top
San Francisco
San Francisco
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

FACE ITT -- 9/30/09 Rally Against the Budget Cuts

by L. Valencia (baradicalwomen [at] earthlink.net)
FACE ITT: Feminists Against Cuts Especially in Tough Times

Pictures and a brief summary of the September 30th rally at the California State building.

640_p1010003.jpg
On Wednesday, September 30th, feminists, activists, and community members protested all of the budget cuts in front of the California State building at Civic Center. The rally and speak-out featured demands to "chop from the top" and tax the rich and corporations as a strategy to solving the budget crisis. There were speakers and representatives from groups like: Radical Women, South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN), Coalition on Homelessness, CODEPINK, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Freedom Socialist Party, American Teachers Federation, Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights (BACORR) as well as students, workers, tenants rights and queer rights activists. Check out the incredible informational leaflet "Hell No to the Budget Cuts!", text below, issued by Radical Women.

The rally was initiated by Radical Women, a socialist feminist, grassroots activists organization that provides a radical voice within the feminist movement, a feminist voice within the Left, and trains women to be leaders in the movements for social and economic justice. It has branches in numerous United States cities and in Melbourne, Australia. Check out http://www.radicalwomen.org for more info and upcoming events in the Bay Area.
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010004.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010005.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010013.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010035.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010052.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010069.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010078.jpg
§photo
by L. Valencia
640_p1010108_1.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010111.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010128.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010134.jpg
§
by L. Valencia
640_p1010137.jpg
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by L. Valencia
Hell No to Budget Cuts!

Feminists Against Cuts Especially in Tough Times (FACE ITT)

September 30, 2009—CaliforniaState Building



It is time to say NO MORE business as usual! No more trillions in bailouts for Wall Street barbarians while five million workers have lost their jobs; 47 million people, including children, still have no healthcare; 600,000 teens and children are homeless; and thousands of homes are being seized by the banks.

When the public treasury bailed out AIG, GM, Lehman Brothers, et al. it set the stage for government bankruptcy, massive public-sector layoffs, and inhumane raids on social security and education.



We Are Fighting for Our Lives!

These statistics are only a partial reflection of the misery being felt all over the country. In California, safe shelters for abused women and children have been shut down. The last homeless drop-in shelter for HIV+ people in San Francisco's Tenderloin has been shut down. Fewer hospital beds have led to more imprisonment of poor and sick people. Medi-cal has eliminated alldental and eye care services, creating a much bigger human problem down the road.

Californiaranks as the eighth largest economy in the world, yet public education has been decimated and priced out of most working people’s reach. Both Democratic and Republican legislators refuse to tax the rich and corporations, so what was left of a flimsy social safety net has disappeared as a result of drastic cuts. Instead, they budget more for prisons than for education. Meeting basic needs are fundamental human rights – not privileges we should “be grateful for”.



Capitalism is the Enemy

This economic system bails out corporations and the wealthy who have caused the global meltdown because of their drive for profits. Under capitalism, women are still marginalized workers who toil--unpaid in the home--and in jobs which pay them much less than men. Many women are triply oppressed as people of color, queers, and immigrants. Scapegoating of immigrants, Arabs and Muslims continues to rise as does the attacks on women’s right to control her body. Fascist terrorists are killing physicians who provide abortions and police brutality against people of color is increasing.

The criminal behavior by rapacious corporations and corrupt billionaire CEOs will go on and on, unless we step up our fight back; in our unions and in the streets, and by organizing, protesting, and uniting. Our struggles can achieve only limited results as long as the divide-and-conquer, profit-driven capitalist system rules. Both Dems and Republicans reject even the puniest of tax hikes on millionaires, who can well afford them. Meanwhile it’s billions upon billions directed to the Pentagon for two deeply unpopular, immoral, and illegal wars.



What is the Answer?

As socialist feminists, we say: When our lives are under attack, what do we do? STAND UP, FIGHT BACK!!! On September 24, staff, students and faculty at ten University of Californiacampuses walked out in support of the University Professional and Technical Employees strike and in solidarity with faculty and students. They joined the struggle for affordable education and the end to lay- offs, furloughs and massive budget cuts. State workers rallied in August to fight the cutbacks and furloughs and homecare workers marched in June to save their jobs and in defense of their clients.

While it’s important to take strike votes and organize rallies, it is not enough. The state has declared war on workers and the poor. Hardest hit are women and children and they fight for all the issues affecting everyone. We need to follow through with work stoppages and join together for a general strike. It’s time to wrest from private hands the immense wealth created by US workers and invest it back into society where it belongs, for everyone’s benefit!!



We Demand:

* Redirection of prison funding into healthcare, public education, domestic violence shelters, and HIV/AIDS services!
*
* No to bailouts – protect working people and the poor, not corporate CEOs!

* Dismantle the war machine!



* No to layoffs and furloughs! No to home foreclosures!
*
* Tax the rich and corporations, cut senior management and legislators’ salaries to increase revenue for social services!



* End organized labor's dependence on the Democrats--run independent, anti-capitalist labor candidates who fight for working people’s needs!
*
* Government funded quality education and living wage jobs!



Issued by:

Radical Women

New Valencia Hall

625 Larkin St., Ste.202, San Francisco, CA94109

415-864-1278 ·baradicalwomen [at] earthlink.net

http://www.radicalwomen.org
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network