Hetty Bower was born in 1905 and throughout her life campaigned for numerous causes that she believed in from the suffragette movement to the 1926 General Strike, the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, being a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)and more recently marching against the closure of her local hospital. She joined the Labour Party 90 years ago and featured at this year’s Party Conference giving words of advice to Ed Miliband to stay true to the roots of the Labour Party and most of all focus on “Social Justice”.
I was lucky enough to meet her in her residential home for lunch a few years ago and she shared with me some of the stories, from her memories of the suffragette movement to the modern problems effecting Britain and the world. What was so impressive was that even after so long being politically engaged and passionate about changing the world she was still so optimistic about people and so determined to fight for what she believed in; whether social justice, peace or the recent austerity cuts. A lot can be learnt from people like Hetty who never give up fighting for what they believe in and who have such a wealth of knowledge to be shared.
Hetty’s lifetime shows that protest and fighting for what you believe in can, and does, bring about change. As she her self accepted, “we may not win by protesting [but]…If we stand up to them there’s always a chance that we will win.” Therefore, if nothing more to continue her legacy, we must continue to stand up and fight for a better world.
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