Fund Feminist History-Left On Pearl

 

Dear friends,

 

I am writing to tell you about a project I have been actively supporting for some time now. It's a film called Left on Pearl, which documents a lesser-known chapter of the women's liberation movement in the U.S.

 

In 1971, women took over a Harvard-owned building in Cambridge, MA and declared it a women's center. This event happened as a result of the spontaneous moment during Boston's 1971 International Women's Day March when, headed toward Harvard Square, marchers took an unexpected left on Pearl St. and headed toward the building at 888 Memorial Drive, where they began their feminist occupation. This story is the origin of the Women's Center in Cambridge, which still exists to this day.

 

You can watch the trailer for the film here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/left-on-pearl

 

The film is extraordinary. Filled with firsthand accounts from women who were there in the building, it gives you a sense of the powerful uncharted-ness of the action these women were taking and its raw political power. The film also gives you a sense of the times, a feeling for the radical-ness of the early 1970's in the U.S., as it connects the women's liberation movement with other people's movements happening at the time, at both local and national levels.

 

Left on Pearl is an important documentation of women's history, of feminist history, and of people's history. It is a living portrait of a movement for social justice that gives you a sense of immediacy and purpose that is nothing short of inspiring.

 

Finally, as I'm sure you're well aware, women's/feminist/people's history is rarely documented with any care, thoroughness, or accuracy - much less by those who were involved in the struggle firsthand. Left on Pearl is thus an important contribution to the ongoing project of preserving the history of people's movements for social justice.

I hope you will consider donating to this worthy film. No amount is too small - even $5 is a contribution that matters.

Feminism is a collective endeavor, and your participation only grows the number of people who support this film and care about preserving feminist history.

The link is here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/left-on-pearl

Many thanks,

H. C.

 

p.s. I also want to add that, if you are a teacher of any kind, this film is excellent for educational use. I have seen early versions of it, and can say with confidence that I will use it in multiple classes of mine, and imagine it would be useful in all sorts of courses, in all sorts of settings, with all kinds of students, in transmitting the importance of social movements and the history of U.S. radicalism.