International Women's Day, as described
by Alexandra Kollontai, began as “a day of international solidarity, and a day
for reviewing the strength and organization of proletarian women.” Established through the determination
of radical activist and organizer Clara Zetkin and a resolution adopted at the
International Conference of Working Women the first IWD was marked in
1911. Today, IWD is
commemorated around the world as “a global day
celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past,
present and future.”In recognition of International Women’s Day 2010, here are some biographical sketches of some women I admire:
Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869 – 1939) Married to V.I. Lenin, Krupskaya was a very important
revolutionary in her own right, educating and supporting fellow Bolsheviks in
the years leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Suffering through persecution and arrest under
the Tsar, Krupskaya endured the struggle and supported Lenin through the tumult
that would eventually bring the Soviets to power. Krupskaya was an archivist and librarian and did much work
in the establishment of the new Soviet library system following the
revolution. In 1933, she published
Reminiscences of Lenin, a biography of her husband which is often regarded as
one of the best assessments of his life and work.
Further Reading: Nadezhda
Krupskaya Internet Archive
Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862 – 1931) Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a
journalist and activist who used her exceptional talents as a writer and a speaker to raise global
awareness
regarding crimes against African-Americans in the South during the
decades
immediately following the Civil War.
She wrote extensively on the problem of lynching in the
United States,
beginning with two groundbreaking pamphlets Southern
Horrors: Lynch Law in All
Its Phases, and a A Red Record. She co-founded the NAACP
with W.E.B. DuBois and others
in 1909.
Further Reading:
Southern
Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (full text) by Ida
B. Wells-Barnett
Mother Tsai Immortalized
by Agnes Smedley in her article “No Sacrifice…No Victory,” Mother Tsai
was a
leader of women in the “south Yangtze valley” during China’s War of
Resistance
against Japan from 1937 – 1945.
Well into her late 60’s, Mother Tsai worked in the fields with
her
daughters-in-law while her sons fought in the guerilla armies against
the
Japanese invaders. She was an
important member of the Women’s Association, delivering inspirational
political
speeches to to wounded soldiers as they convalesced in hospital wards. She mounted aggressive campaigns
against opium use and corruption in the region, declaring war on the
oppressive
conventions of sexism and exploitation.
Further Reading: Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution (full text)
Lili Brik (1891-1978) Intimately
involved at a number of levels with the Russia’s Futurist movement of
literature and art, Lili Brik was a close personal associate of Russia’s
celebrated poet Vladimir Mayakovsky.
After Mayakovsky's death, Brik penned a personal appeal to Joseph Stalin in 1935 in which she advocated
for the widespread dissemination and popularization of Mayakovsky’s works. She wrote: “…I address myself to you
because I do not see any other means to realize the tremendous revolutionary
heritage of Mayakovsky.” The
appeal was met with the approval of Stalin who famously responded, “Comrade
Brik is right: Mayakovsky was and remains the most talented poet of our Soviet
epoch. Indifference to his memory
and words is a crime.” Her memory lives on in the works of Mayakovsky and the art of Alexander Rodchenko.
Further Reading: I Love: The Story of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik (Amazon listing)
More reading from greeklish.org
International Women's Day 2009
International Women's Day 2008
International Women's Day in Tehran 2006
In belated recognition of International Women's Day 2006
This is dedicated to Thomai, K., Z. and all of the women who are so important to me. You are true heroines to me, each and every day.
The grim news from Iran is that student and activist 
