Category Archives: biography

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

My review of “A Most Unladylike Occupation” Lisa Wright

Posted on September 8, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  Lucy Deane was one of the first female Factory Inspectors in 1893. In this novel, Lisa Wright, a distant relative of Lucy’s, captures the life and history of a pioneering woman. It was the Home Secretary, Herbert Asquith, who … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, education, feminism, labour history, novels, political women, trade unions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My review of “The Miami Showband Massacre A survivor’s search for the truth” Stephen Travers and Neil Fetherstonhaugh

Posted on August 25, 2018 by lipstick socialist

      On 31 July 1975  as the  popular group,  The Miami Showband, were travelling back home across the border in the North of Ireland, they were stopped by a fake army patrol made up of Ulster Defence Regiment … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Catholicism, education, human rights, Ireland, North of Ireland, Uncategorized, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on August 17, 2018 by lipstick socialist

  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 , , , | 1 Comment