Watch…Wajdja….the story of a girl growing up, living with warring parents, a mother trying to hold onto her job and with problems getting to work, a girl dreaming of buying a bike. This could be a story about any girl in any country in the world but this is Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive societies for women on Earth and not that good for poor men or foreign workers. Wajdja has to cover herself up in black to go outside and walk to school, she is told off by the school authorities for wearing sneakers rather than plain black shoes, she has no status in her family because she is a girl and she is slowly waking up to the limits of her freedom as a female in Saudia Arabia . Wajdja refuses to accept this second class status and the film is a clever and insightful story of her dreams to not just ride a bicycle but escape a repressive society. Watch it at the Cornerhouse…
Look at…..Spindleopolis; when Cotton was King…a new exhibition at the Gallery Oldham exploring the Oldham of 1913 when it was at its height as a cotton town. Look back at a time when Oldham was a prosperous town through the cartoons of Sam Fitton and a variety of historic objects and paintings. Esteemed local historians Alan Fowler and Terry Wyke have produced an accompanying booklet which can be bought in the Gallery Bookshop. Looking around Oldham today its hard to imagine how prosperous and dynamic the town once was…further details see
Did you go to the nightclubs of Manchester in the 80s…including Legends, the Sandpiper and Fridays? Cornerhouse are hoping to identify Manchester nightclubbers who were photographed by Dave Chadwick in the late 70s and early 80s in an exhibition called We Were All Here, Once. I am just hoping that I am not there because it was a bad hair period for me and most of my friends. Check out the photos here and, of course, in the British tradition name and shame!! Just not me!
Further details see
Read about a campaign that won…..Sparks revolt: how rank and file electricians beat Besna.Besna was set up by building contractors to destroy the Joint Industry Board national industry agreement which provided electricians with protection over their pay and terms and conditions. For more than six months workers protested at building sites, blocking bridges and roads until on 23 February 2012 they learnt that BESNA had collapsed. In this booklet find out how the workers won against the massed ranks of some of the largest construction companies in the land , the timidity of the bureaucracy of their trade union Unite and the hostility of the police. The question is why are these people not being hosted at the People’s Assembly across the country to show that we can win??? Another excellent price at £2 and buy it from
Learn about Popular Radical Movements in Greater Manchester 1819 to 1918…..socialist historian Michael Herbert is running a 10 week course starting in September on Monday evenings: 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm at Aquinas College in Stockport. It will be an introduction to radical political ideas and movements in Greater Manchester. Not just classroom based, there wil lalso be three walks in Manchester city centre which will explore sites connected with Peterloo, Karl Marx and Frederick and the radical movements discussed during the course. Further details Email: sheila@aquinas.ac.uk
Join campaigners against the cuts in council tax….in Tameside on Wednesday 7 August a demo has being organised at Tameside Magistrates Court 9.15 am where Council Tax summons cases are being heard. It has been called by Tameside Against the Cuts. Further details see
lipstick socialist 