This weekend I picked out a little American flag to plant in our front yard.
It was a patriotic impulse-buy. But I won’t lie. I’ve been lusting after other countries: Canada for their lovely Prime Minister, Finland for their innovative educational systems, Iceland for their high representation of women as elected officials, and basically any country whose leadership isn’t an international embarrassment.
We can do better. We are better. And we are facilitating change. Together. Today. Right now.
Today is the International Women’s Strike day of action. This platform of common principles unites us.
We strike for:
We strike for:
- an end to gender violence,
- reproductive justice for all,
- labor rights,
- full social provisioning,
- an anti-racist and anti-imperialist feminism, and
- environmental justice for all.
These are values worth fighting for. As stated by the organizers of the strike:
In the spirit of solidarity and internationalism, in the United States March 8th will be a day of action organized by and for women who have been marginalized and silenced by decades of neoliberalism directed towards working women, women of color, Native women, disabled women, immigrant women, Muslim women, lesbian, queer and trans women.
March 8th will be the beginning of a new international feminist movement that organizes resistance not just against Trump and his misogynist policies, but also against the conditions that produced Trump, namely the decades long economic inequality, racial and sexual violence, and imperial wars abroad.
Want to get involved? Ideally: take the day off. Literally do nothing, just like the women in Iceland did in 1975 on their own “Day Without Women” strike.
However, as much as we may want to, so many of us (myself included) simply cannot take the day off in protest. And that’s okay. That doesn’t mean you have to be excluded from the movement. There are other options.
Today I participate by wearing red, writing about activism, and refusing to spend any money.
A friend is refusing to cook or clean for her family and they will all dine at a immigrant woman’s restaurant tonight.
Another friend has built a discussion of the protest into her lesson plan for the day and has painted her nails red.
Collectively, our small acts of resistance are magnified to create a massive movement. Working together to better our nation is the most patriotic thing we can do. So thank you to the many women, men, and non-binary persons protesting all around the world. Are you one of them? How are you participating today?
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Categories: News, Sister Sirens
The Gloria Sirens 
Lovely article! Here in Italy, the instrument of striking as a form of protest has been thoroughly abused. The meaning has become more “mess up everyone’s day” and maybe someone in Power will notice.
How about promoting, via weekly reminders, a sort of call to daily action. What unacceptable behavior, action, decision did you oppose this week? Did you call your colleague/boss out on that snyde comment? Did you effectively say no? Did you propose an alternative? Did you speak clearly and calmly to a son or husband (or woman) who needed reminding of women’s/human rights?
We need to focus on the daily, small stuff, too. That’s also how change is effectively.
Gina
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!!!
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So, are we saying women are on strike like men? So, are we saying women work harder than men for equal pay?
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its a good thing you’re doing there!
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