(Image: Ian Martin, Whitby Harbour, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.)
When you look around you, what do you think? What makes you feel proud of where you live? What makes you think, that needs sorting out? When I think about all the things that have impressed me in the places I have been and when I think about the place that I call home, East Leeds, I think of the people who made things happen and I wonder who is doing something good for everyone here. Something to make newcomers feel welcome, something to make sure there are places for young people to live, something to make sure people can get to jobs and fun stuff cheaply and quickly without destroying our environment. I wonder why people with far more power and influence than me don’t seem to have to done it.
And then I think: This is my home, this is our home, maybe we can do it, maybe we should do it… or at least try. Waiting for Westminster, Whitehall and the City and those in politics, business and media who enjoy its intertwined maze of power doesn’t seem to have worked for my home (though to be fair our new local MP Richard Burgon does seem to be doing everything he can to remain closer to East Leeds than Westminster). What about your home? Maybe it’s not up to them anymore; maybe it’s not about them telling us who we are and how we should live our lives; maybe it’s about self-determination? Maybe it’s about self-determination for individuals and for communities of individuals who choose to act together for the common good?
