‘This was the first march of the Women’s Liberation Movement. The figure that’s usually given is 4,000 – but I’m sure there were tens of thousands of us. It was chocka!’
It was early March in 1971 and bitterly cold, but the snow and sleet didn’t dampen our spirits. Thousands of us had gathered for the first Women’s Liberation Movement march. We were singing and dancing as we walked through London and there was street theatre at Trafalgar Square, where the march ended. It was a joyous occasion. Our banners reflected our primary focuses: equal pay and equal opportunity, free contraception and abortion on demand. There were also lots of men of all ages taking part, kids too. And there was a huge police presence – we were surrounded by them, walking alongside, in front and behind. They were on the march too – whether they liked it or not!
I was taking pictures the whole time, running to get ahead, climbing up lampposts or on to bins. I remember passing Billingsgate fish market was a whole lot of fun, as workers came out to watch and cheer. I’ve got lots of pictures of passersby laughing with us – and some of them at us. But even if there was the occasional bit of mocking, things were never nasty. We weren’t being aggressive, so that wasn’t the reaction we got.
Continue reading...
Comments