There’s no ‘we’ in Gweat Bwitain

There really isn’t is there?  Or maybe I’m wrong altogether.  I see divisions with every label and some of them have not been chosen, they’ve ended up stuck on us almost by default.  Who’s noticed that Christianity is sometimes having to be chosen in diversity monitoring because there’s nothing else that fits and there is no option for “nothing”.  Interesting to say the least.

There's no we in Gweat Britain handpainted pilot case.  Front of art work, British flag split up with the words Gweat Bwitain over the flag.  Referencing class and division based on race and identity.

So how long has identity politics been planned by the elite?  Since the 1970s in Britain or earlier?  Probably much earlier.  First presented as a positive thing, something that people wanted as a means of being recognised as something that is distinct from being British.  Then the labels became more and more and data is requested when applying for jobs.  Just to show fairness of course. 

So what’s gweat about it all?  The way that people can identify their heritage and be proud of it.  People are saying that minorities were not asking for DEI (diversity, equity/equality and inclusion) and now people cannot be sure whether they were a “diversity hire” or not and it’s having an impact in the workplace which may not be all good.  Is it creating an awkwardness at work where people may look at others and wonder why they have their job and even if they don’t the person in the job may feel this is the case and in some ways it will hinder more than anything else. 

Top of hand painted pilot case with the words Behind You on it. Referencing theatre and panto and on the back of the case is a scene referencing Punch and Judy.

We know who all this division works for though don’t we?  Who rolls their Rs, always in the background pulling the strings.  We hardly get to see them really, the people creating the division and not those who are called influencers on social either.  The people with the money who like for us to be fighting, was it never about race and always a class war even in this globalised world?

Back of hand painted pilot case with a scene referencing Punch and Judy and part of a blog about division and labelling and this being theatre.

But it’s theatre really isn’t it, the social media accounts with the big followings, the daily messages, the attempt to influence which is often successful.  That’s where the Behind You bit comes into the art work and the back is a take on Punch and Judy.  One side of the art work has the word Community and Get out of Jail Free on it, of course it’s a monopoly and then there’s a bit of an ice cream image on the other side.  That’s my Get out of Jail Free card because I know that people are so keen on letting people from Britain know that there’s no such thing as Britishness, we never created anything etc and there was always foreign input.  I wanted something that was quintessentially British and thought that this could have been Punch and Judy at the old seaside towns. 

Hand painted side of pilot case saying Community and Get out of Jail Free with a smiling face. Referencing Monopoly the board game and part of a blog about identity, labelling, division and the elite. Talking about Britishness and Punch and Judy and finding out that an Italian man was involved in Punch and Judy.

Turns out there was an Italian man involved in the creation of this though so there we go, I’ve covered my back in terms of being called a Flag Shagger and people can say that Punch and Judy is not British at all because according to Wikipedia:-

“Much emphasis is often placed on the first printed script of Punch and Judy, in 1827. It was based on a show by travelling performer Giovanni Piccini, illustrated by George Cruikshank, and written by John Payne Collier. This is the only surviving script of a performance, and its accuracy is questioned. The performance was stopped frequently to allow Collier and Cruikshank to write and sketch and, in the words of Speaight, Collier is someone of whom “the full list of his forgeries has not yet been reckoned, and the myths he propagated are still being repeated. (His) ‘Punch and Judy’ is to be warmly welcomed as the first history of puppets in England, but it is also sadly to be examined as the first experiment of a literary criminal.”[26]

Side of handpainted pilot case showing an ice cream. Part of art work called There's no we in Gweat Bwitain about division, labelling and identity.

I’m up for grabs if you want any support with HR management, digital marketing and communications including original art work.  Just message to get the ball rolling.