So, a while ago, I reviewed my friend Scott Neigh's book Talking Radical: Resisting the State. Now I'm working on the other volume in the series (I believe they might be the first two in a larger series): Talking Radical: Gender & Sexuality.
I believe that this is the more powerful of the two. And I don't know why. Maybe because I'm acclimatized to the structure of the books more or what. But I thought the account by the First Nations woman, Doreen Spence, who as a nurse in a Catholic hospital, spoke out against the involuntary sterilization of a First Nations girl (remarking how the Catholics are always whining about how we need to respect their values when they say they won't do abortions ... waitaminnit! This bears looking into! Because the Catholic Church is supposedly against birth control as well! Including sterilizations! It's possible that in this instance, the leadership at this hospital were prepared to put racism over St Thomas Aquinas. They're supposed to be against riches, usury, torture and etc., as well. So who knows.) was very gripping.
The account by the Quebec labour leader, Madeleine Parent, struggling to unionize Dominion Textiles workers (especially the women) in the face of criminality and oppression from the Duplessis government, the Dominion Textiles company and various corrupt police and judges, was inspiring.
And the account by the women's rights/anti-violence activist Lee Lakeman, on the rise of feminist activism in the 1970s and 1980s is similarly well told.
So, I'm about one-third into it and I thought I'd recommend it. I loaned it to a teacher at my son's school and she's wanting to get her own copy now.
I believe that this is the more powerful of the two. And I don't know why. Maybe because I'm acclimatized to the structure of the books more or what. But I thought the account by the First Nations woman, Doreen Spence, who as a nurse in a Catholic hospital, spoke out against the involuntary sterilization of a First Nations girl (remarking how the Catholics are always whining about how we need to respect their values when they say they won't do abortions ... waitaminnit! This bears looking into! Because the Catholic Church is supposedly against birth control as well! Including sterilizations! It's possible that in this instance, the leadership at this hospital were prepared to put racism over St Thomas Aquinas. They're supposed to be against riches, usury, torture and etc., as well. So who knows.) was very gripping.
And the account by the women's rights/anti-violence activist Lee Lakeman, on the rise of feminist activism in the 1970s and 1980s is similarly well told.
So, I'm about one-third into it and I thought I'd recommend it. I loaned it to a teacher at my son's school and she's wanting to get her own copy now.
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