By and about women: New Materials at Cook Library, Towson State College
The following cassettes are from Radio Free People, 133 Mercer St., NYC 10012
- My body is mine to control. Songs about women's struggle for liberation, People’s Park, three pregnant Panther women in jail in Connecticut, third world women. "Women rewarded for weakness and punished for trying to be strong/Locked in our homes, in the prisons and jobs where we 're told we belong ..” have written these songs. Songs of love, liberation., struggle, songs of rage •... Written by Beverly Grant and Lynn Phillips, sung by- B.Grant. 7 1/2 ips, 31 minutes.
-I'm female, I'm proud. Shows how business and advertising create a totally unrealistic picture of women and their needs, and then use the anxieties created by this image to sell products. Beulah Richardson's poem “A Black Woman speaks of white womanhood" included. 7 1/2- ips, 29 minutes.
-Diane Di Prima:” The Revolutionary Letters. The "Letters” have been passed around widely, though never officially ‘published.’ They are poetic ruminations, advice, admonition to revolutionary brothers and sisters, full of joy and anger and humor, and sometimes detailed suggestions. The tape is a recording of a reading which took place on March 26, 1969., at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery in New York City. Also, an earlier poem, “April Fool Birthday Poem for Grandpa,” a loving tribute to a sensitive man who knew where it was at politically. 7 1/2 ips, 29 minutes.
-Free our sisters, free ourselves: On November 22, 1969, East Coast women's liberation groups and the Black Panther Party brought over 2,000 people to New Haven to support six Black Panther sisters jailed in Connecticut and all political prisoners. The sisters had been in jail since May 1969, along with seven Panther brothers, on charges of conspiracy, murder, kidnapping and binding. Three were pregnant when arrested ••• and were denied adequate prenatal care and diet, fresh air and exercise ••• Women organized and led the action in New Haven, drawing the parallels between the torture of the Panther sisters in prison and the oppression of women in homes, offices, factories and jails everywhere. The tape is a documentary of that day, with songs, chants and raps from the rally. 7 1/2 ips, 29 minutes.
-Marge Piercy-: Laying down the tower. “We shall all waken to be human ••• waking is the sharpest pain I have ever known.” In this sequence of poems, a reading of the eleven Tarot cards, M.P. leads us through the painful process of awakening, re-definition, revolution and rebirth. 7 l/2 ips, 36 minutes.
-Marge Piercy: Poems. Twelve poems written and read by M.P ... Among the themes are the irrationality and inhumanity of American institutions., and the urgent need to destroy and rebuild - to create a society based on human needs and values. Included are "'The peaceable kingdom” “Community,” • "'The death of the small commune,” “Becoming a bureaucrat," and others. 7 1/2 ips, 30 minutes.
-Ruthie Gorton: This bird is learning how to fly. Whether she sings for friends, a woman's conference, a movement demonstration, or a spontaneous song of sympathy for an over-worked waitress, Ruthie's songs offer us encouragement and humor in our struggles. This tape includes “You think cause I'm a woman,” “Crazy Ruthie,” “Liberation Blues” "We are the children of Babylon,” and a few songs written by other people. Two reels, 7 1/2 ips., total 60 minutes.
3/75
