Taking a stand

This is an occasional blog. I don't always think I have a topic to write about. Sometimes a theme emerges through a series of events and I recognise the links. This week's theme has been about standing up for yourself. It started with my elderly cat. He went out for a late evening constitutional before bed. I heard an unholy row outside, a real cat fight. When I dashed out to see what was going on, I realised he was in the middle of a stand off with a fox, who had backed off down the drive. I was concerned but my cat was thrilled with himself. He dashed round the flat like a kitten, pumped full of adrenalin, and even wanted to go out again. The next day I was in the coffee bar at the Showroom Cinema. It was unusually busy for the time of day. I spotted an old friend who explained why. Helen Pankhurst had just given a talk to a U3A group. It made me think of all the amazing Pankhurst and Suffragette material we had in the Greater Manchester County Archives when I worked there, including some amazing photos. A new exhibition has just opened at Sheffield's Millennium Gallery, Hope is Strong. It's all about protest, and includes a model of Emily Davison's broom cupboard and Sharon Kivland's Citizen foxes. Jeremy Deller's collaborative film The Battle of Orgreave is also showing, close to home and very near the bone. I also went to see the amazing Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri, which defied my expectations on many levels. Examples of people standing up for themselves are all around. It feels like it's more important than ever to take a stand. Funny that it took a cat and a fox to alert me to the links in the chain.