Che Guevara controversy erupts among conservatives in Ireland

Manuel Barcia reports in AlJazeera

 

"The normally peaceful city of Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, has recently been making the news due to the polemical decision of its city council to build a monument to Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The decision has been based on the fact that Guevara, a descendant of the Lynch clan, was himself partly Irish. This attempt to celebrate Guevara's Irish heritage has been met with resistance in some conservative quarters within Ireland, and subsequently in the United States.

 

First, Irish businessman and campaigner Declan Ganley suggested the monument would drive away tourism from Galway - an unlikely outcome, as it is well-known that Che Guevara's image is found among the most popular merchandise in the world. Then, Yale-based academic Carlos Eire and Republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lethinen added their voices to Ganley's and requested that, since Guevara was a murderer and a war criminal, the Irish should scrap the project altogether and, in the words of the latter, build instead a monument to "the enslaved Cuban people".

 

"Guevara was much more than a grotesque criminal, as it has been suggested."

 

One can only wonder, why this opposition all of a sudden? More importantly, do they have a point?

 

Ernesto Guevara, better known as "Che", was a guerrilla fighter and one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Soon after coming to power, Guevara was in charge of carrying out a number of executions - some accounts mention hundreds - of people that the new Cuban leadership considered to be "enemies of the revolution".

 

Although it is true that Guevara seemed to have no qualms about carrying out this gruesome task, his entire contribution to the history of the modern world should not be defined solely by this dark episode; and especially not so by taking the event out of context to demonise him, as Ganley, Eire, and Ros-Lethinen have done." FULL STORY

Views: 62

Tags: culture, global, news, politics

Comment

You need to be a member of Black Talk Radio Network™ to add comments!

Join Black Talk Radio Network™

Welcome to Black Talk Radio Network



Events

Black Talk Radio News

Watermelon Basketballs, Gold Chains & Old Spice Swagger


Download MP3

Charles Lowman of NuVibe Radio joins us tonight to discuss the Syrius Institute of Learning - Dominican Republic which is seeking "to provide supplemental education to under-privileged children and to promote sustainability through adult education programs.". If you would like to contribute to this fund raising campaign you can find it on indiegogo where you will receive a thank you gift tailored to your contribution.

What does Watermelon Basketballs and Gold Chains have to do with deodorant? The Black Talk Media Project is asking that question. We expected suspected racist white people to defend the Old Spice commercial which aired during the NBA Finals last night but while not surprising, African-AMERICANS are failing to recognize the racial undertones of the not only the commercial but its placement.

In political news, a recent SCOTUS case resulted in the further erosion of so-called "civil rights". The US Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-4 decision in the case Salinas v. Texas, that your right to remain silent can be used against you in a criminal trial should you be charged with the crime for which you are being questioned by police. Texas Prosecutors in the case argued that Salinas’ silence during a police interview prior to his arrest was a “very important piece of evidence” and that only a guilty person would have remained silent when questioned about his connection to a crime. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion that Salinas “was required to assert the privilege in order to benefit from it,” even though a person questioned while under arrest could not have his silence used against him.
www.StatCounter.com/myspace/ - Free myspace Profile Counter

Political Prisoner Radio

Prison Radio Director Noelle Hanrahan




Download MP3

Political Prisoner Radio had an opportunity to catch up with the director of Prison Radio, Noelle Hanrahan. She is known most for her radio work with political prisoner and former Death Row member Mumia Abu Jamal in helping him to record and distribute his political commentaries from behind bars. She also participated in the production of the independent film "Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal" which is now available on DVD after a successful run in select theaters. We will also get into the repression of Black revolutionary politics in mainstream media.

After the interview we will share some of the latest events and alerts related to political prisoners.


Free All Political Prisoners, Free The Land!www.StatCounter.com/myspace/ - Free myspace Profile Counter

Black Autonomy Federation Radio

BAF Radio: Food Insecurity, Homelessness Among Blacks and moving from Obedience to Rebellion to Insurrection

Download MP3 Black Autonomy Federation Radio will examine some serious issues facing the Black community today in the current economic and political climate in the United States. TOPICS I.) Food Security and being removed from food-stamps. Sequester Obama government cutbacks II). 50% of the Homeless in America are Black! III). Moving from obedience to Rebellion and Insurrection

New Abolitionists Radio

w/ J. Jondhi Harrell & Glenn Davis from "Decarcerate PA"




Download MP3

Tonight we will be joined by Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell and Mr. Glenn Davis from "Decarcerate PA" which back in May held a march in Pennsylvania to demand a people's budget that invests in communities and not prisons. Judging from the participation in the march, it was successful in raising public awareness about 21st Century Slavery and Human Trafficking.

"Decarcerate PA is a grassroots campaign working to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania. We demand that PA stop building prisons, reduce the prison population, and reinvest money in our communities."

After we speak with Mr. Harrell and Mr. Davis we will share some of the latest news related to 21st Century Slave and Human Trafficking and open the phone lines for a general discussion on the issue.

Move To Abolish 21st Century Slavery
www.StatCounter.com/myspace/ - Free myspace Profile Counter

Militant Minded Radio

World Star Hip-Hop creator asked to stop exploiting minors and the mentally challenged




Download MP3

World Star Hip-Hop has built a media platform that has become a clearinghouse for the worst of “Urban America” according to a recent Change.org petition created by Supreme Understanding of Supreme Design Publishing.

The petition says, "There are some things that we all should know are wrong. Things like sexually exploiting minors or the mentally ill. The administrators of WorldStarHipHop.com apparently do not share these standards of human decency."

Supreme Understanding will join us tonight along with Scotty Reid of the Black Talk Media Project and members of the Militant Mind Movement on Militant Minded Radio to discuss this issue and why the Black community should be involved in this campaign to stop the exploitation of our most vulnerable people.
www.StatCounter.com/myspace/ - Free myspace Profile Counter

Occupy The Microphone

240,000 turn out to protest bus fare and police brutality in Brazil



DOWNLOAD MP3

Massive protests have been going on in Brazil for over a week as the 99% take to the streets in protest over the raising of bus fare in that poor see as means for the rich to pay for a sports complex. A video of eight cops giving a reporter a Rodney King style beating caused even more Brazilians to take to the streets.

There has been very little in-depth coverage by the mainstream of PFC Bradley Manning's trial. "Bradley Edward Manning is a United States Army soldier who was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of having passed classified material to the website WikiLeaks." We had an opportunity to catch up with one reporter who has been providing in-depth coverage and you can tune in today to hear our interview with journalist Alexa O'Brien. You can follow Alexa's reporting on her website and follow her on Twitter.

In Spartanburg, SC, a group of families confronted Sheriff Chuck Wright over the cases of men who were killed where it was ruled self defense. One mother, Darlene Smith questioned Wright over her son's case who was shot in the head along with another man. Michael Deangelo Gentry-Hill and Darren Hill were both shot in the head allegedly while attempting to break into an apartment. Neither of the two were armed when Douglas Williams confronted them outside his apartment instead of waiting till the men entered the apartment or allowing the police who were called to get there and investigate the alleged crime.


Call the show at 864-751-0115 or 864-751-0116
Listen By Phone: 1-724-444-7444 Call ID 124529#
Get the smartphone App for iPhone & Android from our audio blog.
Catch us in the Upstate of SC on 105.7FM & 910AM
To advertise on the show email Gregg: info@occupythemicrophone.com

Black Talk Radio News

NY Daily News launches personal attack on Serena Williams over rape prevention comments

By Scotty Reid 6/16/2013 news, sports, society

A writer for the NY Daily News is catching heat from readers after launching a personal attack on top ranked women’s tennis player Serena Williams over rape prevention comments she made to Rolling Stone about the 16 yr old victim of the Steubenville, Ohio sexual assault case.

Two teenage football players were charged and convicted of various charges connected an alleged sexual assault they committed…

NSA believes analysts have legal authority to listen to phone calls without warrants

By Scotty Reid 6/16/2013. news, politics

 

One week ago, following revelations of the PRISM system - as leaked by whistle-blower Eric Snowden to reporter Glenn Greenwald, President Obama took to a podium to proclaim to…

Retired NYPD detective stands accused of torturing confessions out of his victims

By Scotty Reid, 6/15/2013 news

An retired NYPD officer who was celebrated within the department and even once appeared on Dr. Phil to discuss false confessions stands accused of torturing confessions out of victims Jon Burge style. Jon Burge is the former Chicago police commander who along with others under his command tortured victims into confessing to crimes they did not commit. Many of the victims are thought to remain behind bars as the city of Chicago and the…

Twenty-thousand Jews protest against Israel in NYC

By Scotty Reid 6/10/2013 news, politics, opinion

20,000 people of the Jewish faith in New York City descended upon Federal Plaza in Manhattan yesterday and although it was a huge event protesting Israel and Zionism, the major corporate news outlets…

Why I observe Memorial Day but not Veterans Day

By Scotty Reid 5/24/2013 news, culture, opinion

Even though I am a veteran of the US Army,I do not celebrate nor recognize Veteran's Day. First, I was an uninformed twenty something when I joined and I only joined to get money for college coming from a poor working class family. I also do not think cops or soldiers…