Cllr Di Martin is an anti-racist

In Bathurst Park, Di Martin, who has spent 31 years as a Cinderford East town and district councilor, stood up on the 20th of June and read the canonic poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. A poem about personal strength, and rising above those who would try to keep you down. Little did she know how prophetic that poem would be.

Cllr Di Martin read Angelou’s poem at the controversial BLM protest that had made the news for being cancelled initially, before finally being given permission to run. The Lydney town Councillor and Deputy Mayor Tess Tremlett was so disgusted that the protest had been allowed that she resigned from her post, in a personal protest of her own. Feelings were running high, and although the gathering was cited as the reason, it is not difficult to see that the content was the cause. 

The protest was entirely legal, and fully supported by both the police and most of the town council. All Covid measures were taken incredibly seriously, and a review of the Covid data since shows the success of these measures as no spike in infections precipitated the protest. 

Despite that, Cllr Di Martin has been under attack from both within the district council, and members of the public. She has been forced to attend public meetings where she faced questions about the legality of her actions, and as well as being attacked as to how appropriate it was for her to read the poem and demands for her resignation. Despite 2 other Cabinet members being at the protest, Di is the only one under fire. 

The accusations of misconduct against Cllr Di Martin are baseless. She broke no policy, law or agreement. She simply stood up and read a beautiful and empowering poem at an appropriate time and in appropriate circumstances. She was not inciting violence or division or spreading racial hatred. Cllr Di Martin is being hounded for one reason only, she is open about her support of the anti-racist movement. 

If being open about your dislike of racism is all it takes for members of the local and district councils to vilify you, and members of the public to call for your resignation, it begs the question, why? What is so terrifying?