I remembered this morning that, I haven’t wrote a blog for over a month now.

I had no intention to either, until I completed my Fight for Justice against discrimination which I continue to do. However, seeing more and more people the past few days wearing poppy’s prompted me to write this my 100th blog.

Today, many people in the UK will be celebrating Bonfire Night with maybe some chants of… “Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot” – in reference to Guy Fawkes who tried to blow-up Parliament back in 1605.

Whilst 5th November is now an occasion for children (and adults) to watch great firework displays throughout Britain, it is also a day I am remembering those who have fallen in the name of freedom.

As I continue my own fight against injustice, I’ve taken the time to reflect about those who have paid the ultimate price and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of others and the prevention of fascism – something which we enjoy in Britain today.

You don’t have to agree with wars of recent, to remember those lost. Soldiers carryout the will of Parliament whom we as the people elect, and it is not for them to question this democracy – right or wrong.

It’s strange to think that bombs were dropping out of the sky around My Mum and her family in Liverpool during the Second World War (1939 – 1945), and that she was 9-years old when peace finally came about. It’s even stranger to think that, Uncle Billy aged 98 whom I blog about often and is still ‘Alive & Kicking’, was just a 1-year old at the start of the First World War in 1914. How much history, in my family alone?

Many (if not all) in Britain will somehow have been personally affected by wars past and present, and it is also this that should be remembered. My own grandparents in Liverpool played their part, and when I was in Barbados a few years ago I saw how much this small island country still remembers their own war-dead who helped defend the Commonwealth.

Wearing a poppy doesn’t mean you condone the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and so forth, but purely to remember those who has been lost in all wars and indeed those injured, and left behind. One life lost, is one too many.

Last week, I noticed a blog written about me by a man in Australia whom I don’t know. What he wrote didn’t bother me, as you learn to grow a thick-skin when you’re like me. However, there are two things that he wrote which are factually wrong (1) I’ve never been accused of being ‘workshy’ and (2) I’m definitely no ‘N*gger’.

I mention this because, even now I am allowed to fight discrimination as I perceive it as a result of those who have fort for this right in the past. Britain is not perfect, but a fact is a fact – there are a lot of worse places in the world to be, and especially if you’re mixed-race and gay!

The other day, I was called ‘valiant’, which I had to ‘Google’. Apparently, it means possessing or showing courage or determination: “a valiant warrior”. Synonyms being brave, gallant, courageous, valorous and doughty.

I don’t see myself as any of these, as I’m only ‘doing the right thing’. Those who have died in war, clearly are. I say it quite a lot, but… ‘I am what I am’ (note: Dame Shirley Bassey) because of the upbringing by my beautiful mum – knowing the difference between right and wrong, fairness and equality.

So, today on 5th November enjoy your Bonfire Night, but try and spare a thought for those who are no longer here, allowing us the freedoms and rights we enjoy in the UK. It’s true that, Lest We Forget! Remember, 11 November.

This has been a ‘View from the Bottom’ where, I’m going to wear my poppy with pride.

Take care, Max x

Live Healthy, Laugh Often & Love Yourself!

© Kevin Maxwell Film, Media & Performance 2011 – Published by My Mum.