sojourner - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T07:30:04Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/sojournerHappy Women's Rights Day! 91 years ago women in USA won right to vote.https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/happy-women-s-rights-day-91-years-ago-women-in-usa-won-right-to2011-08-26T19:01:45.000Z2011-08-26T19:01:45.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong>Happy Women's Rights Day!</strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:Arial;">This August 26 celebrates women winning </span></p>
<p><font face="Arial">the vote in the U.S. 91 years ago. Today Radical Women honors the <br />suffrage movement and its militant, multiracial fighters. These <br />women--Sojourner Truth, Clara Lemlich, Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, <br />Sarah Grimke, and so many more--rebelled against enforced second-class <br />status to organize courageously for equal rights. We will be forever grateful <br />for their work.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Gaining access to the ballot did not eliminate oppression, however. The <br />battle for justice continues. Many hard-earned gains of the feminist <br />movement are being targeted in today's atmosphere of increasing bigotry <br />and scapegoating.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">In response to the economic quagmire in the U.S., the right wing has <br />launched a full-scale attack against women, queers, immigrants, people<br />of color, labor unions, and the working class as a whole. They label <br />immigrant mothers an "invasion by birth canal," oppose gay marriage, and <br />try to destroy ethnic studies. Politicians on both sides of the aisle advocate <br />cutting funding for abortion and reproductive health services while <br />eliminating the right of public workers, who are predominantly female and <br />people of color, to bargain collectively.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">It is no surprise that the Tea Party and Republicans have ridden this wave, <br />but Democrats, who captured many women's support with campaign <br />promises of relief, have blatantly exposed themselves as complicit <br />promoters of these slash-and-burn politics. Congress' bipartisan debt-<br />reduction super committee, for instance, is simply a cover to cut Medicare, <br />Medicaid, Social Security, education funding and a host of human services. <br />Both capitalist parties are quick to abandon the facade of representing <br />working class interests to cater to the wealthy and large corporations.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The poor, women and people of color are disproportionately among the <br />hardest hit when services are reduced. Women, of course, bear the <br />greatest burden for the welfare of their families and are forced to shoulder <br />more tasks at home to compensate for service cutbacks.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">During these difficult times, organized fight-backs--with women at the <br />forefront--are breaking out. Taking a cue from the rebellions in the Middle <br />East, teachers in Wisconsin sparked a series of protests against Gov. Scott <br />Walker's anti-union onslaught. Support from across the world poured in as <br />intrepid unionists shutdown business as usual in Madison. Demonstrations <br />and sit-ins at state capitals across the nation have demanded an end to <br />union-busting, corporate giveaways and balancing the budget on the backs <br />of poor people.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Radical Women (RW) is deeply immersed in building this fight. In <br />California, RW initiated <em>Sisters United Front for Survival</em> that calls for <br />steeply taxing the rich and big businesses and shutting down wars to pay <br />for vital services. Similarly, <em>Sisters Organize for Survival</em>, a grassroots <br />project of Seattle Radical Women, led a "<a href="http://www.radicalwomen.org/budget_brochure_2011.html"><font color="#0000FF">Flip the Funding</font></a>" fight in <br />Washington State. SOS issued an alternative budget based on the state <br />meeting its obligation to help people survive, not boost corporate profits.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Nationally, RW supported the Save Our Schools conference and march in <br />Washington D.C. in July, where thousands of teachers, parents and <br />community activists gathered to demand full funding and support for public <br />education. RW garnered endorsements from over a dozen unions in four <br />states and sent a contingent to D.C.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Radical Women's strategy is to encourage united labor and community <br />mobilizations to fight budget cuts and defend workers' rights. RW <br />members have gone door-to-door, spoken at union meetings, made <br />presentations to community groups, initiated demonstrations, hosted <br />forums, mobilized people to testify before city, county and state <br />committees, launched petition campaigns, and more.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Since Republicans and Democrats are part of the problem, the only way <br />to exercise our democratic rights is to build an organized, militant, and <br />feminist working-class movement that goes beyond voting for capitalist <br />politicians. We need labor unions to step up to leadership and shake <br />things up across the country, from taking capital buildings to calling general <br />strikes. And how about building a feminist labor party that genuinely <br />represents all workers' interests?</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">We workers, union and non-union, female and male, <strong>create the wealth, and <br />we should control it, too!</strong> There is no reason for us to tolerate the existence <br />of a class of exploiters who use our labor just to enrich themselves at our <br />expense. As long as capitalism is king, women, queers, people of color, <br />immigrants, and the entire working class, will get an ever shortening end <br />of the stick.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Radical Women has been engaged in the grassroots, feminist fight for an <br />egalitarian socialist society since 1967. Join the struggle! You can learn <br />more about RW's theory and program by reading <a href="http://www.radicalwomen.org/literature.shtml#RWManifesto"><font color="#0000FF">The Radical Women <br />Manifesto</font></a>. Check out</font> <a href="http://www.radicalwomen.org/"><font face="Arial">www.radicalwomen.org</font></a> <font face="Arial">to learn what the chapter in <br />your city is doing, and get involved. If we don't have a chapter in your area, <br />contact</font> <a href="mailto:RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com"><font face="Arial">RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com</font></a> <font face="Arial">about building one. You can also <br />help us continue our work by <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5868586"><font color="#0000FF">donating here</font></a>.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">A solution to these rocky times is within reach! We will save our future <br />through a united labor and community struggle for a just, worker-controlled <br />economic structure, and the time is now.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">In solidarity,</font></p>
<p><br /><font face="Arial">Cee Fisher<br />Radical Women<br /></font><font face="Arial">___________________________________________________________<br /><br /><strong>National Radical Women<br /></strong>747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109<br />Phone 415-864-1278 * Fax 415-864-0778<br /><a href="mailto:RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com">RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.RadicalWomen.org/">www.RadicalWomen.org</a></font></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>