Author Archives: lipstick socialist

About lipstick socialist

I am an activist and writer. My interests include women, class, culture and history. From an Irish in Britain background I am a republican and socialist. All my life I have been involved in community and trade union politics and I believe it is only through grass roots politics that we will get a better society. This is reflected in my writing, in my book Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women and my involvement in the Mary Quaile Club. I am a member of the Manchester and Salford National Union of Journalists.If you want to contact me please use my gmail which is lipsticksocialist636

My review of “Ants Among Elephants An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India” Sujatha Gidla

Posted on August 17, 2018

  Sujatha Gidla’s new book is not about the modern India of bollywood, nuclear weapons and a thriving economy. It is her family’s story set at the end of British colonial rule,  a family of “untouchables” – part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, political women, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

My review of “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” by Jon Robins

Posted on July 24, 2018

  In the introduction to this critical and crucial analysis of the criminal justice (or rather injustice) system Michael Mansfield QC (who represented people in  many of the cases mentioned)  reminds  the reader that after the 1980s landmark miscarriage of … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, North of Ireland, political women, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

My review of “Tory Heaven” or “Thunder on the Right” Marghanita Laski

Posted on July 13, 2018

  Marghanita Laski (24 October 1915 – 6 February 1988) was a writer and novelist who wrote fiction,  biography and plays. Born in Manchester,  she was part of an extended Labour supporting family,  her uncle was Harold Laski, for instance. … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, labour history, novels, political women, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Women in Poland; Putting them back into the story of the Solidarity Movement.

Posted on June 30, 2018

    In 1981 riots broke out in Moss Side where I lived. It reflected the oppression experienced by the Afro-Caribbean  people in that area; that they were discriminated against in housing, education and employment. After the riots, people like … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, education, feminism, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The IBRG archive at the WCML. Part Four; How Irish women played an active role in IBRG.

Posted on June 8, 2018

In the 1970s the Irish community in Britain was represented by the Federation of Irish Societies; an organisation made up of mainly men who were Irish born. IBRG was set up in 1981 because of the F.I.S.’s reluctance to speak … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, North of Ireland, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Revolting Women”a new play about Sylvia Pankhurst.

Posted on June 2, 2018

    Mikron Theatre’s new show “Revolting Women” is a  contribution to the commemorations of the extension of the vote to all men and a small group of middle-class women in 1918.  Centre stage is the radical Pankhurst Sylvia who … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, drama, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

My review of “Where are you really from” by Tim Brannigan

Posted on May 31, 2018

  In the 1970s I went to a girls Catholic (read Irish) secondary school in south Manchester. Most of the girls were like me, second generation Irish, with a sprinkling of Irish born, like my friends who were had recently … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Catholicism, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, North of Ireland, Uncategorized, working class history, young people | Tagged , | 2 Comments