Last weekend I enjoyed International Women’s Day at the Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Bangor thanks to the great organisational efforts of Shan Ashton and courtesy of a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government to celebrate women’s heritage in Wales. A range of women were there, different ages and stages in life, community development workers, micro-entrepreneurs, students, educationalists and organisations such as the Wales Women’s Archive.
Keynote speakers included Angharad Tomos, Wales’ foremost female Welsh language writer, novelist, journalist and political activist for language rights and Charlotte Williams, now professor of social justice at Keele university who read from her autobiographical work Sugar and Slate about being mixed race (Afro-Caribbean Welsh).
Although I’m only Welsh by adoption (having spent 20 years here) I was honoured to be invited to speak about another minority interest – women and revolution. My theme was: how can we women be true to our own revolutionary nature rather than merely revolving on someone else’s old record?
Interestingly enough, although each of the three of us had gone on quite a different journey through life and took quite a different approach in presenting our theme, we had crossed paths along the way and somehow seemed to have reached the same destination. You can read my talk here with an accompanying powerpoint here .
