Category Archives: young people

The Irish Collection at the WCML: a new chapter- the role of the Irish in Britain Representation Group. Part One.

Posted on March 23, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  Over the centuries the Irish  have played a key role in the labour and trade union movement in this country. The Working Class Movement Library has some of the most important archives which  document this activity and show the … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, North of Ireland, political women, Salford, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Working Class Life: written by working class activists. Read “A Bolton Childhood” by Alice Foley

Posted on March 15, 2018 by lipstick socialist

In this occasional series I want to rediscover the autobiographies of working class people that have been forgotten or marginalised. They are important in understanding how and why people become activists. They are important in asking questions as to why … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Catholicism, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Following in Sylvia’s footsteps; from 1918 to 2018. Meet Charlotte, Josephine, Eden and Lauren.

Posted on March 1, 2018 by lipstick socialist

Sylvia Pankhurst’s  response to the 1918 Representation of the People Act reflected her politics. She had opposed the First World War from the start and  spent the war years defending the rights of poor women and children in the East … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, Tameside, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

My review of “The Caseroom” by Kate Hunter

Posted on February 4, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  This is a unique novel; how many are written by female  trade union activists about the history of women’s roles in trade unions and the struggle for equality at work? The Caseroom is set during a dynamic period of … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, feminism, labour history, novels, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

My Review of “The Night Brother” by Rosie Garland

Posted on January 31, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  As the debate around gender recognition in the C21st rages on Rosie Garland’s new novel The Night Brother is a fantastical story of identity and belonging: of sexuality and gender.  Set in late  C19th and  early C20th Manchester  this … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Freedom Song” by Mary King (1987)

Posted on January 6, 2018 by lipstick socialist

In 1962 white, preacher’s daughter, Mary King, graduated from college, and decided to give up her cosy middle class lifestyle and head south to work for the Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC). This memoir is the story of her four … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, education, feminism, human rights, political women, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Revolutionary Women”

Posted on December 9, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  I love this pamphlet. It is a fascinating subject; 13 unknown revolutionary women, their story of how they not only fought for their own emancipation but led other revolutionary struggles. Revolutionary Women was produced by the Anarchist Federation who … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

My review of “The Woman Worker” by N. K. Krupskaya

Posted on November 26, 2017 by lipstick socialist

Reading this pamphlet reminded me of the report written by Mary Quaile following the TUC Women’s Delegation to the Soviet Union in 1925.  Commenting on the welcome they received Mary said; “Women were there in hundreds, many of them with … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“…the point is to change it”: Remembering Ruth and Eddie Frow and the WCML

Posted on November 13, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  Last Saturday’s event commemorated the lives of the  Frows,  showing  how their belief in communism was about grassroots activity which included the creation of the Working Class Movement Library in the 1950s. They wanted  to encourage  future generations to … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, Communism, drama, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, music, political women, Salford, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Days of Hope: an article by Mary Quaile on her visit to the Soviet Union in 1925

Posted on July 26, 2017 by lipstick socialist

2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and it is difficult today to understand the hope that the revolution gave to ordinary women and men across the world. One of those women was Mary Quaile. An Irish immigrant … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , | Leave a comment