One of my happiest literary discoveries this year has been the two novels of Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson. A pioneering woman and a moving force in the Jarrow March, she also turned out a couple of wonderful reads and they’ll definitely be up there in my books of the year. However, a chance tweet by @appliedcomics earlier in the month reminded me of something I had on the shelves with a Wilkinson connection which is in a format I don’t often read…

Last year, Newcastle-upon-Tyne launched the Freedom City 2017 programme of events; the city was not only celebrating the fact that it was 50 years since the University had awarded Dr. Martin Luther King an honorary degree, but also its rich heritage of activism. That activism, of course, included the region’s Jarrow March, and the tweet I mentioned reminded me that not only was it the anniversary of that event, but also that I had the item they were featuring – the Freedom City 2017 comic!

The comic was produced under the aegis of the university, and issued free of charge last year; and a contact in Newcastle sent it on to me as he thought I would be interested (which I was!). I read the comic whilst watching footage of the unveiling of a statue of Dr. King in the university (fascinating event), but I had forgotten that one of the events featured in pictorial fashion was the Jarrow March and Wilkinson’s part in it.

You can still read some parts of the comic online at the university website, and the Ellen Wilkinson chapter is up here:

https://research.ncl.ac.uk/fccomics/chapters/therighttowork.html

The city is obviously still rightly proud of its heritage, and the university laudably provides educational materials supporting the comic – ideal for any younger people you may have around you in the form of friends and family (or indeed if you work in an educational establishment!) The whole comic is interesting (if you can get hold of a copy) and a timely reminded of the agitation and activism of the past, how our freedoms are hard-won, and how we still need to fight to hold onto them.