On Saturday, March 8, women, transgender and queer organizers in the People’s Power Assembly (PPA) and Women In Struggle/Mujeres En Lucha of Baltimore held a rally, march, and teach-in to commemorate International Working Women’s Day, one of the major initiatives of the newly launched People’s Fightback Network.
A spirited group including participants from the early Women’s March gathered outside the Harriet Tubman Solidarity Center to hear opening remarks.
Close to 50 people took to the streets, with chants of “When women’s [trans] [queer] [Black] [immigrant] lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Trump says ‘Get back!’ and we say ‘Fight back!’” echoing off buildings.
They marched to the Women’s Jail at Greenmount Avenue, where a mini rally was held. Joyce Butler from the People’s Power Assembly delivered a message from Van Green about the terrible conditions women prisoners face at this jail. Melinda Butterfield of the Struggle for Socialism Party (SFSP) spoke about Trump’s attacks on trans prisoners in federal prisons, where they’re being forced into cell units based on their assignment at birth, and not on actual identity.
The protesters then took to the streets again and marched all the way back up to Calvert Street Park, where the community dinner and teach-in was held. It was reported that the final march, due to Calvert Street being a one-way street, caused significant traffic delays. Again, considering the group’s size, being able to command the street for the entire duration was an incredible demonstration of strength and unity! At one point in the march, several young children took the lead.
Melinda Butterfield (SFSP) kicked off the teach-in as the keynote speaker, emphasizing that “the fascists running the government plan to eradicate us [the trans community],” and urging “the left to think bigger about how to fight back” by “coupling local work and mutual aid with a larger, national and international fightback, one that seeks to mobilize millions and build alternative forms of political power.”
Other women/LGBTQIA+ speakers at the teach-in included:
Apryle Everly (PPA & SFSP), who read a statement honoring the revolutionary legacy of Leila Khaled, a prominent Palestinian woman resistance leader who served in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the 1960s and ‘70s.
Fidel Green (PPA), who spoke about Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old biracial trans man, and Tahiry Broom, a 29-year-old Black trans woman, both of whom were murdered. Despite clear evidence that both these murders were hate crimes, no such charges are currently being pursued against the people who killed them.
Jace Carter (PPA & SFSP), who spoke about reclaiming feminism as a working-class tool for liberation, rather than continuing to allow the ruling class to use it as a tool of U.S. imperialist propaganda. They also spoke about the history of the women’s liberation movement in socialist China. They urged solidarity with the people of China and Korea who continue to resist an escalating threat of U.S.-Asian NATO proxy war against both countries.
(During Jace’s speech, an angry heckler passing by the park attempted to disrupt the teach-in, but Jace continued reading through their speech. A few PPA members in the audience moved swiftly to de-escalate the situation and guided the person away from the teach-in so it could continue without further disruption.)
Khaliah Adhiambo Deya (Progressive Labor Party), who read a solidarity statement from the PLP encouraging supporters to “fight for communism beyond a reform, beyond recognition, beyond the ability to be seen as a human being, because that is the reality that the working class truly deserves.”
Joyce B (PPA), who read a solidarity statement from Tia Hamilton, owner of Urban Reads Bookstore, a Black-owned radical bookstore in the Waverly community. Tia and the store have recently been under constant racist threats of attack from far-right white supremacists, but the local community has rallied to their defense.
Sharon Black (Women In Struggle), who gave closing remarks highlighting the need for the working class to continue to interconnect all of our struggles against fascism.
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