Shapers of a Movement: Movement through Radical Feminist Punk

In our final edition of Shapers of a Movement, we’ll look at an artist. A #MovementShaper who sang and performed about the issues of her time. Who continued to express herself and the issues through her art, her lyrics, and her performances.

Art is something that evokes emotions. It’s also something we can’t separate from any organizing spaces. Whether it’s using your voice to sing against apartheid in South Africa like Miriam Makeba (also known as “Mama Afrika”), Cleo Parker Robinson’s “Run Sister Run,” inspired by Angela Davis’s experience as a fugitive, performance protest in labor movements, or even infographics, community toolkits, and fliers that tell of issues plaguing the community, art is everywhere in organizing spaces; it’s used to express the emotions felt by people.

This final edition is dedicated to a woman who made it her mission to express emotion through her lyrics. Our last piece is dedicated to Frances Sokolov, also known as Vi Subversa (1935–2016), who was the lead singer, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist of the British anarcho-punk band Poison Girls. Born to Ashkenazi Jewish parents on June 20, 1935, in London, United Kingdom, Vi Subversa would grow up to start the peaceful but political punk band at age forty-two in 1976. With lyrics like: “I curse the system that makes machines of my children. I reject the system that makes men of machines,” Subversa would go on to produce music to voice the issues and opinions of many in the late 1970s. Instead of going in-depth into her life, I will share some of her music and its meaning.

Poison Girls—“Persons Unknown” (1981)

“Persons Unknown,” from Poison Girls’ Statement album, makes a statement. It tells us not to be silent with our “heads in the sand” when we see oppression and live in a regressive society: “Habits of hiding/Soon will be the death of us.” As author Zora Neale Hurston said, “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” In that same vein, “Persons Unknown” tells us not to keep silent, to speak up. You can’t survive on loyalty and fear alone. It’s a message saying that you shouldn’t close your eyes to what’s happening—the people rotting in jail, the murders and sickness that come from labor—and how, to those in power, we are expandable. Instead of hiding and being a person unknown, stand up, know that you’re not alone, and fight for what is right. The song ends with “Flesh and blood are who we are/Our cover is blown.” This means you are a real person; take this opportunity to fight against tyranny.

Poison Girls—“Riot in My Mind” (1985)

“Riot in My Mind,” from Poison Girls’ album Songs of Praise, starts off smoothly as it tells a story of confusion and a life filled with too much disturbance: “There’s a disturbance/A riot in my mind/Running, running down the street/Someone’s trying to do me down.” With lyrics like “shattered mirrors in the hallway” and “someone’s trying to do me down,” you get the sense that you’re being watched, and fear overtakes you. “Riot in my mind” is about liberating yourself from what is expected and from the mistreatment society doles out on those it deems below them.

Poison Girls—“Another Hero” (1981)

Vi Subserva says in the opening of this video that “For forty years I thought I mustn’t sing. I’m not Mick Jagger . . . or Johnny Rotten . . . I’m not Marilyn Monroe. I shouldn’t be in public. I should stay in my closet and mind my children and mind my own business. Only it is my business; what happens in the world is my business.”

“Another Hero” was released during the Cold War and is more of an anti-war anthem with lyrics like: “There’s nowhere safe to hide from raiders,” “The white man dying of exposure,” and “The president’s advisers/Advise us all to go to hell.” The poor man fights for those in power. People are being used as tools. It’s everyone’s business to get involved in politics because the war and potential deaths affect everyone. At the end of “Another Hero,” Vi Subserva states that “The rumor goes/Another hero bites the dust/There are no heroes fit to rule.” This statement is powerful because heroes are thought to be those now in the cemetery who fought bravely while the people in power use their deaths for political gain. The song ends with: “They’re all half saint, half bloody fool.” The people in power do not care about the lives of those fighting, so why sit idly by as they use you?

Vi Subversa was a #MovementShaper with a story to tell. Although she wasn’t “related” to a traditional movement or organizing cause, she spoke about issues plaguing her community. Her music focused on matters that organizing spaces fought and continue to fight for. She and her radical feminist band were featured in the documentary film She’s a Punk Rocker, about self-liberation and women in punk in the UK. Vi Subvera’s lyrics were filled with anarchist and abolitionist rhymes, and relatable life experiences. Her defiance spoke to the people, especially women, and she evoked so much emotion through her music.

She was a radical punk feminist until her last days, playing her final live performance with Naughty Thoughts at Brighton’s Green Door Store in 2015. Vi Subversa died on February 19, 2016, at eighty years old. Today we remember her as a #MovementShaper and someone who used her voice to express the struggles of her time and embodied women’s liberation through her lyrics and performances. We thank her for not “minding her business” and for making everything that happens her business.

Art is vital in movements. Imagery can shape the way we see an issue. Art in many forms—writing, infographics, dance, and music—has a way of explaining the unexplainable. Many activists and organizers use music and, in this instance, punk, to express, educate, and envision a better world. For all activists and organizers who use their art to share the story of movements and people, we thank you and continue to be by your side.

And Reader: Thank you so much for taking the journey with me. I hope you enjoyed this series and the stories of all the women who fought and continue to fight. I wish you the best as you own your own narrative, find hope in the world, and continue to shape the world around you.

Joycelyn lives in Cypress, Texas. She’s the daughter of immigrants and did not go to law school, but she received three degrees (BA, MA, MPH) and is happily freelancing and working in the nonprofit world. She enjoys writing about healthcare recruitment and even worked as a Healthcare Organizer. When she’s not writing, she’s transcribing, developing community toolkits, and researching womxn’s history. Which is why she’s excited about writing for AMPLIFY. On her off days, she spends her time on Twitter, reminding everyone to drink water and enabling others to watch more dramas. Follow her on Twitter: @jg_humanitarian