Raging Feminist Socks
Description: Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911-1996) is a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) woman born on the Kahnawà:ke reserve, and a pioneer of the indigenous women's movement in Canada. She devoted most of her life to fighting the injustices of the "Indian Act" against registered women, which deprived them of their rights when they married non-indigenous men. After a battle lasting nearly 30 years, Mary Two-Axe Earley's efforts were finally rewarded: the government amended the "Indian Act" in 1985, and thousands of women regained their status and rights. Mary Two-Axe Earley declared: "After all these years, I can once again live on my reserve, own property, die and be buried with my people”.
Description: Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 - 1928) was a British politician and pioneer of the suffragette movement, which campaigned for women's voting rights in the UK. In 1889, she founded the Women's Franchise League, and in 1903, the Women's Social and Political Union, a more radical organization that became widely known for its activities and whose members were the first to call themselves "suffragettes". Like many suffragists, Emmeline Pankhurst was arrested on numerous occasions, and went on a hunger strike that involved violent forced force-feeding. She died on June 14, 1928, shortly after women won the right to vote.
Description: Angela Davis (1944). A teacher, philosopher and human rights activist, Davis was born in the state of Alabama, where she was confronted with segregation and racism from an early age. In 1968, she joined the Black Panther Party and the Che-Lumumba Club, a section of the Communist Party reserved for blacks. Under FBI surveillance, she was accused of helping to organize a hostage-taking operation. A vast support movement was organized throughout the country and internationally, with French intellectuals lending her their support. She was finally acquitted and went on to pursue her academic career. Today, Angela Davis continues to fight against all forms of domination and discrimination.
Description: Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) was an investigative journalist, social worker and pioneering activist against racist violence and white supremacy in the United States. Born a slave, then freed, she was in turn a journalist, schoolteacher, editorial writer, lecturer, election candidate, social worker and probation officer. After the lynching of three friends by a "mob" in 1882, she traveled the U.S. and U.K. describing the atrocities of racist violence. Wells died on March 25, 1931 in Chicago. In 2020, she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence committed against African-American people.
Description: Stamáta Revíthi (1866-?) is a Greek long-distance runner who is credited with running a marathon during the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, without being allowed to take part in the official men's race. Although she completed the marathon in around 5 hours and 30 minutes and found witnesses to attest to her performance, she was not allowed to enter the Panathinaiko stadium to cross the finish line. According to contemporary sources, a second woman, named Melpomene, also took part in the marathon. There is some debate among Olympic historians as to whether Revíthi and Melpomène are the same person. In Greek mythology, Melpomene is the Muse of Tragedy when associated with Dionysus. She is depicted here in a work by Edward Simmons.
