There will be a very informal talk about Mary Clarke on Saturday 26th November at 11.00am, on the ground floor of the Jubilee Library in Brighton, entitled “The Forgotten Sister”. It will be led by our Chair of Trustees Jean Calder and will be followed by discussion.
The staff at the Jubilee Library invited us to help mark the United Nation’s annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which takes place on 25th November. The day launches the UN’s annual 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violenceto combat violence against women and girls. This ends on the 10th December, Human Rights Day. The United Nation’s global theme for 2022’s 16 Days of Activism is “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls”.
The library staff have kindly agreed to display our maquette of Mary in the Foyer to the Library and it will remain there from 7th November through to early December. From 25th November, the beautiful hand-embroidered banner of Mary Clarke, which was made for us by Jenny Engledow, will be on display in the library in a prominent position. We hope it will remain there for the full 16 Days of Activism.
We note that November is the month of remembrance. It starts with All Souls Day, on the 2 November, when, traditionally, the Christian church remembers the dead. As the month goes on, we mark Remembrance Sunday, commemorating those who have died
in war and conflict. Then each year on 25 November the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women launches the worldwide 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence to combat violence against women and girls.
We in the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal remember all women and girls who have died by violence in recent years and in the past. In particular, we remember the terrible events of “Black Friday” on 18th November 1910, when so many suffragettes were brutalised as they attempted to petition Parliament. We recall that it was almost certainly on that day that Mary Clarke received the head injuries that on Christmas Day 1910 led to her death by brain haemorrhage. Mary was the first of three women to die as a result of injuries that day. We remember them – and others (women and men) who have died in their struggle for freedom and democracy.
Please come if you can.