Feature Archives

4/25/04: More than 1 million people participated in the March for Women in Washington, DC today. Report from the Radical Cheer/Anti-Fascist Block.
There was a live bilingual broadcast from the March for Women on Pacifica Radio. Speakers and performers on the stage began an hour late because of the large size of the crowd. After 1:00 PST, the coverage continued on KPFT
A pro-choice rally was held in Fresno today.
Bay Area Women in Black held a Solidarity Vigil in San Francisco.
4/24/2004: Local Rally for Women's Lives in San Francisco. Photos: 1 2
"The time is right for a public demonstration of historic size in support of abortion rights and reproductive freedom for all women. Our rights are under attack as they haven't been in over a decade, and Roe v. Wade hangs by a thread in the Supreme Court." For these reasons, a variety of organizations sponsored The March for Women's Lives (formerly the March for Choice) in Washington, DC on Sunday, April 25th, 2004. Locally, Radical Women is one organization that put together a contingent. Read a fact sheet that march organizers printed about the March for International Women's Day.
Call for a Radical Cheer Bloc at the March in DC.
More coverage at DC Indymedia and Tally IMC
Women of Color Contingent:
Historically women of color have been excluded from mainstream feminist organizating. Through the early parts of the 20th century organizations like Planned Parenthood conducted a campaign of government sanctioned sterilizations of poor women and women of color. In the 1940s, when white women were recruited by Rosie the Rivetter to work during war time, again poor women and women of color were forced to point out that they had always worked. During the late 1960s and early 1970s women of color, lesbian and transgendered women, and poor women left feminist organizations in disgust, accusing the groups of catering to an upper-middle class straight, white woman, only. In 1992, during the last March on Washington for abortion rights, women of color were left out of the organizing and many chose not to attend the march. ECR interviews Women of Color Contingent on KALX

Women of color contend that this is the first time that the issues important to them have been taken seriously, but only because they put significant pressure on the organizers. Women of color formed their own contingent for the march on Washington, and organized around the concept of reproductive justice a concept that they say builds on abortion rights, but includes a much broader set of issues, including access to affordable health and childcare, adequate housing, employment guarantees for pregnant women, access to adequate sexual education and contraception, and much more. Women of color are also interested in elevating issues including economic, geographical, and language access to abortions and to health care and counseling, as well as a redefining of the concept of choice to include the ability to choose to have children.
Other events in DC this weekend as part of the March for Women:
On Saturday, April 24th there was a Latina Summit on Mobilizing for Reproductive Justice.
On Saturday the 10 in 10 gathering was held to organize for Choice USA's Young People's Contingent
Also on Saturday, the Strong Voices, Strong Choices, A Weekend for the Next Generation of Jewish Women
Pride at Work, Pride in Women was held on Friday.
NAACP Contingent

In the spirit of creative resistance, Saturday, February 28th, there were performances by some of the most fiery, brilliant women in our radical community, who all rose up together to support women in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. --PHOTOS--

Women's Voices Rise Up is a benefit that occurs once a year; this year it was a benefit for Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Union of Palestinian Women Committees, and Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq. Performers this year included: Sisters of the Underground, spoken-word artist Shailja Patel (pictured in this article), Sparlha Swa, poet Uchechi Kalu, and the revolutionary a cappella group Samsara Details of Event

Sarah Jacobson, a gutsy female film maverick, passed away on February 13 in New York City. Sarah burst on to the S.F. film scene in the early '90's with her San Francisco Art Institute-produced short I Was A Teenage Serial Killer, a film she has described as the story of "a 19-year-old girl who has a series of run-ins with various condescending men." In the mid-'90's her debut feature Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Anymore screened at Sundance, and tore up the festival circuit. She was known for her grassroots filmmaking and do-it-yourself style, mixing feminism and film by creating unconventional female protagonists. Look for a retrospective of Sarah's work in SF sometime soon. Read more about Sarah here, here, and here

"Everyone told me I would never be a filmmaker, and that's when I decided I would be, and they could go fuck off." — Sarah Jacobson

International Women's Day has been celebrated around the world on March 8th since the early 1900's. In the US, Code Pink called for March 8 to be a day of lobbying Capitol Hill. Other groups put out a call for a Global Women's Strike for the same day.
In the SFBayArea there were many events: 3/4: Int'l Women's Art Expo | 3/5: Trespasses Women's Film Festival | 3/6: Berkeley COPWATCH Women's Show: In Song and Struggle | 3/7: Women's Day Fair at the Women's Building in SF | 3/8: Global Women's Strike Protest and Film Screening to Defend a ‘Caring Economy’ in Venezuela | Global Women's Rights Forum at USF | Indybay women's film screening on 3/11 | Herstories Project theatrical event on 3/12. | Socialist Women's Day Event on 3/13.
More events in the US. Look for additional events posted to our calendar.
Video from March 8th event

2/17: At 10pm, Until the Violence Stops, the documentary about the movement around The Vagina Monologues, aired on Lifetime.
2/14: In solidarity with the V-Day march on Ciudad Juárez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas, people gathered in San Francisco for a demonstration at the Mexican Consulate on February 13th and for a vigil at Dolores Park on February 14th. There were screenings in Sacramento and Davis of the film Señorita Extraviada. The killings have also inspired other art such as poetry. As the film shows, there are many questions about who has been killing the women in Juárez- the recent arrests of 13 state police officers lead more hope to resolution of these murders. Other California events related to V-Day.
Photos from 2/14 vigil.
Report on the march to Ciudad Juárez.

On Feb. 27th, Kate Raphael will report back on her work in Palestine and the recent women's delegation to Iraq.
1/30/2004: Some local women activists are in Iraq to bear witness to and research the ongoing occupation of that country by US military forces. Their travels take place as around the country, organizers are gathering support for the global day of action on March 20th to observe the one-year anniversary of the war and occupation in Iraq. Code Pink Alert and Global Exchange have sponsored a women's delegation to Iraq. These activists will research how women are faring under US occupation, meet with US authorities and Iraqi officials to learn how their plans affect Iraqi women. The delegation will meet with representatives of a variety of Iraqi women's organizations that are working on issues that include creating income-generating projects for women, organizing shelters for victims of domestic violence, and raising women's concerns in the writing of the new constitution. In addition to the formal meetings, the delegation will meet with women in their homes, at the university and in the markets. This trip will result in a report on the Status of Woman under the US Occupation.

It has been reported that well over 16,000 Iraqis have been killed since the start of the war , and that over 500 American troops have died in combat. As multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts go to US companies, 80 percent of the Iraqi workforce is unemployed, and over 30 percent of urban areas in Iraq lack access to safe drinking water. Evidence of the wide use of depleted uranium continues to surface, a widespread medical crisis in on its way, allegations of US troops misconduct build up, human rights groups around the world protest disappeared citizens, reports of collective punishment and the destruction of agricultural lands is mounting, and attacks on women are increasing, as well.
JOURNAL 1 | JOURNAL 2 | JOURNAL 3
On February 15th there was a reportback by women who recently were in Iraq.

Pauline Hwang and Helen Luu work with the Colours of Resistance (COR), which is a grassroots network of people who consciously work to develop anti-racist, multiracial politics in the movement against global capitalism. Chris Crass interviews them about their political experiences, lessons they have learned, and the work they are currently engaged in. Read the interview