Reading Room
Pat Parker and Audre Lorde at a lesbian poetry reading, May 1981.
Photo: Susan D. Fleischmann
A (never complete) list of books, articles, videos and links celebrating women’s creativity from Oakland and beyond
Curators note: When you decide to buy a book or video listed here, please support your feminist, independent and/or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) bookstores, as well as Goldenrod Music.
Over time, this page may become dated but we include material as a sample of how outspoken artists helped us to get to know one another in ways unavailable in mainstream education. Even well intended alternative and private education often did not include these extraordinary resources.
Use the tools below to quickly search and filter resources.
ICON LEGEND: Watch Video Follow Link Popup info
Varied Voices of Black Women
Various audio and written materials
Article/Magazine, Music, Radio/Podcast
Radical Harmonies
Woman Vision
Music
A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection by North American Indian Women
Beth Brant
Books
This Bridge Called My Back
Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua
Books
The Labor of Faith: Gender and Power in Black Apostolic Pentecostalism
Judith Casselberry
Books
Nunca Mãs Mujer
Women Artists in Residence - Chile
Film/Video
LGBT Pride: Remembering The Brick Hut Cafe
Sharon Davenport
Article/Magazine
Double Trouble For Black Women
An Interview With Margaret Sloan
The Tide, July 1975
Article/Magazine
Olivia On the Record
Ginny Z. Berson
Books
Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde
Alexis De Veaux
Books
Sister Love: The letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker 1974
Books
Nice Chinese Girls Don’t
Kitty Tsui
Film/Video
Chicana feminism
Sounding Out!
Article/Magazine
Work of a Common Woman: The Collected Poetry of Judy Grahn 1964-1977
Judy Grahn
Books
The Girls in the Band Documentary
Judy Chaikin
Film/Video
Because of a Song Conversation Transcripts
Archival
Last Page, First Priority
Resources for Black farming
Education
Cupping the Flame of Women’s Culture
DVD/Documentary by Helene Rosenbluth
Film/Video
Dr. Shirley Childress Memorial Fund
Article/Magazine
Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women’s Music
Eileen M. Hayes
Books
Eden Built by Eves: The Culture of Women’s Music Festivals
Bonnie J. Morris
Books
Backstage Pass: Interviews with Women in Music
Laura Post
Books
Divine Daughters: Liberating the Power and Passion of Women’s Voices
Rachel L. Bagby
Books
Brown, Like Me
June and Jean Millington
Film/Video
Goldenrod Music
Your source for Women's Music since 1975.
Music
Goldenrod Music Catalog Archive
Michigan State University Library
Archival
Ladyslipper Women’s Music Catalog Archive
Ladyslipper Music
Archival
Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History
Smith College
Archival
Berkeley Women’s Music Collective
An Archive from The Berkeley Revolution
Archival, Film/Video, Music
Bay Area Lesbian Archives
Archival
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival Archive
Michigan State University Library
Archival, Article/Magazine
Lesbian Connection
Elsie Publishing Institute
Article/Magazine
The Schlesinger Library Collections
Harvard Radcliff Institute
Archival
Irene Young Photography
Photography/Art
For the Record : Photography by Irene Young
Irene Young
Books
JEB (Joan E. Biren) Photography
Photography/Art
Sandy Morris Photography
Photography/Art
Interview with Dr Margo Okazawa-Ray
Association for Women's Rights in Development
Film/Video
Civil Bound
Myung Mi Kim
Books
Willyce Kim wrote her own story
Article/Magazine
“A Woman Named Canyon Sam”
Quentin Lee
Film/Video
Retrospective
Cris WIlliamson
Film/Video
Emel Mathlouthi
Freedom to Palestine /Naci en Palestina/ آمال مثلوثي
Film/Video, Music
GENTE – Third World Lesbian Softball Team
The Tide, July 1974
Article/Magazine
Liverbirds: First all-woman rock band in England
New York Times
Film/Video
Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music
T.J. Parsell
Film/Video
Sistah Boom: Forty Years in the Streets
Chana Wilson
Music, Radio/Podcast
Carolyn Brandy: Groundbreaking Woman Drummer
Chana Wilson
Music, Radio/Podcast
The Women Who Rode Away
Natalia Zukerman
Film/Video
We Who Believe In Freedom
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Books
If You Don’t Go, Don’t Hinder Me : The African American Sacred Song Tradition
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Books
Overlooked Giants: Stories of Queer Women of Color
Podcast by AhSa-Ti Nu
Radio/Podcast
“Women On Top”
Bay Area Women in Salsa, by Jesse "Chuy" Varela (SF Weekly), 2001
Article/Magazine
Mama Bears News-Aug/Sept 1984
Mama Bears Bookstore
Article/Magazine
Montclair Women’s Cultural Club History and Closing
San Francisco Bay Times
Article/Magazine
Strong Voices: The Story Of The Women’s Chorus Movement
Rita Kissen
Books
Interview with Jessie Ortiz
Carol DeArment
Film/Video
Orquesta Sabrosita: An All-Women Salsa Band, Bay Area 1980s
Ruth A. Carranza
Film/Video
We Don’t Need The Men
Malvina Reynolds
Film/Video, Music
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Audre Lorde
Books
Come Out Singing
Lynne Littman/KCET
Film/Video
See What I Say
Susan Freundlich
Film/Video
How Many More
Crys Matthews
Music
Obeah Opera
Melanie DeMore, Musical Director
Music
“Angry Atthis”
Maxine Feldman
Film/Video, Music
Redwood Records Catalog
Archival
Angela Davis on Nina Simone
Angela Davis
Article/Magazine
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday
Angela Davis
Books
“Singing for Our Lives” Workshop on musical composition and feminism
Fundación EPES
Film/Video
Fighting for Indigenous Rights
Tara Houska TED Talk
Education, Film/Video
Mary Lou’s Apartment
San Francisco Classical Voice
Article/Magazine
Alice Walker
Mississippi Writers and Musicians Archive
Archival, Books
Black Women Working Together
Tammy L. Kernodle
Article/Magazine
Chavela
One Of The Greatest Latina Lesbian Singers Of All Time
Film/Video, Music
No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
JEB (Joan E. Biren)
Film/Video, Photography/Art
Mapping Queer Oakland
Elena Botkin-Levy, GEMS Oral History & Audio Storytelling
Article/Magazine
Oakland Conservatory of Music
Angela Wellman
Education
A Radical Life in Song
Ronnie Gilbert
Books
1984 NWMF performance
Meg Christian
Film/Video
Death by Life
An opera exploring the intersection of systemic racism and mass incarceration.
Mary Watkins, Composer
Music
Dusty Sings Margie’s “Beautiful Soul”
Dusty Springfield
Film/Video, Music
Various video content
Margie Adam
Film/Video, Music
You Ain’t Got No Easter Clothes: A Memoir
Laura Love
Books
Love In Abundance: A Guide To Women’s Music
Crys Matthews
Article/Magazine
American Masters: Singing for Our Lives
Holly Near
Film/Video
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival Slideshow/Amazon Women
Desdemona Burgin
Film/Video, Music, Photography/Art
Keeper of the Beat
Barbara Borden
Film/Video
Judy & Cris Receive 2018 AMA Lifetime Achievement Award
Cris Williamson
Film/Video
How Beth Brant Uplifted the Voices of Native American Queer Women
Beth Brant
Article/Magazine
Live at the Freight
Holly Near
Film/Video, Music
From Spirituals to Symphonies
Helen Walker-Hill
Books
Ella – Honoring Survivors of domestic violence
Gina Chavez
Film/Video
Collaboration
June Jordan and Adrienne Torf
Music
Composers Now Interview
Mary Watkins
Film/Video
“Legacy”
Terry Garthwaite with Deidre McCalla
Film/Video
An Army of Lovers
Jamie Anderson
Books
Land of a Thousand Bridges
June Millington
Books
In The Best Interests of the Children
Frances Reid
Film/Video
Mediterranean Israeli Music and the Politics of the Aesthetic
Amy Horowitz
Books
There and Back Again – An Audiovisual Journey Into Roadwork
Amy Horowitz
Article/Magazine
Rhiannon’s Vocal River
Rhiannon
Education, Music
MenEngage Alliance
Education
Holly Near
Music
Time to Celebrate Black Women Who Invented Rock and Roll
Kali Holloway
Article/Magazine
Fanny, The Right to Rock
Fanny
Film/Video
The Feminist Revolution
Bonnie J. Morris
Books