Category Archives: women

The Spirit of International Women’s Day 2014

International Women’s Day was created to offer hope to working class women that they could collectively get together with other women (and men) to improve their lives. That was in 1911 and, although women’s lives have improved dramatically since then, … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, feminism, International Women's Day, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, Tameside, women, young people | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Nowadays everybody celebrates International Women’s Day including the banks!!! Help, this is not what socialist feminists Clara Zetkin and Louise Zeitz would want. They created the day to highlight the importance of women’s struggles for equality at home, at work … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, book review, Communism, drama, education, feminism, films, human rights, International Women's Day, labour history, Manchester, Middle East, Palestine, political women, Salford, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, young people | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch…Museum Hours(2013) …when I go to an art gallery I speak to the attendants because they spend hours walking around an exhibition and they often have an interesting comment to make about it. This documentary/fiction is the story of Anne, … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, Blacklisting campaign, book review, feminism, films, International Women's Day, Ireland, Legal justice Campaign, Manchester, novels, Palestine, political women, trade unions, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Feminism in 2014: what do women want? (1)

In this occasional series I will be interviewing women and discussing what feminism means to them in 2014. Over the last thirty years the lives of women in this country has changed rapidly with growing numbers of women in the … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, education, feminism, Manchester, women | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch…Callan (DVD)…filmed in black and white and made in the the late 60s, to me this series confirms my views of the secret services in this country; unaccountable, undemocratic and dangerous. Edward Woodward is mesmerising as Callan, the government agent … Continue reading

Posted in drama, labour history, Manchester, TV drama, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Building a Socialist Library (4) The Life and Writings of Ada Nield Chew

The Life and Writings of Ada Nield Chew Remembered and Collected by Doris Nield Chew. (Virago 1982) Ada Nield Chew was a working class woman who played a major role in the socialist and suffrage campaigns. This book was written … Continue reading

Posted in book review, feminism, human rights, interesting blog, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Building a Socialist Library (3) Ellen Wilkinson From Red Suffragist to Government Minister by Paula Bartley

In 1924 Ellen Wilkinson returned to her home city of Manchester as a newly elected Labour Member of Parliament and spoke to several thousand people in a cinema in Moston. She attacked the capitalist system and its effects on declining … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, book review, Communism, education, feminism, labour history, Manchester, NHS, political women, Salford, Socialist Feminism, women | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch…. People for Tomorrow | Selma James: Our Time Is Coming…Selma, campaigner and writer, made this programme for the BBC in 1971. She had been a factory worker and typist and in this programme she highlights the unpaid work of … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, drama, feminism, films, human rights, music, novels, political women, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Watch.… Ethel MacDonald – An Anarchist’s Story. A fascinating film about a working class woman who became an anarchist and writer. Ethel was born in 1910 in a mining community in Lanarkshire in Scotland. Life offered few opportunities for working … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, Communism, drama, feminism, films, human rights, labour history, political women, TV drama, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reasons to be cheerful in 2014!

Many people feel isolated and depressed about the constant onslaught on our civil society by the Con/Dem government but you can do something about it! There are plenty of campaigns to get involved in. Here is my selection for 2014…… … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, human rights, Manchester, NHS, political women, Salford, Tameside, trade unions, women | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment