Austin students rally for International Women’s Day
Austin, TX – On Wednesday, March 8, around 15 students at the University of Texas at Austin rallied for International Women’s Day. The rally, called by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was held in front of the UT Tower.
To kick off the rally, SDS member Ashley Awad let the crowd in chants, such as, “When women’s rights are under attack what do we do, stand up fight back!”
Awad then called attention to why students were rallying on International Women’s Day, stating “With all the recent attacks on women’s and reproductive rights it is important to keep organizing and speaking out to reject these repressive measures.”
In the closing speech, SDS member Jules Lattimore said, “The overturning of Roe v. Wade was an attack especially on Black, Chicana and Indigenous women who experience poverty at greater rates. It was an attack on poor and working-class women who can’t afford to travel to access safe abortion care.” Lattimore continued, “It is our job as young people – and as human beings – to stand up and fight back against the world that the 1%, who lines the pockets of congresspeople and presidents, wants to create.”
After this call to action, urging all students to get organized, the crowd did one last round of energetic chants before the rally ended.