We invite everyone to come out, show support and to join us in a Peace and Freedom Party contingent, and to carry our banner!!!
We call everyone to join us in endorsing this action for "Women's Equality Day". You may endorse this action here [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/endorse-aug-26.html#.UDMJNmyoEdU]
signed, Women's Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party of California
endorsed, Peace and Freedom Party of Solano County
and Eugene Ruyle, of the Peace and Freedom Party of Alameda County
2012-08-26 "On Women's Equality Day Women in Bay Area Ask: Just How Far Have We Come?"
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656831.php]:
In 1971 Bella Abzug introduced legislation to establish Women's Equality Day to be celebrated each year on August 26th. Ever since the creation of this national day of commemoration of women's right to vote, women have paused to ask, "just how far have we come since the 19th amendment passed?" In the Bay Area women will address this question at gatherings in the cities of San Francisco and San Mateo.
Despite the fact that an amendment for women's right to vote was first introduced in the US in 1878, that right was not granted until August 26, 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was signed. Women's Equality Day celebrates the establishment of this basic right each year.
Members of the national organization Radical Women put out a call on the occasion of Women's Equality Day this year saying, "It's time to reclaim and re-energize a fighting, militant feminist movement!" They are calling for a multiracial grassroots feminism with a radical program. Radical Women's San Francisco chapter will gather in commemoration of the day this year with the theme "Immigrant Women Battle for a Better World".
San Francisco peninsula based congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo are very vocal on issues of concern to women. People in San Mateo County and beyond applauded the two US Representatives when they both demanded an investigation in 2007 of the actions of County Sheriff Gregg Munks. The Sheriff and another male Sheriff's Department employee were detained at a Las Vegas brothel while there for a law enforcement relay race. As much of $10,000 in public funds were used to plan and take that Vegas trip. The two congressional representatives are staunch supporters of women's rights to reproductive freedom and job equality. In addition, Representative Speier seeks to keep Big Pharma from influencing medical care that negatively impacts women.
In San Mateo, women will join Representative Jackie Speier at an event she will co-sponsor with Eshoo at the San Mateo History Museum. Visit the indybay calendar for the San Mateo event of August 26 and the San Francisco Radical Women event of August 28.
Event announcements:
August 26 in San Mateo [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656827.php]
August 28 in San Francisco [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/02/18655180.php]
2012-08-26 "Women's Equality Day" in San Francisco -
On Sunday, August 26th, National Women's Equality Day, WORD (Women Organized to Resist and Defend) San Francisco is calling for a mass protest in the Mission to defend women's rights. We want to let the politicians of both major parties know that we will not stand by while women's rights are under attack.
The August 26th demonstration was initiated by WORD, a new grassroots, feminist organization that is dedicated to building the struggle for women’s rights and equality for all.
Get involved in the struggle to defend women's rights! Volunteers from all over Northern California are working hard to build the August 26th demonstration for women's rights, but there is still time to get involved. Come, bring friends and join this important movement!
[415-375-9502] [sf@defendwomensrights.org]
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Text of the WORD statement upholding "Women's Equality Day" -
August 26th Day of Action – Women’s Equality Day [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/aug-26-day-of-action.html#.UDMLpWyoEdU]:
On Women’s Equality Day, August 26 – on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, which will be immediately followed by the Democratic National Convention - women and their allies will take to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and other cities across the country in defense of women's rights.
August 26th - Women’s Equality Day - commemorates the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Winning the right to vote was an important victory, but the struggle for full equality continues. Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by taking to the streets and demanding full equality now. Honor the women who fought for the rights we’ve won and continue the struggle for full equality.
Many women voted for President Obama believing he would stand up for women’s rights. But he has compromised with the anti-choice forces on many occasions. When Republicans opposed a 2009 provision for family planning, he dropped it. In 2011, the White House took the unprecedented step of overruling the FDA in order to keep Plan B out of the reach of women under 18. While President Obama is not a right-wing pro-lifer, we cannot count on him or any politician to defend our rights. In fact, in order to reach a budget compromise with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner in July 2011, President Obama said, "I'll give you abortion in D.C." Meaning, low-income women in the District of Columbia would be prevented from receiving Medicaid assistance offered by the D.C. government for abortion procedures.
Women’s reproductive rights continue to be slashed at the state level. Legal restrictions on abortions tripled from 2010 to 2011. 92 new abortion restrictions were enacted in 2011. In 2011, there were 114 reported violent attacks against abortion providers. Clinics that provide vital services for millions of working-class women are under siege. More than 55 percent of reproductive age women now live in states that are “hostile” to abortion rights. (Guttenmacher Institute)
So while they’re convening and concocting new ways to attack our rights and our lives, let’s come together in the streets to stand up and fight back!
There will be mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities around the country. We will mobilize thousands in the streets to show the world that there is a new women’s movement rising and we will not go back.
We believe that access to reproductive choice – the basic right of women to control our own bodies – is a fundamental right and must be defended. We believe in equality. We support working women. We are tired of the right wing trying to turn back the clock and take our hard-won rights away. All people who support equality and choice should organize with us and help these actions grow.
If you can’t make it to protest in Tampa and Charlotte, join or organize a protest in your community. There is a long, proud tradition of women in the United States mobilizing and fighting to win equality and respect. Let’s continue this legacy this summer!
Sisters United Front for Survival [https://sites.google.com/site/sistersunitedfrontforsurvival/]:
Sunday August 26th: March to Rescind Cut to CalWORKS on Women's Rights Day
Date: Sunday August 26th 2012
Time: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: March begins at 24th and Mission St., in San Francisco
In the Women's Rights Day Protest, march with Sisters United Front for Survival (SUFS) and lend your voice to the battle to rescind cuts to CalWORKS and all social services.
SUFS is a grassroots campaign of Radical Women.
Volunteers needed to make pickets signs, phone calls and help with outreach. Call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net to volunteer Meet at 24th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. Look for the SUFS banner.
Message from Anne Slater, National Organizer for the Radical Women -
Happy Women's Rights Day!
[http://www.radicalwomen.org/2012WomensRightsDay.shtml]:
August 26 marks the anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote in 1920.
The campaign for suffrage came directly out of the battle to end slavery and was fought through militant actions in the streets, workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Over the last two years, state legislatures passed 164 anti-immigrant laws, relegating women and men without documents to the precarious informal economy. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and abortion. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.
Women respond with bold resistance.
Rank-and-file teachers, predominantly female and of color, are waging vibrant battles against privatized public education and for workers' rights. Young Latinas helped build a powerful Tucson Freedom Summer to defend ethnic studies and immigrant rights. Feminists defeated anti-choice ballot measures in Mississippi and North Dakota. Around the nation women took a lead in building Occupy encampments. Radical Women members walked picket lines with locked-out Longshoremen and Teamsters. We defended abortion clinics and fought cuts to social services, welfare and childcare. We demanded taxes on the wealthy and corporate profits.
These sparks of feminist organizing need support and leadership to flame into a national grassroots movement. So my blood boils when I hear statements like the one from National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill, who wrote, "President Obama represents the pathway to equality."
Pouring women's desire for change into the Democratic Party is a dead-end strategy because the party represents the interests of the 1% just as much as the Republican Party. Both want to maintain the capitalist economic system, which relies on social inequality, wage exploitation, and the free labor of women in the home.
President Obama's policies feed the wealthy and starve the hungry. Fortune 500 companies raked in a record $824 billion in profits in 2011 and the median CEO pay rose to $9.6 million, while workers, mothers and the unemployed struggled with skyrocketing food and gas prices.
Obama's track record on social issues is also revealing. Under his administration more immigrants have been deported than during Bush's time, often separating U.S.-born children from their mothers. War and military occupation get a weekly infusion of $10.6 billion. The president signed laws that limit protest and allow the military to detain U.S. citizens and foreigners anywhere in the world without charge or trial. He has consistently compromised on reproductive rights and waffled on gay equality.
Enough already! It's time to build a game-changing feminist fightback. One that unites the antiwar, labor, racial equality, immigrant, welfare rights, student and queer movements. One that tackles racism, sexism and homophobia head-on. One that demands a society where wealth is shared, all are sheltered and fed, and quality childcare and education are free.
Connect with political allies to fight the attacks coming down on women by contacting the Radical Women National Office or a chapter near you.
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