Inside Manchester Town Hall stands a bust of the community peace activist Professor Erinma Bell. It is the first sculpture of a woman in Manchester town hall in 150 years and one of the few statues of black women in the UK. Erinma Bell (1964) was born in Manchester, England, to parents of Nigerian heritage. She grew up in Moss Side, a neighborhood plagued by gangs and gun crimes. In 2003, she and her husband witnessed a close friend getting shot in front of them. In response, they founded CARISMA (Community Alliance for Renewal, Inner South Manchester Area), a charity aiming to combat gun violence and provide young people with a positive alternative to crime through educational programs. At the same time, Bell led local and national campaigns to pressure the government to bring gun violence to the top of its agenda. Thanks to her efforts, gun crime in Moss Side and Longsight had reduced by 92%. In recognition of her voluntary services to her community, she was named MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 and made a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester the following year. Bell, a mom of eight, continues to work for the community as the Executive Director of Chrysalis Family Centre, a charity that supports immigrant families, refugees, and asylum seekers. Erinma Bell’s bust was created from 50 melted-down shotguns retrieved by Greater Manchester Police and gun amnesties. The artist Karen Lyons designed it, and Guns to Goods, an artistic initiative that converts illegal firearms into sculptures, constructed it. It was unveiled on International Women’s Day in 2016 at the Manchester Cathedral and permanently installed in Manchester Town Hall on January 26th, 2017. In addition to honoring Bell and her contribution to ending gun violence, the bust emphasizes the opportunity to turn a destructive weapon into a representation of good and hope. Within a short distance from Manchester Town Hall, many sites and historic landmarks reside, such as the Manchester Cenotaph war memorial, the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue, the Queen Victoria statue, Manchester Art Gallery, and the People’s History Museum. Read more...

On December 14th, 2018, 100 years after women first voted in the UK, a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, the UK Suffragette movement leader, was dedicated. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was born and raised in Manchester in a family of social-political activists. She was introduced to the ideas of women’s suffrage from her parents from a young age, joining her mother in public meetings and reading about it. She married Richard Pankhurst, had five children in 10 years, and continued her political activism. She held meetings in her house, organized demonstrations, public talks, founded women-only organizations, and led militant actions (“deeds, not words”) for the cause of Women’s Suffrage in the UK. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act granted votes to all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30. December 14, 1918, was the first time women voted in the general election. A few weeks after she passed away, the Conservative government’s Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 extended the vote to all women over 21, the same age as men. The official name of the statue is Rise Up, Women. It depicts Pankhurst standing on a chair in the middle of a Meeting Circle. Her hand lifted in the air and points in the direction of the former Free Trade Hall, where the first Suffragette meetings took place. She is addressing the people, giving a speech. The statue and the circle were designed and created by Hazel Reeves, who said it meant to “inspire women to rise up and demand their rights.” 6000 people attended the dedication ceremony, which started with 2 marches from the People’s History Museum and the Pankhurst Centre. Her great-granddaughter, Helen Pankhurst, was one of the people who unveiled the statue. That is the second statue of Pankhurst in the UK and the second of a real woman in Manchester. The first was of Queen Victoria, and it got dedicated in 1901. The story of erecting the statue begun when in 2014, Anne-Marie Glennon, a friend of Manchester City Councillor Andrew Simcock, made him realize that there are hardly any statues of women in Manchester. The WoManchester Statue project kicked off with a list of 20 notable women who were candidates to be honored with a statue. Emmeline Pankhurst won with the most votes. A book about the journey to erect the statue with the Herstories of the other notable candidates got published in 2019 – First In The Fight: 20 Women Who Made Manchester by Helen Antrobus and Andrew Simcock. Read more...