International Women's Day Strike! - Santa Cruz

Following the January 21st Women’s March against Trump, the largest single protest in U.S. history, women in over 30 different countries have called for an International Women’s Strike -- a Day Without A Woman -- on March 8th, 2017, International Women’s Day.

March 8th will be a day of action organized by and for women who have been marginalized and silenced by decades of neoliberalism, and who are further threatened by Trump and his misogynist, racist policies. We call for solidarity with trans and queer people, Muslims, immigrants, people of color, sex workers, survivors of violence, currently and formerly incarcerated people, and oppressed people everywhere. We invite people of all genders to join in.

We demand an end to gender violence, and that rapists and sexual harassers be held accountable. We demand an end to ICE raids and deportations in our communities. We demand an end to police brutality. We demand free healthcare for all, including full access to reproductive and gender-affirming care. We demand free, community-centered child care and elder care. We demand full and free access to education. We demand affordable housing and a living wage.

Against the open white supremacists in the current government and the far right they have given confidence to, we stand for an uncompromising anti-racist and anti-imperialist feminism. This means that movements such as Black Lives Matter, the struggle against police brutality and mass incarceration, the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the demand for open borders and for immigrant rights and for the decolonization of Palestine are for us the beating heart of this new feminist movement. We want to dismantle all walls, from prison walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine.

On March 8th, we call on people of all genders to pledge to go on strike, to refuse work and school, and to join us in building a new international feminist movement that fights not only against Trump, but against the conditions that produced Trump -- racial and sexual violence, environmental destruction, imperial wars abroad, and an economic system that puts profit before people. The only way we can move forward is together.

Schedule:
9:30 AM Free Brunch at Louden Nelson from Food not Bombs
11:30 AM Gather on Center St. in front of Louden Nelson, March Downtown and Rally at the Clock Tower
3-6 PM Workshops at Louden Nelson, the Santa Cruz Library, and SubRosa

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:
Louden Nelson:
3-4pm Queer and Trans Struggles with The Diversity Center
4-5pm Intersectional Feminism
5-6pm Feminism Against Capitalism? with the Santa Cruz Solidarity Network

Upstairs at the Santa Cruz Library:
4-5pm Drive Out the Trump/Pence Regime

SubRosa:
TBD

There will be a childcare area with activities throughout the day, by the Louden Nelson playground.