Austin rallies for International Women’s Day

Austin, TX – On Saturday, March 8, at noon, around 80 people gathered in front of the Texas Capitol building to rally for International Women’s Day.

“Today, all around the globe, we join our sisters,” said Sofie Gomez, of Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the group that hosted the rally.

Gomez continued, “We march to continue to fight and demand our rights here in conservative Texas. Those politicians up there in the capitol will keep moving the goal post, taking away, and doing what they want with our bodies. Shame! For decades, women have fought hard just to have their voices heard. Black and Chicana women, even more so, have been fighting constantly against these systems that oppress all women.”

Cynthia Treviño, with La Frontera Unida, said, “Chicanas have a proud history of struggle that we can look back on to remind us that our voices, our ideas, and our actions have impact and make changes.”

Treviño gave the example of Emma Tenayuca, who led thousands in the 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers strike. Treviño said, “The strike was not easy. They were faced with imprisonment, clubbing and tear gas. Yet throughout the hardships, Tenayuca and her co-workers persisted. After two months of striking, management relented and the workers won the right to form a union.”

Mia Reballosa of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “This Women’s Day, there is still much to fight for. For every dollar earned by U.S. men with a master’s degree, U.S. women earn 70 cents, while immigrant women earn just 55 cents. Trans women face significantly higher mortality rates with most violence being directed towards Black trans women.”

Reballosa continued, “These attacks on women are not just consequences of the patriarchy. They are consequences of the exploitation that is bred by capitalism. Capitalism has destroyed our lives. Overseas, it is killing our sisters in Iran, Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela, and wherever else U.S. imperialism has decided to wage a war for profit.”

The crowd cheered as Reballosa said, “Sisters, we need to shape a radically different future. One where women and men are not only treated equally but are no longer exploited. We need a future where our sisters in war-torn countries are safe from U.S. imperialism. Where our trans sisters can be free of death. We need liberation! We need a socialist future, sisters, and we must be the ones to fight for that!”

Toga Pendrake, a member of IBEW Local 520, said, “I want everyone here to think about what they’re going to do in the following weeks, about how we’re going to keep advancing this agenda.” Pendrake, like many of the other speakers, called on everyone in the crowd to join organizations and continue the struggle beyond International Women’s Day.

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