NEWS
EVENTS
The Frontline of Peace
In the week when Tony Blair failed to properly apologise for the Iraq War, we ask – are we doing enough to promote peace in the world? Well, here are some people taking up the fight against warfare:
Lowkey
Alongside fellow rappers Akala, Mic Righteous, Immortal Technique and Lupe Fiasco, London-born Lowkey has been the leading light in anti-establishment music since time. Coming from an Iraqi background, his lyrics about the wars both there and in Afghanistan sit amongst some of the most powerful in the genre of political hip hop.
The style is real, the messages direct, the results powerful. In ‘Hand On Your Gun’, Lowkey spends half of his bars taking the piss out of those who argue that war helps world security. From BAE Systems to Lockhead Martin – companies guilty of helping produce weapons that take innocent lives in the Middle East – Lowkey is pointing the dagger of his lyrics at a militarised society. This was shown again in 2012, when he turned down an interview with Tim Westwood, after the ageing DJ broadcast one of his shows from the British military base Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.
Yet Lowkey is a classic example of the anti-establishment view being forced underground. He hasn’t made a single piece of certified music since 2012, when he left the industry to concentrate on politics and studying. This was a dark day for music. If leading rappers can’t attack the system from within, where will we be left?
Peter Kennard
A key figure in the Stop The War Movement, artist Peter Kennard has stormed into the Imperial War Museum in London with his pacifist views. His latest exhibition looks at war and the protest movement in the modern world. Using a range of artistic techniques, Kennard highlights the injustice and pointless nature of warfare. From gas marks to atomic bombs, fire-bombs to mass genocide, the exhibition is a thought-provoking story of conflict and our own role in it.
Kennard has been doing this shit for decades. In the 1970s and 1980s he created the visual side of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and this is essentially a review of his life work. Engaging, gruesome, and deep to its core – Kennard’s exhibition is well worth a look. And it’s free – no excuses people.
The White Poppy Movement
With Remembrance Day (11th November) fast approaching, the issue of glorifying war has come around again. Why do we wear red poppies at this time of year? Yes – because they grew in France and Belgium, where so many people died in the First and Second World Wars. However, they also express everything wrong with how we remember war; bloodshed becomes noble, killing becomes acceptable, the red becomes a type of strange celebration. Here the White Poppy Movement comes in.
The White Poppy Movement believes that there are better ways to solve conflicts than blowing each other’s heads to a million pieces. Instead, the movement focuses on education, looking at our social values and habits that continue to support the use of violence.
Britain contributes significantly to international instability. For instance, it is the world’s second largest exporter of armaments. The result of the recent military action – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya - proves the fact that guns and bombs don’t work. Their grim consequences are never worth what they are supposed to achieve.
Now, nearly 100 years after the end of the ‘war to end all wars’ we are still remembering war in positive ways. How can we glorify something that, even in the last decade, has contributed to the killing of millions? Join the movement. Stop the bloodshed.
