Remember those who brought us positivity VIEWPOINTS

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AS the future of humanity becomes more and more subject to our failure to grasp the climate emergency, it is useful to consider the legacy of two people who contributed positively to humanity in the last century, and whose anniversaries fall this week.

September 27th marks the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Manchester-born Sylvia Pankhurst, who gave up her artistic career to support the Suffragette cause, only to be expelled by her mother and sister from the Women’s Social and Political Union for helping working women in the East End and “having a democratic constitution for your federation; we do not agree with that”.

The campaign for full democracy in Britain, including proportional representation, continues.

Sylvia went on to oppose the “Great” War, and then fascism at a time when Churchill supported Mussolini and Italian fascism, and spent years after World War Two working in Ethiopia where she was honoured, and is buried.

Her grand-daughter, Helen, who helped with the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square, continues her legacy there of working on women’s rights, health and water hygiene.

October 2nd is the International Day of Non-Violence, which falls on Gandhi’s birthday.

Mahatma Gandhi pioneered the philosophy and practice of social and political development through non-violence, influencing people such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela as well as Extinction Rebellion.

Both Sylvia Pankhurst and Gandhi worked for the collective good, unlike the individual greed of the tax-avoiding free marketeers who control the global economy and trade deals.

Steve Roman, Manchester