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From Butetown to the World

If the world can come to Wales, how about Wales goes to the world?

Butetown is a small area, one mile in length and only four streets wide. Butetown is arguably the most diverse area of Cardiff. There are nationalities and cultures from all around the world living here.

For the ten years that I was the warden at Nelson House Sheltered Housing Scheme (a complex of 73 flats) there were 12 nationalities represented and seven different languages spoken. I am not saying there were never any rows or ‘falling out’ between neighbours as individuals but I can truthfully say that there were never hostilities or bitterness between cultures. For generations Butetown has enjoyed ethnic and cultural harmony.

My views on Wales’s place in the world are therefore influenced by my experiences living in a cultural melting pot, and only a stone’s throw away from where the Senedd building now stands, the home of our National Assembly.

Many people think Wales could not be independent viewing Wales as too small and saying we would not survive. But Malta is smaller than Wales and is an independent country!

I would not want to see Wales independent and cut itself off from the rest of the world. No! I would like to see an independent Wales taking centre stage in Europe and being recognised world wide as a country in its own right, not for just being ‘next door to England’.

When we travel around the world people ask: “Where do you come from?” We tell them we are from Wales. When people hear our accent usually the next question is: Is Wales in England? The easiest way to explain is: No. Wales is next door to England – we’re neighbours, we use the same money as England and we share the Queen! People tend to understand that explanation. Then comes the next question: are there many black people in Wales? Yes I say – thousands!

So I have two questions:

1. If people from all over the world came to settle in Wales – in my area of Butetown – why can’t we, the people of Wales stand up, be proud and independent on the world stage?

2. Are we Welsh people too shy to push Wales forward, having been sidelined for hundreds of years?

Answers on a postcard please.

Liz Musa

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Recent comments

Currently only displaying English comments.

  • Name
    Lyn David Thomas (20-April-2009, 04:08 pm) §
    Comment
    Butetown is a classic example of where the UK goes wrong. Ignored and surrounded by development Butetown is one of the most deprived communities in Wales. The heart of Wales is its communities and I'd defy anyone to find a community with more sense of cohesion and its place in the world than Butetown. Its strengths are its diversity and its values of extended kinship and care for each other. Wales is a nation of shared communities and I am proud to be part of that community and of the community of Butetown. This gives the lie to the notion that Plaid is insular and exclusive. As has been said Wales has much to offer the world and its place is out there at the top table internationally as an outward looking confident nation, secure in its identity and celebrating its diversity and richness of culture.
  • Name
    Megyn (26-March-2009, 11:04 am) §
    Comment
    Welsh culture is big here in my part of America! We have Gamamfu Ganus (Welsh hymnal sing alongs in case this is an adapted American thing) several times a year. These places are always PACKED with people celebrating their Welsh heritage. I guess I'm just saying that Wales is very strong in this part of the world. My family even has a St. David's Day parade in my hometown...even if it's only us and people think we're nuts (we have a lot of fun ;))
  • Name
    Larnie (22-March-2009, 11:10 pm) §
    Comment
    well done ayaoo keep up the good work
  • Name
    Iago Ap Steffan (12-March-2009, 08:33 am) §
    Comment
    Some myths are that Plaid is just about Welsh speaking, Welsh, White people. These myths need to end, we need to inform people that Plaid and an independent Wales is for everyone. Plaid has many English speakers and others, English people, different races and people with different beliefs. An independent Wales could lift Butetown and other similar areas out of poverty and give the people in those areas recognition for their great work and give people in Wales confidence that we can be free and sovereign.
  • Name
    Michelle (11-March-2009, 09:36 am) §
    Comment
    This article is a fantastic example of why we are so strong as a nation. We are diverse in cultures and welcoming but still hold on to our own strong identity. There are not many nations that can boast this!
  • Name
    Ian (10-March-2009, 10:24 pm) §
    Comment
    I have never understood why people criticise any thoughts of an independent Wales, when every other democratic nation in the world is. What is so different about our nation?

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