Yossi Melman, Amiram Barkat and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies
The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament said Thursday that lawmakers might consider tougher legislation to prevent extremism after a knife attack on worshippers at a Moscow synagogue that wounded 11 people.
The attack at the Chabad Bronnaya synagogue came amid an increase in the activity of hate groups in Russia and in the number of racist crimes. Jewish leaders said the attack should serve as a clear message to Russian authorities and the public to fight racism.
Oh, did I happen to mention that my disappointment at missing LKJ perform here in 2004 was only assauged by the presentation of a signed copy (“for @ndy”) of LKJ’s Forces of Victory CD? (Thanks Eleven & Mysh!) This bloke’s a legend:
Linton Kwesi Johnson (Jamaica/UK) was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He came to London in 1963, went to Tulse Hill secondary school and later studied Sociology at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. Whilst still at school he joined the Black Panthers, helped to organise a poetry workshop within the movement and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers. In 1977 he was awarded a C Day Lewis Fellowship, becoming the writer-in-residence for the London Borough of Lambeth for that year. He went on to work as the Library Resources and Education Officer at the Keskidee Centre, the first home of Black theatre and art. In 1974 Race Today published his first collection of poetry, Voices of the Living and the Dead. Dread Beat An’ Blood, his second collection, was published in 1975 and was also the title of his first LP, released by Virgin in 1978. That year also saw the release of the film Dread Beat An’ Blood, a documentary on Johnson’s work. In 1980 Race Today published his third book, Inglan Is A Bitch and there were four more albums on the Island label: Forces of Victory (1979), Bass Culture (1980), LKJ in Dub (1981) and Making History (1983). LKJ, Johnson’s own record label, was launched in 1981 with two singles by the Jamaican poet Michael Smith, ‘Mi Cyaan Believe It’ and ‘Roots’. During the 1980s he became immersed in journalism, working closely with the Brixton-based Race Today collective. His 10-part radio series on Jamaican popular music, ‘From Mento to Lovers Rock’, went out on BBC Radio 1 in 1982 and was repeated in 1983. From 1985-88 he was a reporter on Channel 4’s The Bandung File. He also toured regularly with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band and produced albums by the writer Jean Binta Breeze and by jazz trumpeter Shake Keane. Recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the album LKJ Live in Concert with the Dub Band was released independently in 1985 and was nominated for a Grammy Award soon after. This was followed by Tings An’ Times in 1991, also the title of his [?]. In 1992 Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell collaborated to produce LKJ in Dub: Volume Two. In 1996 the album LKJ Presents was released, a compilation of various artists including Linton Kwesi Johnson. This was followed in the same year by LKJ A Cappella Live, a collection of 14 poems without music. In 1998 Johnson released More Time to celebrate his twentieth anniversary in the recording business. Island also released a two-CD compilation set entitled Independant Intavenshan. In 2002 Linton Kwesi Johnson became only the second living poet and the first black poet to have his work published in Penguin’s Modern Classics series, under the title Mi Revalueshanary Fren: Selected Poems. The BBC made a TV programme about LKJ’s poetry, shown in their Profile series on BBC 4. In this year Johnson also released the CD LKJ in Dub: Volume Three. Linton Kwesi Johnson has been made an Associate Fellow of Warwick University (1985), an Honorary Fellow of Wolverhampton Polytechnic (1987) and received an award at the XIII Premo Internazionale Ultimo Novecento from the city of Pisa for his contribution to poetry and popular music (1990). In 1998 he was awarded the Premio Piero Ciampi Citta di Livorno Concorso Musicale Nazionale in Italy. In 2003 Johnson was bestowed with an honorary fellowship from his alma mater, Goldsmiths College in London. He has toured the world from Japan to the new South Africa, from Europe to Brazil. His recordings are amongst the top-selling reggae albums in the world and his work has been translated into Italian and German. Unsurprisingly, he is known and revered as the world’s first reggae poet.
