International Women’s Day 2010 – Grassroots Women B.C. Statement

 

Capitalism in Crisis — Women in Action!

 


For 100 years, International Women’s Day has been an occasion for action toward genuine women’s equality.

 

Today, imperialism would have us believe that feminism is no longer relevant, that women have achieved equality, at least in the North, and that all that remains is to export that freedom to the Global South, whether through ideological or military means. However, you don’t have to look very far to expose the hypocrisy of this position, and the fundamental injustice of a social and economic system that relies on women’s oppression is very much alive here in Canada and beyond, making International Women’s Day more relevant now than ever.

 

For 100 years, March 8th International Women’s Day (IWD), has been a day for women around the world to come together, to take to the streets, to raise our voices, to remember our history and to forge our future.  From the striking New York City garment workers of 1908, to the women of the Socialist International Conference of 1910 who formalized the celebration of the day, to the Russian women who rallied on March 8th 1917 calling for Land, Peace and Bread, to the women of national liberation struggles throughout the Global South - all those who have rallied on this day have affirmed their belief that an end to the exploitation and oppression of working class women can only come about through our collective resistance and action.

 

Since we last gathered on IWD, global forces have greatly impacted women and their families.  The Haitian people, who were once forced to pay back slave masters for their hard won freedom and who are still struggling with foreign military aggression including Canadian forces, were rocked by a devastating earthquake which generated international aid that came too late, had too many strings attached and was given in the context of charity as opposed to genuine people-to-people solidarity. 

 

The Iranian people showed their courage and perseverance in demanding that their human rights be respected.  The people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine have continued to defend their freedom despite the vicious wars of aggression and occupation imposed upon them by imperialist nations. Here in Vancouver, affordable housing, Indigenous sovereignty, and civil liberties took a back seat to the corporate media and security agenda of the Olympics, even as ongoing cuts to public services and economic crisis continues to result in worsening conditions for working class women and children in Canada and other capitalist countries.

 

Through the lens of the corporate media, the connections between these very different and geographically dispersed events are not evident. However, as women active in the movement for genuine women’s liberation, we are capable of connecting the dots and recognizing the many manifestations the social and economic system of imperialism based on filtering the wealth up and the suffering down.

 

Great courage and strength is needed to change this state of affairs.  Working-class women have learned to fight to survive and care for our families.  When health care, child care and education are increasingly privatized and inaccessible; we are the ones who pick up the slack in our communities.

 

We know that our society would look very different if women were not exploited and oppressed. 

 

In a hundred daily ways, working class women experience this oppression - when single moms struggle to feed their kids, when migrant women leave their own families to care for the children and elders of wealthy families, when we earn less then our male co-workers or are trapped in dead end jobs, when women and children are hardest hit by war and disaster, when women are denied education because they cannot afford it or are saddled with enormous debt, when we survive male violence.

 

Here in Canada, when we are not scrambling to meet our basic needs, we are likely to be diverted by spectacles of mass distraction intended to showcase the shining of the individual spirit, the “happily-ever-after.”  But at some point we have to pause and take a step back from all our daily challenges. 

 

We have to take time from the rush of our work and daily struggles for survival to ask the bigger questions.  International Women’s Day is an occasion to reflect, to resist, and to celebrate.

 

Since our first action as Grassroots Women on IWD, we have witnessed and resisted many developments in the operations of imperialism. For example, we have seen both the buildup of the IMF-WB and the WTO and its more recent deterioration as a vehicle for the implementation of the policies of imperialist globalization.  We are battling the massive increases in the number of people forced to migrate from their home countries in order to support themselves and their families and deterioration of the conditions under which they work in their receiving countries. 

 

We have seen a renewed attack on women’s rights in the form of funding cuts, increased liberalization, deregulation and privatization.  The economic crisis has hit our homes and families hard, especially following cumulative state cut-backs and attacks on public services over the last twenty years, and communities are struggling as services have been downloaded without support or consultation.  Yet as we continue to resist these attacks, we are also witnessing a growing global acceptance amongst women, workers and other marginalized sectors of society that the capitalist system founded on a principle of infinite growth and profit for the few at the expense of the many cannot be sustained and that alternatives must be considered that are based on principles of justice and equality.

 

Our action this year carries the theme of Capitalism in Crisis—Women in Action! and invites us to think beyond the boom and bust bubbles and the reassuring rhetoric of economic recovery that we heard in the recent federal budget .  As the inequality, chronic crisis and unsustainability of capitalism become ever more apparent, working class women are mobilizing — to expose and oppose our exploitation; to support our families and communities through these turbulent times; to reclaim our proud history of resistance; and to look forward to a future where we can reach our full potential and our genuine liberation.

 

It is not difficult for working class women to imagine a better future — one in which we are not scrambling for the basics, or warding off threats to our families, our communities, and our land; one in which we have time to enjoy ourselves with our loved ones; one in which we are free to develop ourselves to our fullest capacities.  The women who founded the tradition of IWD and who have carried it forward until today may not have thought in terms of the Indigenous imperative to consider the impact of our actions until the seventh generation, but we can evaluate their - our - accomplishments from within this framework.

 

At times, the pace of history seems to be quickening too much to consider such a long- range view.  But the history of women’s oppression and resistance has demonstrated that there are no individual solutions to political problems, and we have learned that our local and immediate struggles cannot be separated from their larger global and historical context. We must link our struggles with people's movements around the world which are struggling for justice and genuine equality. Working-class women cannot be distracted from the fact that we are far from enjoying genuine women’s liberation.  In our collective mobilization against the forces blocking our true liberation, we find our greatest expression of humanity and our greatest hope for future generations.

 

 

Long live International Women’s Day!

 

Genuine equality and liberation for women now!

 

Long live International Solidarity!

 

Statement issued by:

Grassroots Women B.C., March 8, 2010

 

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March 8th 2010 International Women’s Day

Capitalism in Crisis — Women in Action!

 

The revolution is ours to make. It is our greatest duty. It is our greatest joy.

-Nellie Wong

For 100 years, March 8th International Women’s Day, has been an occasion for women around the world to come together, to take to the streets, raise our voices, remember our history and forge our future. Here in Vancouver, Grassroots Women has carried on this tradition for the past 13 years, and we invite all women, children and men to join us at this year’s event.

 

International Women’s Day Rally

Monday March 8th 5:00 p.m.

Location: Victory Square (E. Hastings and Cambie streets, downtown Vancouver)

 

Endorsed by: Philippine Women Centre of BC; SIKLAB-BC; Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance; Filipino Nurses Support Group; BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines; South Asian Network for Secularism And Democracy; Pakistan Action Network; Bolivia Solidarity Group; Aboriginal Women’s Action Network; BCGEU; VDLC Women’s Committee; No One is Illegal; Cafe Rebelde, Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice, New Noise, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter and East Van Abolitionists