Australia - An Aboriginal man once told me how it riles him up having clueless, non-Aboriginal lecture him on what his culture and history is.
The University lecturer was speaking from the podium on Irish and their resistance. He has deduced the resistance from 1916 Easter Rising through to the 1981 Hunger Strike was insanity – all indigenous Irish who partook in the events were utterly insane. I looked around at the young students feverishly scribbling notes – all non Irish bar the one sitting next to me who suddenly reaches out her hand and holds mine. I realize the rage boiling in me is obvious – I am rigid with rage and stabbing my pen down on the desk over and over. But the days of drama and such are over – I am old, slyer, educated and know how the game is played. I raise my hand and carefully speak so as not to be reduced to a train-wreck of expletives.
I loudly state at the lecturer: 'You do not understand - all who resisted knew full well what they were doing. You mistake courage and integrity for insanity.' And the lecturer looks taken aback then politely acknowledges there are other ways of perceiving Irish resistance.
I want to laugh at him and the great halls of academia that still persist in relaying lies and distortions. But I have made my point to all the students there - why sully it with sarcastic, raucous laughter.
And all the while a line from a poem I wrote is drumming in my head – ‘We are the ‘mad Irish’ you want to see – still Britain’s toy – still the Vatican’s bumboy’.
An Aboriginal man told me once how it riles him up having clueless, non-Aboriginal lecture him on what his culture and history is. I believe I fully know now how he feels.
We are the ‘mad Irish’ you want to see
We are still Britain’s toy
Still the Vatican’s bumboy
Still caricatures in media
We are the ‘mad Irish’ you want to see
Subversion, co-ercion, submersion…
Compromise…
Into the vat of British lard
We are yer Irish cock forever hard
Spiked with grim wit from head to toe
When we smile shamrocks wedged in our teeth wink at you
as blood fills our eye
We are Mammy’s boys
We are brittle hags
We are a once proud Mother Ireland
whose legs splayed wide open has been pack raped to shreds
When we cry the uilleann pipes scream: Fenian from womb to tomb
We are Depressive, Violent, Alcoholic, Vengeful
We be the feckin’ ugly yet slyly clever losers
drowning in morbidity
We duck & weave
&
spit out a “top o’ the morn to ye”
We are the ‘mad Irish’ you want to see
Propped up with a sprinkle of poetry & songs
Well soaked we are in centuries of blood, war & grief
We know ‘how the Irish became white’ Noel Ignatiev
Make no mistake of that
Subversion, co-ercion, submersion, compromise
Into the vat of British lard
We are yer Irish cock forever hard
Spiked with grim wit from head to toe
When we smile shamrocks wedged in our teeth wink at you
as blood fills our eye
We are still Britain’s toy
Still the Vatican’s bumboy
Still caricatures in media
We are the ‘mad Irish’ you want to see
Whatever about any legitimacy of her spoken comment, she overcooks the rage (and the dysfunctionality of Irish society) in her imagery. Too much. Less is more.
ReplyDeletenice one Mary. And ask the lecturer - who pays your weekly wage oh wise objective balanced liberated intellectual who thinks people who rise up against tyranny are lunatics?
ReplyDeletethe answer will most definitely be in your favour.
mackers - is marys surname spelled wrong here?
@ Grouch thanks & yes uni’s r by & large propaganda machines with a thin veneer purporting otherwise Ripppppppppppp off that veneer & the pong of imperialism and conformity is there – the butchers apron is on the Australia flag u know… so the myths are bound to persist but I would expect more ethical approach in teaching. In this instance I felt it vital young students heard the truth/other reality. It was incredibly ignorant and insulting of that lecturer what he said and the hallmark of a good teacher imo is to present all facets and let the students come to conclusions/analyse what’s what. I will be dammed if I was going to sit there and listen to that blatant bias/disrespect. It’s quite cool being old in that respect – they cannot shut u down because you r done with it all & have enough education to be succinct. & hone in. When I was young uneducated I would just yell stuff like u rotten lying c… go to hell etc which whilst admittedly satisfying temporarily did not relay much else to the listener/s but certainly shocked them * Me name on scribd is spelt wrong Should be marscial – marshall and marie fada over a.
ReplyDelete@ ColmMcG Less is never more - that saying came from a rich fashionista socialite I say Less is less and more is more. I want MORE OF MORE dont we all!!$$$$$ I hate that saying as it is elitism crap from those who will never know the misery of food vouchers, dole queues, rundown housing estates etc Re the poem - I don’t know if you see that that the overkill was deliberate I am winding up and throwing it back in the faces of all those who stereotype/mock but also with truths interspersed throughout. Thanks anyway for your thoughts. * In artwork less is more is correct as u can kill the painting (overpaint) I have killed many paintings
ReplyDelete@ Anthony many thanks for putting this up. much apprec.
ReplyDeleteGood on you Mary for keeping "the head" years ago I to would have been dug out of that cunt, but as you say these people cant see past their own insular perspective, they have no concept of the meaning of freedom cocooned in their middle class lives from birth to death, if they want to understand struggle they need only look at the day to day grind of the indigenous Australians, then they may understand the meaning of "its better to die on our feet than live on our knees " and maybe realise its as far from insanity as you can get,
ReplyDeletemarty, 'dug out of that cunt' cracked me up, laughed me hole off.
ReplyDeletemary, i read the jerilderie letter recently. ned was a poet as much as an outlaw, one hell of a letter, a work of heart-spoken art. i'd love to have been a fly on the wall as he was dictating it, God be good to him.