Despite being twice included on lists of influential Black Britons, Olive Morris is still frequently overlooked in British history. Still, she achieved much in her tragically short life and her legacy remains alive today.
Activists
Palestine, Women, and Resistance
Women have been part of Palestinian resistance and its fight for liberation since its inception. They protested alongside the men during the British occupation, the protected their families after Israel took over in 1948, and they have long been active participants in politics. Here are nine stories of such women.
Claudia Jones – Out From the Shadows
Now resting in the shadows of Karl Marx's giant tomb, Claudia Jones was an activist and pioneer who left no mere shadow on British culture, and it is time to bring her out into the light.
Suffrage in the Philippines
Almost exactly 85 years ago, Filipinas chose their right to vote. Prior to 1937, women in the Philippines had virtually no rights, and the all-male National Legislative were firmly against women's suffrage, fearing that traditional family roles would start to change.
Sisters: Las Mariposas
The International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women takes place every year on 25th November. The date was chosen in honour of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, commonly known as ‘Las Mariposas’, three sisters from the Dominican Republic who were assassinated for their resistance against Rafael Trujillo, the then-dictator of the country.
Women Who Fought Back: Madres de Plaza de Mayo
To quote Stephen King: “There’s no bitch on Earth like a mother frightened for her kids.” The Madres de Plaza de Mayo more than prove this, still fighting today for the return of their 'disappeared' children.
Suffrage Around the World: Clara González
During the early 1900s, women all around the world were mobilising to fight for their rights, and it was no different in Latin America. Clara González spent her whole career fighting for women and their rights.
Suffrage Around the World: Nüzi canzheng tongmenghui
China’s ‘first wave’ of feminism took place between 1911-1913 when the new constitution contained no mention of women's suffrage. Women's groups across China came together to form the Women's Suffrage Alliance - the first of its kind in the country.
R is for… ‘Red’ Emma Sproson
Studies of the suffrage movement in the UK—at least in school settings—are overwhelmingly focused on the middle- to upper-class, London-based women who were members of the WSPU or the NUWSS. But this erases many working-class people who were just as influential, including Black Country activist, Emma Sproson.
E is for… Eleanor Marx
Karl Marx is known throughout the world for his political theory, but it was his youngest daughter, Eleanor, who put that theory into practice. Fiercely intelligent and quick-witted, she was heavily involved with socialist movements and early trade unionism, and she was a strong campaigner for the rights of working-class women and Jews.