Category Archives: biography

My interview with Rose Hunter of the North Staffs Miners Wives Action Group

Posted on December 1, 2024 by lipstick socialist

After the end of the Miners’ Strike in 1985 Rose Hunter says: “Men lost their freedom; the women gained theirs.” Rose and her sisters in the  North Staffs Miners Wives Action Group  then embarked on forty years of  raising  issues … Continue reading →

Posted in art exhibition, biography, drama, education, feminism, human rights, Ireland, labour history, North of Ireland, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, women, Women Against Pit Closures, working class history | 4 Comments

My review of “Reasons to Rebel My Memories of the 1980s” by Sheila Rowbotham

Posted on October 29, 2024 by lipstick socialist

    Reading Sheila Rowbotham’s latest memoir, I feel I am inside  her  head as we spin through the 1980s  on a rollercoaster of emotions, feelings, and activities.   Sheila is a socialist feminist, historian, activist, mother, partner,  lover, comrade, friend… … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, Women Against Pit Closures, working class history | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

My review of “Mistress of Montmartre A Life of Suzanne Valadon” by June Rose

Posted on October 13, 2024 by lipstick socialist

Suzanne Valadon, (1865-1938) born  Marie-Clémentine Valadon, was unique: as a woman and an artist. She was the illegitimate daughter of a seamstress who earned her living as an acrobat and model.  Her natural talent as an artist was spotted when … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Leave a comment

My review of “Joan Maynard Passionate Socialist” Kristine Mason O’Connor (2003)

Posted on April 29, 2020 by lipstick socialist

What do you want to do ? New mailCopy Joan Maynard (1921-1998) lived her life through her politics. In the course of  her  76 years she was a parish councillor, a rural district councillor, a county councillor, a Justice of … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, North of Ireland, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Political women; Maria Brabiner anti-Bedroom Tax campaigner, Labour Party council candidate.

Posted on March 26, 2020 by lipstick socialist

Dear Friends I am reviving this series of interviews trying to find working class women who are activists in their political party, trade union or single issue campaign. It seems to be me they have disappeared from the political scene … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, disabled people's campaigns, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My review of “Betty Tebbs – a radical working class hero” by Mark Metcalf

Posted on November 25, 2019 by lipstick socialist

      Through my friendship with Eddie and Ruth Frow I have met many women like Betty who had been  activists in the CPGB and the trade union movement. We came from different generations – and had quite different … Continue reading →

Posted in Betty Tebbs, biography, book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Sisters in Cells” by Aine and Eibhlin Nic Giolla Easpaig

Posted on September 5, 2019 by lipstick socialist

  Aine and Eibhlin Nic Giolla Easpaig are unique in several ways. They were republican women political prisoners in the 70s – the first women of that era to be imprisoned in England, while their autobiography “Sisters in Cells” is … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Catholicism, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, North of Ireland, political women, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My review of Dayglo: The Poly Styrene Story by Celeste Bell and Zoe Howe

Posted on August 27, 2019 by lipstick socialist

Poly Styrene  (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011),  (real name Marianne Joan Elliott-Said) was one of the most unique performers who came out of the punk era. Watch this video here In this affectionate and revealing biography written by … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, drama, feminism, films, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

My interview with Sheila Rowbotham about her groundbreaking 1969 article “Women: the struggle for Freedom”

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lipstick socialist

 On 10 January 1969 in an article  called   “Women; the struggle for Freedom”, published  in the Marxist magazine Black Dwarf, socialist feminist Sheila Rowbotham  poured out her anger and resentment about the inequality and injustice of women’s lives:   “A much … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Algiers, Third World Capital Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers” Elaine Mokhtefi

Posted on December 30, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  Elaine Mokhtefi was a key person for the Black Panther movement in Algiers,  but her own story, added to the end of this book,  is as  important as it sheds  light on how a young Jewish woman from small … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Communism, human rights, political women, Uncategorized, women, young people | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment