Originally published @ 10:21 pm, Tue 27th Jul 2010
A pleasure to attend the opening of an exhibition on the Spanish Civil War on the Nottingham leg of a national tour called "Antifascistas". [MISING GRAPHIC]
Provided by the International Brigades Memorial Trust, the exhibition reminds us of the struggle, of how British and Irish civilians went over to serve in battles between armies, without the support of their own government. Amazing bravery and commitment.
The Deputy Lord Mayor gave a quick opening speech. “The exhibition reminds us of stories we should never forget. Reminds us of the values we must never lose. A free society. A democratic government. Fighting against fascism. Let us take pride in what the International Brigades did and let us thank them again, here and now, for what they did.”
The previous Saturday, there’d been a re-dedication of a memorial at Nottinghamshire County Council’s County Hall - a significant metal plaque (some six feet high) was erected in the nineties.
There’s been some controversy about a further plaque explaining the memorial having been removed by the Conservative leader, Councillor Kay Cutts; as well as the removal of some stained glass windows from County Hall and some strange directives about the language to be used when describing the Greater Nottingham conurbation. Odd behaviour really.
And some of it not that far above the behaviour of the Chinese eight year olds who are introduced to democracy for the first time.
If you’ve not seen it, watch out for StoryVille’s “Please vote for me”, available on i-player at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mfx6
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