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grahame
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« on: June 08, 2020, 06:29:07 » |
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I remember being told in 2005 that this is Melksham, and I would be lucky to get 10 people to a meeting I called. I actually got 20 and that was seeding of "Save the Train" and the successes that grew from that over the years. Botan who arranged Melksham's Black Lives Matter protest yesterday in the Market Place got similar assurances on line that she would be lucky to get 10 ... but she actually got more like 120. And the protest was exemplary. A good example to the world. I'm sorry there are no shocking pictures of the event here, because there was nothing shocking to photograph. Just pictures of everyone coming together with the same message from many angles, and from many people with just about every background. Moving forward, Melksham Black Lives Matter Movement is talking of a cultural food festival; we may be just a drop in the ocean as far as Minneapolis is concerned but every drop counts. Here in Melksham, yesterday we felt multicultural as a town in a way we have not before and I look forward to seeing that grow. Unlike, perhaps, many Wiltshire residents I have travelled to many countries. A silly online quiz I did last night said I was better travelled that 85% of other respondents, and many of those journeys have been to provide niche training; Mexican, Saudi Arabian, German and American cities and suburbs that rarely see a tourist. The world is made up of people and we should not even notice skin colour - https://www.facebook.com/groups/265155731218426/permalink/268603524206980/ as I put that yesterday. Amongst my travels ... a brief call in Minneapolis. My lasting memory of the place? Waiting for my flight to the UK▸ at the airport, and seeing how the escorts were treating some chap who was being extradited on that flight to the UK. Not nice - I remember all these years later feeling sorry for him. That is my memory of Minneapolis. I look forward, as we get to use public transport for none-essential travel once again, to helping promote our multicultural festival here in Melksham, with people arriving for that festival in a sustainable way.The Social Distancing thing and its portrayal in photographs is an interesting one. Take pictures in one way and everyone appears spaced out - "wasn't many there" say some. Take pictures in another way and those same people say "you weren't distancing - you are going to cause a pandemic spike".         
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« Last Edit: June 08, 2020, 10:01:37 by grahame »
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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CyclingSid
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« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2020, 07:25:36 » |
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Well done Melksham!
A similar meeting in Reading or Bristol might get more numbers but Melksham would suggest higher engagement.
The other thing apart from the non-essential use of public transport, there will be lots like me waiting for the barber/hairdresser to be available to do business.
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chuffed
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« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2020, 09:16:11 » |
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A sower went to sow some seed. A sewer is one who works at a sewing machine. Please make the correction!
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grahame
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« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2020, 10:05:50 » |
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A sower went to sow some seed. A sewer is one who works at a sewing machine. Please make the correction!
Head post and this follow up (my posts) duly corrected. Should ensure that the enduring subject lines an subsequent replies get corrected. Remember it took me two goes (one too many) to get my English Language 'O' level, and I only really retired very recently to give me a bit of extra time ... |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2020, 10:16:11 » |
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Fingers crossed for no second spike in Melksham.
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GBM
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« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2020, 10:20:03 » |
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A sower went to sow some seed. A sewer is one who works at a sewing machine. Please make the correction!
Head post and this follow up (my posts) duly corrected. Should ensure that the enduring subject lines an subsequent replies get corrected. Remember it took me two goes (one too many) to get my English Language 'O' level, and I only really retired very recently to give me a bit of extra time ... I believe I received a D? for my English. It wasn't good; my parents didn't appreciate that grade either, but that is best not told here..... |
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Personal opinion only. Writings not representative of any union, collective, management or employer. (Think that absolves me...........)  |
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grahame
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« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2020, 11:00:53 » |
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Fingers crossed for no second spike in Melksham.
Much more than just fingers crossed. Social distancing was being well observed (far better, I would suggest, than at many other places like supermarkets on what was intrinsically much safer being outside, spacious, not overcrowded), but it does no harm to have our fingers crossed too. No light decision to go along and support. |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2020, 17:01:49 » |
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Fingers crossed for no second spike in Melksham.
Much more than just fingers crossed. Social distancing was being well observed (far better, I would suggest, than at many other places like supermarkets on what was intrinsically much safer being outside, spacious, not overcrowded), but it does no harm to have our fingers crossed too. No light decision to go along and support. Certainly seems to have been far better observed than in London, Liverpool or Manchester, so well done to the organisers for that, and for avoiding the violence that we are seeing in London too! |
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Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
Posts: 5216
There are some who call me... Tim
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« Reply #8 on: June 09, 2020, 11:27:47 » |
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There is now a vacant plinth in the centre of Bristol, formerly occupied by the statue of a slave trader. The statue, which is a bit dented, will probably end up in the 'M Shed' museum, which has an area set aside to remind people of Bristol's slaving past. Some are suggesting that an appropriate replacement would be a statue of Dr Paul Stephenson, who led the successful 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott in protest against the Bristol Omnibus Company and T&GWU's 'colour bar'... there is, of course, a petition... |
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Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
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onthecushions
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« Reply #10 on: June 09, 2020, 19:30:17 » |
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I have reservations about the direction of the BLM movement.
Having visited most of the West Indian anglophone islands, I was impressed by the balanced view of history possessed by the people most affected by the plantation and slavery system. The inherited institutions, buildings, even personages and families are given a respectful place without overlooking their dark points. Far from damning the Imperial legacy,they have built on it, retaining the best and reforming the rest. Barbados has a stridently traditional English educational system and scores highly internationally. Strict discipline is directed towards school pupils who have by law to wear correct uniform in school hours, etc etc etc. A big concern of WI parents in the UK▸ is the UK's sloppy approach to education and law enforcement (for the working classes) which can set their children on a downward slope.
I have also seen the aggressive, humourless approach of the US police and border staff (albeit in a violent country armed to the teeth) and support the prosecution of all four of the officers involved in George Floyd's death. I also deplore the shooting dead of Justine Diamond (white Australian) by an ethnic Somali US police officer and his defence that his prosecution was racially motivated.
Identity politics is bad; there is no commonality between the nurse, cleaner, care worker (and increasingly graduate professional) and the mugger, rapist and drug dealer, just because of their parentage. That would be prejudice. If one transposes the colours (white for black) in many left wing statements, the result would be deemed inflammatory and illegal.
If it is right to reconsider the lives of people like Colston, dead for near 300 years, it is also right to remember the role of others such as the many RN deaths in tropical waters over the C19 enforcing anti-slavery measures. Try Googling Bishop Ajayi Crowther.
I hope our police treat all they meet with respect and good humour. They haven't always.
All lives matter.
OTC
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2020, 20:45:47 » |
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The thing about old statues is that once you start pulling them down you have to judge them all. It’s the politicisation of all history. Maturity demands accepting what you may not like is still part of the tapestry - this is why Cromwell and Charles I share Parliament Square.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2020, 22:05:10 » |
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All lives matter.
OTC
Yes. Obviously. Or is it? I think 'Black lives matter' can be unpacked as 'All lives matter, including those routinely ignored, forgotten, dismissed and undervalued; here's a reminder that they're/we're here too.' Which doesn't make a good slogan. Not all those are black, of course; I'm pretty sure that in the UK▸ the majority are white, though it might not be the case in the USA. Some have difficulty getting on trains, too. |
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Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
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grahame
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« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2020, 00:07:04 » |
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ALM or BLM
If (hypothetical) my wife is feeling really low and asks "Do you love me?" and I reply "I love everyone", I'm technically correct. It does include her and yet it could and probably would be taken as something of a put down.
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2020, 07:41:20 » |
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ALM or BLM
If (hypothetical) my wife is feeling really low and asks "Do you love me?" and I reply "I love everyone", I'm technically correct. It does include her and yet it could and probably would be taken as something of a put down.
I suspect a reply like that would result in your statue being forcibly removed. |
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