Stand Up To Racism South Warwickshire

Our thoughts are with all those affected by the appalling stabbings in Golders Green.

Antisemitism has no place in our society and we send our solidarity to the Jewish community.

We must unite to stop all racist attacks.

Pride or prejudice? Opinions divided over large number of flags on lampposts in Southam.
See link to in-depth feature article in the comments.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Happy Saint George’s Day! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

🤔 But who was he? ⚔️ An English crusader knight who killed a dragon? 🐲

❌ Not quite.

It’s a common misconception that Saint George was a medieval English knight who went on crusades. In fact, the legend of him slaying a dragon was added hundreds of years after his death.

Not only was he not English, but he had never even set foot in England. Saint George, or George of Lydda as he is also commonly known, was born in Cappadocia, Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), to a pagan Greek father and a Christian Palestinian mother sometime in the 3rd century. In secret, his mother brought him up as a Christian, much to his father's dismay. He and his mother moved back to his mother's native land, Palestine (modern-day Israel). Later in life, George became a soldier in the Roman army, eventually rising to the rank of Praetorian guard (the emperor's personal bodyguards) under Diocletian.

Despite his loyalty to the empire, Saint George was executed in 303 AD for refusing to renounce his Christian faith, elevating him to sainthood. He is venerated worldwide among Christians, Muslims, and Druze, and serves as the patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, and Palestine.

Due to his military service, Saint George was a popular choice to invoke for divine protection of soldiers. However, despite having died hundreds of years before, he became heavily associated with the crusades, a conflict over who would control the holy lands (Israel). He was even commonly depicted as a crusader, wearing (at the time) contemporary medieval armour. In modern times, Saint George is often celebrated by the far-right and ethnonationalists. Not because he is a revered Christian saint, but because they believe he represents ‘Englishness’ and his incorrect association with the Crusades due to its history of violence and war against Muslims. Some go so far as to quote ‘deus vult’, meaning ‘God’s will’ in Latin, a war cry used by Crusaders.

Understanding Saint George’s true history helps counter modern misuse of his story. When individuals use Christianity or Saint George’s legacy for bigoted purposes, addressing the facts can challenge false narratives.

Call it out.

If you're based in Southam and you hadn't had a chance to read our leaflet, you can find it below. Feel free to share to any who haven't had a chance to read it either.

We're calling on Mayor of London to intervene in Met Police decision to hand central London to racist thug Tommy Robinson on Nakba day

It has come to our attention that many of the flags in Southam have been taken down. Whilst we support this decision, this was not our doing.

I understand the timing of our 'It's our flag too' leaflet campaign over the past two weeks has led some residents of Southam to assume it was us. We employ our activism through leafletting, stalls, events, and demonstrations, not direct actions such as taking flags down.

🔥Join the campaign launch - Stop Reform UK!

🚨Sign up now🔗link in bio

Half a million of us marched against the far right. Now we need to organise in our areas, communities and workplaces against Farage in the May elections. Reform UK are in the rise, but we’ve proven we can stop them.

Hear from leading voices across the trade union and anti-racist movement .ali .cymru

On Saturday, locals from across South Warwickshire (Warwick, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth, Southam, and Stratford-upon-Avon) came together to celebrate love, unity, and hope.