For Immediate Release
March 8, 2012
Reference: Raquel Redondiez, Chairwoman, GABRIELA USA, chair@gabusa.org
Filipina Women March Forward on the 101st Commemoration of International Women’s Day
As part of a long heritage of resistance and struggle, the women of GABRIELA USA commemorate one hundred and one years of militant struggle, united to advance the rights and demands of women. From San Francisco to LA, New York to Seattle, the women of GABRIELA USA unite with all working class and oppressed people of the world fighting for their national liberation and emancipation from the exploitative and repressive practices of the global imperialist system. GABRIELA USA celebrates working women’s victories in a week-long series of events, forums, and cultural productions across the U.S.
In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, people in the United States and around the world take to the streets demanding an alternative to an economic system that upholds imperialist and corporate interests over the lives and needs of everyday people. As the global economic crisis worsens, more and more people rise up in response to unjust policies and clear unequal distribution of wealth.
In third world countries like the Philippines, the Benigno Cojuanco Aquino III administration stand idly by as the cost of basic commodities continue to rise, unemployment remains high, and evictions and demolitions occur more than ever. Further, unequal U.S. foreign policies and trade agreements, along with the plunder of natural resources by foreign corporations, continue to dislocate Filipinos and force them to leave the country and seek work elsewhere. Women are 70% of the more than 4,000 nationals who leave the country each day. Even when Filipinos leave for better chances in countries like the U.S., they often fall prey to predatory agencies, as with the experience of Filipino human trafficking survivors dubbed the “Florida 15” who are currently fighting against wage theft and several other labor violations committed against them.
The current economic and financial crises of the crumbling capitalist system hit women the hardest. The economic and ecological repercussions of these crises increased the vulnerability of women to the different forms of oppression, discrimination and violence inside and outside the home. They were the first to be laid off when factories closed down or went bankrupt and had to suffer lower wages and difficult flexible working conditions when hired. Peasant and indigenous women who are the world’s number one food producers have become the world’s poorest, facing unprecedented hunger and poverty as transnational corporations, local landlords, and governments rush to steal away millions of hectares of lands for corporate farming, mining, infrastructures, dams, tourism and military use. They are dislocated and dispossessed from their lands, communities and indigenous way of life.
People , especially working women, all over the world are experiencing the heightening contradictions of a global economic crisis brought upon by U.S. imperialism. The momentum to unite with people across the world is only increasing, and it is again timely and necessary to gather the strength of working women to take part in the growing movement against imperialism!
“This International Women’s Day, we continue to build on the legacy of this day, fighting foreclosures and displacement, workers’ rights violations, political repression, and advancing the rights of women and all people for equality, dignity and livelihood. GABRIELA-USA is proud to be part of the daily struggles of women in our local communities, throughout the U.S., and in our homeland.” says Raquel Redondiez, Chairwoman of GABRIELA-USA.
Please join us in GABRIELA USA’s International Working Women’s Day Celebrations:
Sisters of GABRIELA Awaken (SiGAW) – GABRIELA USA
Thursday, March 8, 11:30am-1pm
“Women Sow the Seeds of Resistance” – Commemorating International Women’s Day
Claremont School of Theology
Haddon Conference Center in the Butler building
1325 North College Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Thursday, March 8, 6:30pm-9pm
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Rosewood United Methodist Church
4101 Rosewood Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Friday, March 9, 6:30 PM – 9 PM
Community Reception
spaceLUNA
2404 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1 B
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Pinay sa Seattle – GABRIELA USA
Thursday March 8, 4pm-6pm
Joining API Women and Family Safety Center on 17th Annual Candlelight Vigil
Speak Out and Building Strength
King County Courthouse Lawn and 9th Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
Saturday March 10, 2pm-5pm
Kamay-International Women’s Day Celebration
Honoring Filipina Migrant Women
Southside Commons
3815 S. Edmunds St.
Seattle, WA 98118
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) – GABRIELA USA
Wednesday March 7, 10am-12pm
The Eve of International Women’s Day
Honoring rural and indigenous women
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (4th and 1st Ave)
New York, NY 10017
Saturday March 31, Meet at 12noon at the Bull. Take 4,5 to Bowling Green
STOP Wall Street’s War on Women mobilization
Celebration for International Women’s Day at the Solidarity Center at 3pm
55 West 17th St. 5th Floor
New York, NY. 10011
Babae – GABRIELA USA
Monday March 5, 6:30-8:30pm
International Women’s Day Talakayan
LGBTQ Who?
Filipino Community Center
4681 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94112
Thursday March 8, 12-1pm
Joining Unite Here Local 2’s International Women’s Day Action
Protesting the exploitation of Filipino, Latino, Chinese and other women hotel workers.
Union Square, San Francisco
Sunday March 11, 4-6pm
Survivors Speak Out
Former political prisoners and survivors of state violence speak out against the continuing human rights crisis in the Philippines and the fight to end impunity under Aquino.
San Francisco Public Library (Main Library), Koret Auditorium
###
SAVE THE DATE!
JOIN GABRIELA-USA FOR IT’S SECOND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY!
