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The Politics Of Hope

Last year England was shook to the core when Batley MP Jo Cox was murdered by a right-wing extremist. Every channel was taken over with news of the shooting, and people rallied in search of the perpetrator of the heinous crime. Yorkshire, where both I and she are from seemed to stand still. We grieved publicly. We grieved together. The next day in Parliament, every MP wore a white rose (Yorkshire’s flag) on their lapel as a mark of respect. Jo’s quote “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us” was spread across news sites and social media and hailed as the epitome of what our government should stand for. Her sudden death was politicized and she suddenly was a martyr for socialism.

Tributes to Jo Cox in parliament

Mere weeks after, the E.U. referendum happened, and Nigel Farage gloated and suggested that the Leave campaign had won without a single bullet being fired. The anger among the communities who knew and loved Jo Cox was visceral. We were heartbroken at the audacity, and so soon after she died. We thought, “surely, this is enough!”, and Farage would no longer have a political career, but alas, he (ironically) remains like mould on damp walls.

Today, 8 months after her death, Brendan Cox (Jo’s Husband) has been mobilising the U.K. in an act of tremendous celebration and solidarity of what Jo Cox stood for: equality, compassion, and togetherness. Today Cox announced that on the anniversary of her death, we in the U.K. are invited to enjoy a day of revelry in Jo’s name; to have huge street parties across the U.K. If anything, this is timely. In a period where many of us feel more divided than ever, it’s important to remember how much we actually have in common. Misery is easy. It’s simple to bicker. We split hairs over the most ridiculous things, and today the Jo Cox Foundation reminded us that there are more important things: compassion, unity, and friendship.

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