Workers, Know Your History, Voltairine de Cleyre.

 

         June 20, a day to commemorate the the life of one of anarchism's great writers, speaker, educator, Voltairine de Cleyre, who died 101 years ago on June 20, 1912, but still a voice for today. 

From Wikipedia:

 

        Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866 – June 20, 1912) was an American anarchist writer and feminist. She was a prolific writer and speaker, opposing the state, marriage, and the domination of religion in sexuality and women's lives. She began her activist career in the freethought movement. De Cleyre was initially drawn to individualist anarchism but evolved through mutualism to an "anarchism without adjectives." She believed that any system was acceptable as long as it did not involve force. However, according to anarchist author Iain McKay, she embraced the ideals of stateless communism.^[1] She was a colleague of Emma Goldman, with whom she maintained a relationship of respectful disagreement on many issues. Many of her essays were in the Collected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre, published posthumously by Mother Earth in 1914.

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RADICAL WOMEN.

      It is less than 100 years since women won the vote in America and August 26 marks that anniversary. Of course as women the world over now realise, that in this type of elected representative "democracy" winning the right to vote doesn't mean you have freedom. 

This from Radical Women:

Dear Friend,

Happy Women's Rights Day! August 26 marks the anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote in 1920.

The campaign for suffrage came directly out of the battle to end slavery and was fought through militant actions in the streets, workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Over the last two years, state legislatures passed 164 anti-immigrant laws, relegating women and men without documents to the precarious informal economy. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and abortion. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.

Continue READING:

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HELP FOR HATERS.

A reasoned argument, What do you think?

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MORE POWER TO THE PUSSY.

        In Russia we are seeing the usual parallel, as the power of institutionalised religion grows, women's rights diminish. This has been highlighted by the recent "pussy Riots" trial where the state and the established religion does its damnedest to cement the patriarchal society in Russia.

An excellent article from, Second Council House of Virgo:

"So let us take off our crosses
And leave them in a tin
Let our weakness become virtue
Instead of sin."

Almost a hundred years ago, the Russian revolution saw a transformation in the status of women.  Yet in the country of Kollontai, who foretold a land free of both marriage and prostitution, where sexual relations were as simple as sipping a glass of water and women could not be bought, and of Armand, who oversaw the introduction of mass canteens, laundrettes, factory creches, and nursery schools to eradicate gender differences in domestic labour, the position of women has suffered a dramatic contraction.

As Russian society descended into chaos in the early 90s with soviet era industries sold off for pennies, the influx of Western currency saw young women in demand for the sexual services that they could provide.   In the 90s “The Hungry Duck”, one of Moscow’s most notorious nightclubs thrived on young Russian women hoping to pick up a rich Westerners or newly minted member of Russia’s emerging kleptocracy.  The soviet era dining halls and communal childcare facilities evaporated while municipal heating systems faltered and women were thrown back on their own resources to get by, finding that the sale of sexual services could give them cash in a country no longer paying wages.

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CAPITALISM, GREATER OPPORTUNITY = GREATER EXPLOITATION.

        This is capitalism, big events mean greater business opportunities, greater business opportunities means greater exploitation. In this system, slavery is everywhere.

Stop Nike Cheating Women Workers!
Scotland Feminista Saturday,
31 March 2012 10:30 until 12:00

        On Saturday 31 March join Scotland Feminista’s protest outside the Nike store on Buchanan Street, Glasgow. The impact of the London Olympics is already being felt by women workers in Bangladeshi factories producing Nike sportswear. New research released by War on Want s...hows that Bangladeshi garment workers, 85% of whom are women, are being cheated of their maternity rights, face sexual harassment, and receive poverty pay. Those who join unions to demand better pay and conditions risk losing their jobs. However, thousands of women have defied intimidation to fight for their rights as workers in the garment industry. On 31 March feminists in the UK will get out onto the streets to join their struggle. WILL YOU? Take part in our Cheats’ Mini-Olympics and stand in solidarity with Bangladeshi garment workers producing Nike’s sportswear who are systematically being denied their rights.

Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/211700045598601/

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SHE WAS ASKING FOR IT!!!

        When is rape not rape? Apparently when a woman wears a nightie!! It is hard to believe that there are still those who find it hard to accept that a person can so no to the sexual act. It would seem that rape can only happen between strangers and even then they seem to doubt that it was rape, (she was asking for it!!!).

         The video is of one Dick Black, would be politician with a bitter anti-abortion stance, it also seems that he doesn't quite understand the meaning of that simple word NO. If this is the quality of people that enter politics, what chance have we got??

Thanks Care2 for the video.

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RADICAL WOMEN.

     

       This is a call from Radical Women to mark the 91st. anniversary of women getting the vote in the USA, 1920, approximately 8 years after their sisters in the UK. The problems the people face in America today are not unique to America, they are the same problems that the ordinary people the world over face. Where capitalism exists, the ordinary people are being exploited. As capitalism hits one of its recurring crisis the gloves come off and it is raw capitalism with all the brutality needed for it to survive. It can't survive without gross exploitation of the people. Like the article says, there is still much to fight for, the battle is not over yet, but with a mammoth effort of solidarity it could be.

        Happy Women's Rights Day! This August 26 celebrates women winning the vote in the U.S. 91 years ago. Today Radical Women honours the suffrage movement and its militant, multiracial fighters. These women--Sojourner Truth, Clara Lemlich, Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, Sarah Grimke, and so many more--rebelled against enforced second-class status to organize courageously for equal rights. We will be forever grateful for their work.

      Gaining access to the ballot did not eliminate oppression, however. The battle for justice continues. Many hard-earned gains of the feminist movement are being targeted in today's atmosphere of increasing bigotry and scape-goating.

        In response to the economic quagmire in the U.S., the right wing has launched a full-scale attack against women, queers, immigrants, people of colour, labour unions, and the working class as a whole. They label immigrant mothers an "invasion by birth canal," oppose gay marriage, and try to destroy ethnic studies. Politicians on both sides of the aisle advocate cutting funding for abortion and reproductive health services while eliminating the right of public workers, who are predominantly female and people of colour, to bargain collectively.

         It is no surprise that the Tea Party and Republicans have ridden this wave, but Democrats, who captured many women's support with campaign promises of relief, have blatantly exposed themselves as complicit promoters of these slash-and-burn politics. Congress' bipartisan debt-reduction super committee, for instance, is simply a cover to cut Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security, education funding and a host of human services. Both capitalist parties are quick to abandon the facade of representing working class interests to cater to the wealthy and large corporations.

      The poor, women and people of colour are disproportionately among the hardest hit when services are reduced. Women, of course, bear the greatest burden for the welfare of their families and are forced to shoulder more tasks at home to compensate for service cutbacks.

        During these difficult times, organized fight-backs--with women at the forefront--are breaking out. Taking a cue from the rebellions in the Middle East, teachers in Wisconsin sparked a series of protests against Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union onslaught. Support from across the world poured in as intrepid unionists shut-down business as usual in Madison. Demonstrations and sit-ins at state capitals across the nation have demanded an end to union-busting, corporate give aways and balancing the budget on the backs
of poor people.

     Radical Women (RW) is deeply immersed in building this fight. In California, RW initiated Sisters United Front for Survival that calls for steeply taxing the rich and big businesses and shutting down wars to pay for vital services. Similarly, Sisters Organize for Survival, a grassroots project of Seattle Radical Women, led a "Flip the Funding" fight in Washington State. SOS issued an alternative budget based on the state meeting its obligation to help people survive, not boost corporate profits.

      Nationally, RW supported the Save Our Schools conference and march in Washington D.C. in July, where thousands of teachers, parents and community activists gathered to demand full funding and support for public education. RW garnered endorsements from over a dozen unions in four states and sent a contingent to D.C.

      Radical Women's strategy is to encourage united labor and community mobilizations to fight budget cuts and defend workers' rights. RW members have gone door-to-door, spoken at union meetings, made presentations to community groups, initiated demonstrations, hosted forums, mobilized people to testify before city, county and state
committees, launched petition campaigns, and more.

SOLIDARITY.

     Since Republicans and Democrats are part of the problem, the only way to exercise our democratic rights is to build an organized, militant, and feminist working-class movement that goes beyond voting for capitalist politicians. We need labour unions to step up to leadership and shake things up across the country, from taking capital buildings to calling general strikes. And how about building a feminist labour party that genuinely represents all workers' interests?

      We workers, union and non-union, female and male, create the wealth, and we should control it, too! There is no reason for us to tolerate the existence of a class of exploiters who use our labour just to enrich themselves at our expense. As long as capitalism is king, women, queers, people of colour, immigrants, and the entire working class, will get an ever shortening end of the stick.

     Radical Women has been engaged in the grassroots, feminist fight for an egalitarian socialist society since 1967. Join the struggle! You can learn more about RW's theory and program by reading The Radical Women Manifesto. Check out www.radicalwomen.org to learn what the chapter in your city is doing, and get involved. If we don't have a chapter in your area, contact RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com about building one. You can also
help us continue our work by donating here. A solution to these rocky times is within reach! We will save our future through a united labour and community struggle for a just, worker-controlled economic structure, and the time is now.

In solidarity,

Cee Fisher
Radical Women

TEAPOT COLLECTIVE INTRODUCTION TO ANARCHY PAGE 10.

       Here we go with the next exciting page from The Teapot Collective Introduction to Anarchy. Enjoy page 10, page 9 can be found  HERE.

       Women were conditioned and beaten into the roles of dedicated mothers, housewives and general carers. We were (and still are) there to make everyone happy but not to demand anything in return. Feminists broke out of this, challenging the way women are brought up, sexually used, denied our own thoughts and judgements. And they fought for this, bring about many changes we take for granted today. Feminist also created their own structures to deal with life and to practise mutual aid. One example was "consciousness raising groups", where women came together without leaders to talk about their lives, support each other and organise.

      One large anarchist current today consists of those influenced by ecology which seeks to understand the living earth as a whole, including us. This is one of the most critical periods in the history of life on earth - by the end of next year another 10%  of the world's species will be extinct. Industrialisation is a tool created by elites to shackle humanity and control nature,---

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THE VIOLENCE OF POVERTY.

http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/10091
Author: Patrizia.      Publication date: September 1989.

      Yet another rape. But today violence against a woman is more amusing if it takes place in a group: of at least 14. This is what happened in a village in Militello, Sicily. A fifteen year old girl was raped by boys between 11 and 18 years old all looking for adventure. An adventure with a girl whose parents had just returned to Sicily after years of emigration.

       The newspapers point out one particular: the girl, who became pregnant as a result of the rape, was mentally disturbed. Her womanhood, her freedom of choice, is trampled on before she starts. First by her parents, who almost kept the fact hidden because of their shame, then the whole village, who interpreted the event as a boyish prank to defend the rapist kids, then the judge. The girl is being prevented from having an abortion. The village priest shows off his sullen moralism.

        This time they couldn’t even use the alibi of a miniskirt, of the seductive gaze of the continental woman who — they say — attracts men and distracts them from their good feelings of father, husband or brother.

In that environment there is a more subtle violence, a violence that comes from ignorance and fear. The ignorance of the boy rapists who pursue images according to which a woman cannot be considered a human being to be respected and loved.

        In the south, as in the north, sex is still something dirty, composed of violence and abuse. In Milan a girl is raped by a male nurse in a hospital bed. In Termini station in Rome eighty people stand by and watch as an attempted rape takes place on a station bench. The rapist was then covered by the crowd and escaped. So, look out. From the tiny Sicilian village to the huge metropolis, rape remains the alternative of idiots, the last beach of interior marginalization and the incapacity to communicate one’s rage in any other way.

But in a little village the authority of the priest, the judge, the carabinieri, the public opinion of “respectable” people who don’t want any scandal, bears a fundamental weight on things. In such an environment it is even possible for abortion to be denied to a girl who has been raped.

        Violence is practically subscribed to by a power structure which itself exercises a double violence on the population: on the girl who must submit to the decisions made by the family and the rest of the village; and on the boys.They are all more concerned with obeying laws and morality than about the life of this young woman.

        We must begin to shout our rage again, but not by asking for more severe laws or the application of new ones: this only helps the system to castrate any possible search for freedom, our own and that of others, men and women alike. If we believe that the practice of rape is born from a precise social condition, then we must not humiliate ourselves with demands for laws that only play the game into the hands of those who rape and exploit us daily.

       We are not interested in whether those who raped the girl are found guilty or innocent. That would be too easy. We must fight the whole structure that contributes to creating the idea of violence against women and against marginalized people and proletarians in general. And, as usual, the latter, instead of beating up the bosses, are fighting among themselves, numbing their minds with all the shit that power produces. Violence often grows from conditions of poverty and survival that create the need to possess at all costs what one cannot have through practices of freedom, be it sex or any other part of normal activity.

       If we want to overcome this profound contradiction between the request to be “regimented” and a search for liberation within human beings, then we must struggle in our own way and with our own instruments against all the relations of dominion that generate violence. Perhaps that day in Militello the boys would have preferred to have beaten up a priest or to have created some perspective for a less rotten life. Today they are locked up in a cell and are asking themselves why. The state will pardon their misdeed, but they will always remain convinced that all that, even their very punishment, was right and fits into the normal way of things.

Source: Retrieved on September 1, 2009 from http://www.geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/poverty.html

Notes: from Insurrection, September 1989.

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