Revolutionary Women: A book of stencils edited by Queen of the Neighbourhood, (PM Press, 2010).

This is a book of stencils of the faces of some amazing activist women, accompanied by short stories of the life of each one. The stencils are bold and graphic, so can be used to make stencils out of card or foam board, which can then be used with paint to decorate walls, or used in many school and home art projects.

One of the women included in the book is Harriet Tubman, an education activist who began her life being sold into the slave trade at the age of five. During her early childhood, she protected another slave from being hit by their master, and as a result suffered from narcolepsy from the injuries she sustained. She worked on underground railroads, which provided secret housing for people escaping slavery, and during her lifetime she rescued many other slaves and brought them to safety.

The sheer bravery and fight of all the women in this book is astounding and inspiring.

Another example is Rosa Luxemburg who was one of the most important and well-remembered women of the German radical socialist and anti war movement prior to World War 1. She founded the paper Sprawa Robotnicza (The Workers’ Cause ) which was strongly opposed to the views of the nationalist policies of the Polish Socialist Party, as she basically believed in overthrowing capitalism, as many activists still do today.

It is interesting to note that the causes that women activists in this book were fighting for, are still being fought for today, such as overthrowing capitalism, and fighting for freedom from exploitation for women and all people.

This is an informative read and a good tool for artists interested in feminist activism, as the stencils can be referred back to time and time again.

Reviewed by Shelley Jamaine Iqbal