Breaking Language: The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in LiteratureMain MenuIntroduction: How was the Civil Rights Movement fought in language?Pre-Civil Rights Era Uses of Language: Epistemic Violence and Legal RestrictionsJames Brown, "Too Funky in Here" (1979)Builder Levy, I AM a Man (1968)Builder Levy, I Am a Man/Union Justice Now, Memphis, TN, 1968. From the series Civil Rights and Peace. Gelatin Silver print
13 1/16 × 8 13/16. artsy.net.Builder Levy, Harlem Peace March 1967Builder Levy, Anti-War ProtestBuilder Levy, Harlem Peace March to End Racial Oppression, April 27, 1967. The statement "No black man ever called me chink: support the black struggle for existence" was taken from boxer/activist Muhammad Ali's original statement about his refusal to participate in the Vietnam War, "Ain't no Vietcong ever called me nigger." Amitage Digital Resources, Columbia University.Dykes on Bikes: Headlining SF Pride Parade since 1977Malcolm X's Repudiation of a Slave NameMalcolm X: Language Play and Caustic IronyAudre Lorde: "You cannot dismantle the master's house with the master's tools" (1984)Adrienne Rich "Diving into the Wreck" (1973)James Baldwin: Deconstructing the Language of RacismConclusion: Language as a Medium for Activism and LiberationCreative Commons LicenseResourcestest of radial viewvisualization of contentCathy Kroll0c0427ebd621fb54b22b23c07748d7202fcfe9c8
Dykes on Bikes, SF Pride Parade 2015
12016-11-06T16:49:10-08:00Cathy Kroll0c0427ebd621fb54b22b23c07748d7202fcfe9c898661Dykes on Bikes, SF Gay Pride Parade 2015.plain2016-11-06T16:49:10-08:00YouTube2016-11-07T00:24:13.000ZlyWb3dbrz_ocathy krollCathy Kroll0c0427ebd621fb54b22b23c07748d7202fcfe9c8
Since 1977, the San Francisco Women's Motorcycle Club, aka Dykes on Bikes, has been leading off the SF Pride Parade. They tried for over two years to trademark "Dykes on Bikes" so it could be used for community-building and progressive causes and not used by just anyone for commercial purposes, such as printing on t-shirts. In 2005, they won the trademark.
In 1974, Joan Nestle co-founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives. In her case to win approval to trademark the name "Dykes on Bikes," she wrote: "I knew better than anyone what it meant when in the late '70s, younger women proudly reclaimed the word 'dyke.' . . . Young women full of strength and hope . . . emptied the word of its bigotry and fear, replacing it with community and self-affirmation." --Barbara Raab, "Sticks & Stones, and Dykes," June 23, 2006, In These Times