“Our Solidarity is Our Strength” was the theme of the March 16 meeting in Los Angeles, organized by Women in Struggle and the Struggle for Socialism Party. The program brought together leaders from communities besieged by the Trump pack: immigrant, oppressed genders, Black, Brown, and Palestinian communities.
Gloria Verdieu, from Women in Struggle-San Diego and the Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, introduced Lydia Ponce for an Indigenous land acknowledgment. Ponce recognized the nations that lived in the L.A. area.
“We recognize and give thanks for these lands, we thank the Tonga and all the relatives in the four directions,” Ponce said. “I’m going to close with a word for the future, rematriation!”
Verdieu gave a short history of the socialist origins of International Women’s Day. Also, Harriet Tubman Day, March 10, which was recognized as a U.S. holiday by Congress on March 13, 1990.
The next speaker was Fatinah, co-founder of Unmute Humanity, a collective that exposes and combats the establishment media’s lies, distortions, and omissions. She spoke powerfully as a Palestinian, dedicated to a Free Palestine, from the river to the sea.
“I want to talk about this idea of ‘normal’ that we’ve been conditioned to accept — the notion of hypernormalization. This isn’t something new; it’s been the reality in Palestine for generations. It is what allows the genocide to continue. Genocide has become normalized, but it is not normal.
“This week alone, nine beautiful human beings were exterminated; they were aid workers, three were journalists. This is the world we live in, where nine lives ended in a split second, and it didn’t make headlines. The only coverage was on CNN. They framed them as terrorists, legitimate targets. Zionism means systematic targeting of children – every single day, a child is killed. They are trying to normalize killing children by dehumanization and criminalization of the victims. This is since the ceasefire!
“My people are living under a complete siege, and two million people are literally starving to death. The Zionists cut off the electricity. The only two water purification plants are shut down. We live in a world where our people aren’t entitled to clean water. We cannot normalize genocide; we must normalize the resistance.”
Lupe Carrasco Cardona, a leader in Unión del Barrio and the Association of Raza Educators, talked about the two main grassroots campaigns she is involved with: the Community Self-Defense Coalition (CSDC) and Ethnic Studies. Unión del Barrio initiated the CSDC. The Coalition is composed of dozens of local organizations. Its mission is to notify communities of possible ICE activity and empower communities to defend themselves from kidnapping and deportation.
“The Coalition has been really beautiful because it shows there is hope out there, and it moves people to act, not freeze in panic.
“As an educator I have been very active in fighting for Chicana/o studies, ethnic studies, Raza studies. There is a bill right now, drafted by the Jewish Legislative Caucus, AB1468. The bill essentially makes sure there is no classroom where you can mention Palestine. This is a so-called ethnic studies bill.” The ARE and other progressive educator organizations have been organizing opposition to the bill; the bill as a whole is a denial of the right of diverse ethnicities to determine their own curriculum.
Melinda Butterfield began:
“Wow, hypernormalization is a great word from Fatinah, that is a word I’m going to keep in my mind for my community too, because there are parallels with what’s happening in the trans community now and what is happening in Palestine, including the determination of the powers that be to commit genocide.
“Besides pushing back against the anti-trans agenda, we need the left to think bigger. How to fight back against fascism. I hear many activists focusing on mutual aid and surviving. That is good, but if mutual aid work isn’t coupled with a larger fightback, one that sees mobilizing millions of people and building alternative forms of power, then all that amounts to is a slow death in the face of fascism.
“There is no more normal. What would it look like if we mobilized and occupied Washington, D.C.? We need people who are brave, our hope lies in the example of the Palestinian women and the Palestinian people in general. Like the people of Palestine, trans people will fight generation after generation until liberation. Trans Women are women, trans men are men, non-binary people are who they say they are, intersex people exist. Transition rights, reproductive rights, our bodies our choice, death before detransition!”
Frances from PUSO-West LA, Philippine/US Solidarity Organization closed the day’s program with a beautiful song they wrote, “We will Win.” They introduced the song: “I just want to reemphasize the strength and power we have when we come together to defend our people and fight back.”
The March 16 “Solidarity is our Strength” program is watchable on IG @harriettubmancenter.
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