Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan, Deena Guzder, Charina Nadura, Juan Gonzalez (democracynow.org) edited by Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
Women [and male allies] rallied around the world Wednesday to mark International Women’s Day. In the United States, it was dubbed "A Day Without a Woman," as organizers called on women to go on strike.
In Prince George’s County, Maryland [USA], the entire school district closed down after 1,700 teachers asked for the day off. In Virginia, the entire public school system of Alexandria also closed after 300 workers requested the day off.
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| Seeing red? See Gloria Allred: F'd by USMC |
Meanwhile, thousands of people took part in a rally at New York City’s Washington Square Park. Here are voices from the rally. More
"We want to stand up and be counted":
New Yorkers speak out at New York City's Day Without a Woman Rally
In New York, thousands of women marched from Washington Square Park past the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the deadliest workplace accident in NYC’s history and a seminal moment for the American labor rights movement. They proceeded past the historic Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ landmark, in the West Village and then ended the march in Zuccotti Park, the site of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street uprising. Democracy Now!’s Deena Guzder and Charina Nadura spoke to some of the protesters. More
A Day Without a Woman:
Women's Global Strike and the growing movement against Trump
Women's Global Strike and the growing movement against Trump
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| What if Lady Liberty had an 'fro? |
The Statue of Liberty [also went on strike when it] went dark Tuesday... The darkening also foreshadowed the next day, Wednesday, International Women’s Day, which was organized as a strike this year: “A Day Without a Woman.”
Lady Liberty, who for more than 130 years has proclaimed to the world “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” had disappeared, at least for a few hours, from the New York skyline.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8th for more than a century, but this year’s global day of action was marked with an added sense of urgency.
A [bad hombre and real he] man who was caught on tape bragging about committing sexual assault is now the president of the United States.
(“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it [kiss them]... Grab ‘em by the p*ssy. You can do anything,” Trump said in 2005 to former NBC host Billy Bush [a relative of Pres. George Bush], on an “Access Hollywood” recording that was released last October.
Billy Bush would lose his job over the scandal; Trump would get elected president just weeks later).
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| Pull down the pink cap, Emma Watson! |
The day after Trump’s inauguration, more than 4 million people protested from coast to coast, perhaps the largest political protest in U.S. history.
The Women’s March on Washington alone was three times the size of his inauguration crowd the day before, a fact that clearly enraged the president.
Two days later, Trump would sign an executive order imposing a “global gag rule,” which bans U.S. foreign aid to any nongovernmental organization that provides abortion or even talks about it as an option.
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| Pussy Riot means a warm balaclava. |
Trump is also pressuring lawmakers to pass the Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act [called "Obamacare" by everyone]. The law would strip funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides a broad array of health-care services to more than 2.5 million Americans annually. Only 3 percent of its services are abortion-related, and no federal funding goes to provide abortions.
With events in over 50 countries, this year’s women’s strike is the largest in recent history. “March 8th will be the beginning of a new international feminist movement that organizes resistance not just against Trump and his misogynist policies,” the organizers’ website states, “but also against the conditions that produced Trump, namely the decades long economic inequality, racial and sexual violence, and imperial wars abroad.”
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Just this week, a leaked document revealed that the Department of Homeland Security is considering a proposal to separate refugee mothers from their children if they are apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a video promoting the global action, people declare their reasons for participating:
- “I’m striking on March 8th because I believe women should be free to make the decisions regarding their own bodies...
- I’m striking on March 8th for equal pay and equal opportunity, because women’s work makes all other work possible and because it’s about time we start valuing women’s labor...
- I’m striking on March 8th because when I go out, I want to feel free, not brave...because women matter.” More
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