July sees county days being celebrated in Hampshire on St. Swithen's day on the 15th of the month, Norfolk Day on the 27th and Buckinghamshire on the 29th. Our best wishes to all in these counties for their special days.
Black Lives Matter
Cultural England has been asked to comment on Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the recent protests across many parts of the country. As an organisation which celebrates England's social cultural fabric, and a sense of inclusiveness, we believe those from all ethnic backgrounds should be free and accepted in celebrating our social and cultural heritage and help build upon this. In the case of BLM, we agree Black lives definitely DO matter. England has an appalling history in many respects, and many cultures and nations have suffered due to our imperialist past. Slavery and the pillaging of colonies is something which should not be embraced or monuments erected to in commemoration to less than glorious moments in our history or certain figures. But history is not something which can be wiped out entirely, but something which should be addressed and which we can learn from. If monuments are to remain there has to be something which states the negatives of the individual and why we should not necessarily look upon them as an historical figure to honour. They can be a sculpteral book to learn from and a symbol of apology and education and not celebration.
The ordinary people of England never prospered from our imperialist history. Farm workers were often taken to war, some never to return and let us not forget press-ganging. July is the month the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival in Dorset normally takes place, so we should not forget the persecution of the early trade unionists. As already stated, our history is far from glorious and we should look at all means to apologise, address and learn from it when appropriate.