Report by Lizz Toledo to the World Steering Committee of WIDF/FDIM (the Women’s International Democratic Federation/Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres)

Greetings comrades and friends, I bring you solidarity and love from Mujeres en Lucha and the Socialist Unity Party in the USA. 

“The status and condition of women workers in the capitalist United States continues to be highly exploitative and dismal. While 46.9 percent of the U.S. total workforce consists of women, we still remain in the lowest paid jobs such as food service, clerical, factory and health care. In 2019, women still earn 79 cents for every dollar that men make. 

“Nevertheless, women workers recently led the most dynamic union struggles, including the teachers’ uprisings from West Virginia to Los Angeles. In this case, teachers, sometimes without traditional union backing, conducted strikes and refused to back down until they won. 

“Fast food women workers at McDonald’s restaurant chain challenged common on-the-job sexual harassment and assault by conducting a one-day strike in ten different cities. Most of the workers are poorly paid; they are primarily Black, Latinx and immigrant workers. 

“Migrant East African women played a key leadership role in the July 15 strike of Amazon warehouse workers at the Shakopee, Minn., fulfillment center. Hibaq Mohamed, who is one of the leaders of the strike that took place during Amazon’s Prime Day, was one of those women who braved bosses, police and security guards to help lead a walkout over grueling production levels. She is just 26 years old,” reports former Amazon worker Sharon.

“Many of our sisters are still facing oppression and are often ostracized by their family and communities. Depression, substance abuse and poverty are still the norm for Latinx lesbians! Latinas face racism in the U.S. and as lesbians we face multiple oppressions. We continue to fight back, defending and protecting our sisters everywhere,” reports Celenia T., a Latina lesbian activist.

“As capitalism decays, fewer good-paying jobs than ever are available to young women, especially women and queer people of color and immigrants. Extreme lack of economic opportunity has left many young women underemployed or unemployed and unable to access basic needs, including health care and education.

“The Trump administration has cut back abortion rights and access to contraceptives. Multitudes of young women and queer people find themselves going into massive debt to fund their educations, even as university degrees become more and more devalued by the day. 

“There is an epidemic of sexual violence and gender-based violence against young women and queer people that continues to grow. Transgender people, Black and Brown women, migrant women, and Indigenous women are murdered and go missing every day. 

“Mental illness and trauma are common, and health care is unavailable, so young women and queer people have even more difficulty being productive under capitalism. These obstacles disproportionately affect women of color, Indigenous women and girls, and LGBTQ2S young people. 

“As socialists, it is our duty to fight back. We are educating the masses of young women and queer people about the root cause of their oppression, which is not working-class men, but rather the capitalist system that robs young women workers, and all workers and oppressed people, of their basic rights and opportunities. “We wish to spread a collective vision of a society where young women and girls are empowered and have the tools to achieve full liberation from patriarchy, all forms of gender and sex-based violence, and capitalist exploitation. Now is the time for young women, girls and LGBTQ2S people of the working class to unite in struggle,” says Miranda from Mujeres en Lucha and Youth Against War & Racism.

The status of women in the United States continues to be one of struggle. Women have been and continue to be in the frontlines of all people’s fights for liberation. We are union workers fighting to raise the minimum wage to $15 and fighting for equal pay. We are in the Im/migrant Rights movement demanding that family separations end and to abolish the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) police. 

While in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, communities buried their dead from racist mass shootings, the U.S. government arrested 800 workers at their jobs in Mississippi chicken processing factories. Their children were left without their parents on their first day of school, but the racist billionaire owners exploiting these workers were not arrested for hiring undocumented workers. 

We are in the streets demanding an end to mass incarceration and to abolish the oppressive police system that only serves the rich and powerful, who continue to kill Black and Brown youth at will and with impunity.

We are among the fighters for LGBTQ2S liberation. Stonewall 50 was celebrated this past June 30 in New York City, as delegates from around the world came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the modern-day LGBTQ2S movement. 

We organize and fight to end sexual and domestic violence of any kind directed at women and young girls. We are anti-war and anti-imperialist. Even with the boot of U.S. imperialism on our necks, we continue to defend Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea against U.S. aggression. End Imperialist wars! Long live the international working class! 

Windhoek, Namibia
August 2019

Leaving Namibia felt humbling and exciting, Namibia being a shining example of what revolutionaries can accomplish. The friendship and love shown between comrades Sam Nujoma and Fidel Castro continues in the solidarity between the Cuban and the Namibian peoples. Their revolutionary energy is intoxicating. On this sacred ground, the World Steering Committee of the Women’s International Democratic Federation/Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres (WIDF/FDIM) met in Windhoek, Namibia, from Aug. 9 to Aug. 12, to draft resolutions for our upcoming congress to ratify and spread worldwide. 

Representatives from Asia, Africa, the Arab world, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean presented their resolutions from their respective regions. This is the first of a series of articles to follow.

Cuba demanded an end to the U.S. blockade and for U.S. imperialism to stop pressuring Cuba to withdraw their support for Venezuela in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Cuba. As Alicia Campos, representing the Federation of Cuban Women, put it, “We will never sacrifice our principles.” 

Christina, representing the Organization of Argentinian Women, shared her joy as news that the Front for Victory, which is an alliance of several progressive groups in Argentina, had won their primary election, which preceded the national election in November. This was a great blow to the right-leaning opposition. Besides this, Argentina, as well as many other countries, demanded an end to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and recognition of the duly elected government led by President Nicolás Maduro. 

The European countries united around the demand to end imperialism in all its forms, from the U.S. and NATO as well as the European Union. 

The Arab countries demanded a free Palestine and a solution which will include land and reparations to the Palestinian people. 

A strong denunciation of U.S. imperialism was felt throughout the many resolutions, including from the Americas and the Caribbean, bringing attention to the colonial status of Puerto Rico and demanding independence and reparations from the U.S. 

The Turkish delegation joined a demand from Cyprus to end Turkish occupation of that island nation as well as an end to all imperialist wars.

On May 21, women, trans and non-binary people, and other workers rallied in hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S. to #StopTheBans and defend reproductive rights. Activists from Struggle-La Lucha joined actions in various cities, including Baltimore (pictured here).

The day of action was called by a broad coalition after the passage of Alabama’s abortion ban. The law, signed by the governor on May 15, would jail doctors who perform the procedure for up to 99 years and criminalize women and others who seek abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.

Seven other states have passed extreme anti-abortion laws this year in a coordinated effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, following Donald Trump’s appointment of ultraright misogynist Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fight back! We won’t go back!

San Diego celebrated Women’s History Month by commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Va., in 1619, as recorded by historian Lerone Bennet Jr. in “Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America.”

Two Black women’s marches were held in San Diego: the 1619 National Celebration of Black Women (1619 NCBW) and the Second Annual March for Black Women-San Diego (M4BWSD). Both events were organized and led by Black women.

A tale of two marches

The 1619 NCBW march and rally was held on March 2 in Ruocco Park, at one of San Diego’s ports of entry near downtown. Sheryl Malory-Johnson, founder and visionary of the 1619 march, explained: “This historic national movement arose out of the necessity to honor women in American history who have emerged from slavery, defied the odds and come out victorious. Women who bred, fed and nurtured an entire nation.

“Our mission is to recognize the extraordinary contributions women of African descent have made in building this country,” said Malory-Johnson. ”Through a dynamic vision of uplifting and educating Black women and girls about their ancestors, we inspire them to walk in their power.”

The second annual M4BWSD was held on March 10 in Southeast San Diego, in the heart of the Black and Brown community. Kelsey Daniels, one of the co-founders, explained that M4BWSD was “created for the purpose of uplifting the demands of Black women.” It originated in San Diego as a result of two town hall meetings in 2017 where Black women made it clear that they had something to say about our current condition.

Born in response to the “Black Women’s Blueprint” call to action and the legacy of the October 1997 Million Women’s March in Philadelphia, organizers emphasized that it is not and never will be a knee-jerk reaction to the failures of white feminism.

Both marches featured drumming, music, poetry and speakers who addressed the issues facing Black women.

1619 NCFBW: Honor the past, fight for the future

Many people came out in the rain to participate in the 1619 NCFBW march and rally, prompting Sheryl Malory-Johnson to say, “The rain is the tears of our ancestors.” Other speakers noted that the rain was nothing compared to what our ancestors had to endure since arriving on this soil.

Speakers honored many Black women in history, past and present, including Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Maya Angelou and Michele Obama. Honor was given to Black women survivors, inventors, writers, nurses, scientists, artists, architects, astronauts, journalists and the list goes on. Name it, we’ve done it.

Elected officials sent representatives with resolutions and congratulatory messages. California State Assembly member Dr. Shirley Weber reminded everyone that even as we celebrate the accomplishments of Black women, we must recognize that it has been a struggle from day one and we continue to struggle today.  Every success that we have won, little or big, has been through struggle.

Rafael Castellan, commissioner from the Port of San Diego, spoke about the significance of having the 1619 celebration there, where ships carrying enslaved people once docked.

Organizers of the 1619 NCBW event were presented with a San Diego City Council proclamation declaring March 2, 2019, to be “1619 National Celebration of Black Women’s Day.”

M4BWSD: Giving voice to the voiceless

Organizers of the M4BWSD passed the mic to Black women who are rarely given the opportunity to speak, and whose voices need to be heard. Speakers praised the courage, strength and power of Black women. But they also spoke truth about what we are facing today in San Diego.

One example is an upcoming court hearing in the case of 23-year-old Aleah Jenkins, who died in police custody on Dec. 6. Jenkins was arrested by police in La Jolla on a warrant. Then, something happened to Jenkins in the back seat of the police car. Police body cam footage showed her asking for help and finally saying she couldn’t breathe. By the time Jenkins was finally taken to a hospital, she was in a coma with severe brain swelling; she died nine days later.

Then there is Muna Kuri, a 36-year-old Somali woman, who was found dead in her City Heights apartment on March 7. Authorities identified her husband as the main suspect. Kuri’s cousin, who spoke at the rally, reported that Black women are killed at nearly three times the rate of white women.

Organizers emphasized that “we represent the most oppressed women,” including trans women, and gave a condensed version of their four demands: Challenge and acknowledge the violence, end the abuse, increase access to health care and economic justice for low-income women.

The opening rally ended with the reading of the community agreements, which began, “We march for all Black women, especially Black trans women,” followed by a list of biases that would not be tolerated; an urging to pick up trash and keep Southeast clean; and the affirmation that Black women, grandmothers, mothers and children were encouraged to lead.

March 10 was a beautiful, sunny day, and the march was over 300 strong. Marchers stepped off with a call and response chant: “Say their names!” and the response began with the names of Aleah Jenkins and Muna Kuri. Brown Berets provided security.

Although the two marches had different themes, speakers and atmospheres, both were successful, had community support and were about empowering Black women.

But wait, there’s more!

That wasn’t the end of the powerful events. The expanded weekend program of the second annual M4BWSD included a Black women’s summit titled “Black Womxn Save My Life.” This gathering of Black women and girls, held the day before the march, included a discussion of demands, including an end to violence against Black women and an end to the deportation of migrant women. This was a strong show of self-determination.

Then, on March 12, a meeting with organizers from both marches was held at the Malcolm X Library. We discussed and analyzed both actions and talked about how the two groups can organize together. People discussed what’s next for Black women locally and nationally, now that the marches are over.

One question that came up was why both actions were held in March. Organizers of the 1619 March answered, “We wanted to celebrate the accomplishments of Black women during Women’s History Month 2019.” Organizers from the second annual M4BWSD noted that the marches were also planned around Harriet Tubman Day, which is March 10.

This Black woman writer learned that March 10 is officially Harriet Tubman Day from these amazing Black Women. My shero, awesome!

The M4BWSD planning committee is already organizing for the third annual march on Sunday, March 8, 2020, in San Diego.

Love, protect and respect Black women.

As Black History Month 2019 concludes and Women’s History Month begins, we want to take time to honor a revolutionary Afro-Caribbean im/migrant woman who unfortunately isn’t discussed as widely as she deserves to be, given her immense contributions to Marxist theory and organizing the struggle. Her name is Claudia Jones.

Her life was full of hardship, pain and suffering — but also unbreakable courage and dedication to fight for the full liberation of the Black nation and all oppressed peoples worldwide.

Wherever she lived, Jones was on the front lines, leading movements of resistance against injustice.

Jones was born Claudia Cumberbatch on Feb. 21, 1915, in Port of Spain, the capital city of the island of Trinidad. In 1924, when she was 8 years old, she arrived in New York with her parents, aunt and sisters. Her mother died less than a decade later at the young age of 37. Claudia then became ill with tuberculosis. She would suffer complications throughout her life. Her father, meanwhile, struggled to find steady employment due to racism, anti-migrant bigotry and the economic collapse of the Great Depression.

Jones became one of the most important political organizers in the Communist Party USA as well as an enormously important figure in the Black freedom struggle. Due to her life experiences, from a young age she had a very deep understanding of the class struggle and the way various oppressions intersect.

Joining the Communist Party

In the mid-1930s, Jones became an activist and organizer on the Scottsboro Nine case. More commonly referred to as the Scottsboro Boys, these nine African-American youths were falsely accused of raping two white women. The Scottsboro Nine were convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death — without evidence, investigation or a fair trial.

The Communist Party and the NAACP led the defense efforts on behalf of these youths. Legal appeals, demonstrations, international solidarity campaigns and other tactics challenged the corrupt and racist injustice system that was seeking to lynch these young Black men.

This defense campaign was ultimately successful in saving the Scottsboro Nine from being executed — the common fate of Black people targeted with those kinds of accusations. Jones’ experience with the defense led her to join the Communist Party and the Young Communist League.

By the early 1940s, Jones was a leader in the two organizations. She also gained experience as a people’s journalist, working as a writer and editor for various Black and progressive publications. She became a member of the CPUSA’s National Committee as well as the secretary of the National Women’s Commission.

Advancing understanding of intersectionality

Jones developed much needed theory regarding the woman question, the national question and the way these oppressions intersect.

One of her best-known pieces was first published in the June 1949 edition of Political Affairs, the theoretical magazine of the CPUSA, dedicated to “The Struggle Against White Chauvinism.”  Her widely studied essay, later released as a pamphlet, was called “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman.”  Following are excerpts from this work:

“An outstanding feature of the present stage of the Negro liberation movement is the growth in the militant participation of Negro women in all aspects of the struggle for peace, civil rights and economic security. Symptomatic of this new militancy is the fact that Negro women have become symbols of the Negro people. This growth of militancy among Negro women has profound meaning, both for the Negro liberation movement and for the emerging anti-fascist, anti-imperialist coalition.

“To understand this militancy correctly, to deepen and extend the role of Negro women in the struggle for peace and for all interests of the working class and the Negro people, means primarily to overcome the gross neglect of the special problems of Negro women. This neglect has too long permeated the ranks of the labor movement generally, of Left-progressives, and also of the Communist Party. The most serious assessment of these shortcomings by progressives, especially by Marxist-Leninists, is vitally necessary if we are to help accelerate this development and integrate Negro women in the progressive and labor movement and in our own Party.

“The bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman, and for good reason. The capitalists know, far better than many progressives seem to know, that once Negro women begin to undertake action, the militancy of the whole Negro people, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition, is greatly enhanced.

“Historically, the Negro woman has been the guardian, the protector, of the Negro family. From the days of the slave traders down to the present, the Negro woman has had the responsibility of caring for the needs of the family, of militantly shielding it from the blows of Jim Crow insults, of rearing children in an atmosphere of lynch terror, segregation and police brutality, and of fighting for an education for the children.

“The intensified oppression of the Negro people, which has been the hallmark of the postwar reactionary offensive, cannot therefore but lead to an acceleration of the militancy of the Negro woman. As mother, as Negro, and as worker, the Negro woman fights against the wiping out of the Negro family, against the Jim Crow ghetto existence which destroys the health, morale and very life of millions of her sisters, brothers and children.

“Viewed in this light, it is not accidental that the American bourgeoisie has intensified its oppression, not only of the Negro people in general, but of Negro women in particular. Nothing so exposes the drive to fascization in the nation as the callous attitude which the bourgeoisie displays and cultivates toward Negro women.”

Surveillance, repression, deportation

Jones was targeted by the state as her theoretical contributions and political organizing increasingly posed a threat to white supremacist capitalism. She had been monitored by the FBI since the early days of her membership in the CPUSA.

Jones was first arrested in January 1948, during the early days of the Cold War witch hunt, based on her migrant status and radical political organizing. She was soon released after posting bail, but it was only the beginning of her travails with the criminal injustice system.

She had applied for and sought citizenship status for many years but was denied time and time again because of her affiliation with the CPUSA. (To this day, U.S. citizenship can be denied to migrants based on membership in a communist organization, affiliation with anyone who is a member, or any other political stand deemed hostile to U.S. imperialism.)

The state next targeted her through the McCarran Act and the Smith Act, federal measures used against the organizing efforts of revolutionary organizations and particularly those members who were most vulnerable by lacking citizenship status.

By the early 1950s, Claudia Jones was in a women’s prison awaiting deportation. Due to her health problems and the horrendous living conditions in prison, she suffered a heart attack.

Many public figures, community members and communist organizers came to her defense, including her friend Paul Robeson, who demanded Jones’ release from prison and that she be given proper medical attention.

Jones was finally released in late October 1955 while deportation orders were being prepared. A farewell was held at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem. Hundreds of people showed up to express their solidarity and commitment to continuing the struggle. This was the same hotel where Fidel Castro stayed in 1960 and held his historic meeting with Malcolm X.

Blocked from returning to her native Trinidad in the midst of the growing anti-colonial movement in the British-ruled islands of the Caribbean, Jones was deported to Britain. This certainly didn’t stop her from continuing her radical organizing.

Repression breeds resistance

While Jones was dealing with her deportation and worsening health, she remained dedicated to the struggle against imperialism, capitalism and all of its tools of repression. Though hospitalized for long periods, she continued to expand her work through all of this hardship. She became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and joined the West Indian Forum.

Jones was active in organizing the Caribbean migrant population in London. By 1958, she had co-founded the West Indian Workers’ and Students’ Association and the West Indian Gazette newspaper. It would later be renamed the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News. The publication played a major role in the Caribbean diaspora community, helping to found the first Caribbean carnival in London. It later became the Notting Hill Carnival, an annual event that continues to this day.

Jones helped to organize the Afro-Asian Caribbean Conference. In 1964, she traveled to China and met with communist leader Mao Zedong. She also attended women’s conferences in the Soviet Union.

She organized demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa, along with rallies calling for the freedom of political prisoner Nelson Mandela. Jones embodied the spirit of international proletarian solidarity.

Left of Karl Marx

Claudia Jones died of heart failure in December 1964 at age 49. She was buried in the east section of Highgate Cemetery in London. Her gravestone is located near that of Karl Marx, directly to the left.

Marx’s tomb has been in the news recently due to two separate acts of vandalism. It’s crucial that we defend against these attacks on the legacy of Karl Marx — a tradition that Claudia Jones continued and developed.

Jones’ gravestone reads, “Valiant fighter against racism and imperialism who dedicated her life to the progress of socialism and the liberation of her own Black people.”

In the spirit of Claudia Jones, the struggle continues!

Sources: Carole Boyce-Davies, “Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones,” Duke University Press, 2008; Carole Boyce-Davies, “Claudia Jones: Beyond Containment,” Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2011; Claudia Jones, “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman,” Political Affairs, 1949; Claudia Jones, West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News.

One of the vilest aspects of President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5 State of the Union address was his attack on women’s health care. In his speech, he asked Congress for legislation that would prohibit so-called late-term abortions. “Late-term” is a phrase used by the opponents of women’s reproductive rights. The medical definition of “late-term,” used by obstetricians, actually refers to pregnancies that extend past a woman’s due date.

Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, said that abortion should be allowed until the time a fetus could survive outside the womb, a point (known as viability) that medical science generally considers to be at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. The court has also specified that abortion should be legal after viability in certain cases — if continuing the pregnancy would seriously threaten the woman’s life or health. (New York Times, Feb. 6)

The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that only about 1.3 percent of abortions in 2015 occurred in or after the 21st week of pregnancy. Abortions after 24 weeks comprise less than 1 percent of all abortions. When they occur, it is usually because the fetus has been found to have a fatal condition that could not be detected earlier, such as a severe malformation of the brain, or because the mother’s life or health is at serious risk.

In his speech, Trump also blasted New York state’s recently passed Reproductive Health Act, which would ensure the right to an abortion if the Supreme Court were to overturn all or part of Roe v. Wade.

Around the time of this anti-women tirade by Trump, his Supreme Court appointee Justice Brett Kavanaugh left no doubt about his intentions to attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade by voting to support an extreme Louisiana ­anti-abortion law.

By a narrow margin, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to block the Louisiana law, which would have left only one doctor authorized to perform legal abortions in the state. At present, there are only three clinics in Louisiana, a state of 4.6 million people, that provide abortions.

The law would have required doctors who provide abortions to have active admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles. Statutes like this are called TRAP laws (targeted regulation of abortion providers). As the Center for Reproductive Rights explains, these laws “single out the medical practices of doctors who provide abortions and impose on them requirements that are different and more burdensome than those imposed on other medical practices.” This is a way of making it expensive and difficult to access legal abortions while not providing any medical benefit.

Kavanaugh wrote the dissenting opinion supporting the law’s implementation, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Kavanaugh’s dissent was “astoundingly dishonest” according to Slate legal affairs journalist Mark Joseph Stern. The dissent made no reference to a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that declared a similar Texas law unconstitutional.

Trump boasts of his efforts to stack the courts and turn control over women’s reproductive freedom to ruthless politicians.

In denying women’s rights, Trump evokes ugly and disingenuous concern for the rights of fetuses. This is the same president who calls for sanctions — like those against Cuba and Venezuela — that starve and deny lifesaving medicine to pregnant women and infants; who is responsible for tearing migrant children from their families; and who encourages the cruelest atrocities of war that do destroy the lives of pregnant women.

On Jan. 19, for the third year in a row, thousands turned out for the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the U.S. The past year saw an enormous upsurge in the visibility of women’s and gender-oppressed people’s struggles against systemic abuse and violence. Internally, the Women’s March movement also faced a racist backlash against a feminist movement that includes Black, Latinx, Native, Arab and Asian women, as well as representation for transgender women.

The tone and politics of the events varied greatly from place to place and contingent to contingent. The official leaders of the Washington march emphasized electoral politics almost exclusively. But many women, trans, gender-nonconforming and other gender-oppressed people fought for a more radical agenda embracing the struggle against rape and sexual violence, for reproductive rights and economic equality, and against racism, imperialism and the capitalist system.

Here are reports from a few of the events:

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Boston

In Boston, Seattle and several other cities, Indigenous women formed their own contingents, often focusing on raising awareness about Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & Two-Spirits and were featured as speakers.  

Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of United American Indians of New England, opened the Boston Women’s March.

Unfortunately, in some other marches, Indigenous women were not included in planning and felt marginalized. Ensuring that Indigenous women are intrinsic parts of Women’s Marches is still an important challenge for organizers in all too many places.

Baltimore

This year, an estimated 1,000 people came out. There was a rally outside City Hall with speakers, including community activists and elected officials. After the rally, demonstrators marched through downtown Baltimore to denounce violence against women, also raising demands such as reproductive justice and representation for women. The march ended at War Memorial Plaza where there were more speakers.

San Diego

The San Diego Women’s March stepped off around noon with Kumeyaay Nation womyn leading the way while holding a banner that read: “You Are on Kumeyaay Land.”  They were followed by the Aztec Sun Dancers, a group of Latinx youth who are a staple at progressive San Diego events.

In all, a crowd of about 10,000, represented by Black, Latinx, Indigenous/Native, Asian, LGBTQ2S people and mostly womyn, marched down San Diego’s Harbor Drive with chants of “My body, my choice!” and “Immigrants yes, wall no!”

With reports by M. Tiahui, Emma Rose and Zola Fish

On Nov. 25, 2016, Fidel Castro, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, died at age 90.

Around the world and especially on the island he helped free from capitalist exploitation, organizations and individuals celebrated his life and contributions on the second anniversary of his death. These remembrances coincided with the final stages of wide public discussion both in Cuba and its diaspora to update the Cuban Constitution — a document that guarantees socialist development and the right to universal free health care and education as well as access to culture and sports.

Of the many proposed constitutional updates, one of the most discussed and noted is Article 68, which deletes references to gender in defining marriage. The proposed new Cuban Constitution defines marriage as between two people instead of between a man and a woman, opening the door for same-sex marriage.

In his first interview, Cuba’s recently-elected President Miguel Diaz-Canel supported equal marriage rights. He told TeleSUR on Sept. 17 that recognizing marriage as between two people without limitations is part of eliminating all forms of discrimination in society.

How is it that Cuba leapfrogs forward?  

On Nov. 29, Mariela Castro Espín, director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) in Havana and an activist for LGBTQ+ rights, explained why Cuba was ready for same-sex marriage in a video interview with the BBC. She said through a translator:

“This change is important because it is the political will of the Cuban government to advance a human rights agenda and to extend it to as many areas as possible.

“It is time that the people of Cuba understand the need to recognize and protect the rights of everyone without excluding people by their sexuality, their gender identity, disability or race. …

“Cuban society is showing it is continuing as a society in revolution. It is in an experimental stage of a socio-economic and political system in a socialist democracy, not a social-democratic one. This means we can have the mechanisms for a fair society.

“Cuba is far more advanced in comparison with other Latin American countries because the people have managed to take power and they are backed by the Communist Party.”

And this is also why Fidel Castro’s memory and life still give struggling people so many lessons. On May 1, 2000, he said:

“Revolution is having a sense of the historic moment; it is changing everything that must be changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves on our own and through our own efforts; it is challenging powerful dominant forces in and beyond the social and national arena; it is defending the values in which we believe at the price of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity, and heroism; it is fighting with courage, intelligence and realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is a profound conviction that there is no power in the world that can crush the power of truth and ideas.

“Revolution is unity; it is independence, it is struggling for our dreams of justice for Cuba and for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our socialism, and our internationalism.”

Challenging class-based gender roles

Cuban women have been integral to the struggle for independence from colonialism. Carlota Lucumí, an enslaved Cuban woman of Yoruba origin, lost her life leading an 1843-1844 slave rebellion at the Triunvirato sugar mill in Matanzas. Cuba gave the name “Operation Carlota” to its international military support that, alongside Angola’s MPLA national liberation front, defeated the racist apartheid South African regime at Cuito Cuanavale in 1988.

Cuban independence fighters Mariana Grajales and Ana Betancourt are remembered for their early roles. After the July 26, 1953, attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago, Haydée Santamaria and Melba Hernández were imprisoned. In the Sierra Maestra mountains, Celia Sánchez and Vilma Espín(mother of Mariela Castro and founder of the Federation of Cuban Women) were leaders and organizers.

Fidel Castro formed, armed and trained the Mariana Grajales women’s platoon. Brigadier General Teté Puebla is the highest-ranking woman in Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces.

“How can we give rifles to women when there are so many men who are unarmed?” asked some of the men. Fidel answered, “Because they are better soldiers than you are. More disciplined.”

Cuba’s 1961 Literacy Campaign not only eradicated illiteracy in a year, but opened new horizons, especially for the young women teachers who broke traditions’ chains to build the new socialist revolution. Check out the wonderful movie “Maestra” for more on this transformation.

Following the 2018 elections, 53.2 percent of the Cuban National Assembly delegates are women. They are diplomats, like Ambassador Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo at the United Nations and Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s chief negotiator in the reestablishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations.

As documented in Leslie Feinberg’s 2009 book, “Rainbow Solidarity in Defense of Cuba,” gender reassignment surgery is available free of charge, and a person’s right to change their name and sexual identity was acknowledged by Cuban law. (p. 86)

Mariela Castro Espín told the BBC interviewer: “The world is very different from Cuba. It doesn’t mean that Cuba is better, but Cuba is fighting to make a different world. If they left us alone, and our project doesn’t get sabotaged, it would be wonderful. It would be a wonderful alternative in the world. Why does everything have to be capitalist?”

The vote on the proposed Constitution with amendments from the national consultation is scheduled for Feb. 24, 2019. The consultation included 133,681 meetings with 8,945,521 people attending. Of those, 1,706,872 speakers made 783,174 proposals, including modifications, additions, deletions and clarifications. Cubans living abroad made 2,125 proposals. (Granma, Nov. 27).