Austin, TX – On the afternoon of March 8, International Women’s Day, around 400 people rallied in downtown Austin in front of the Texas State Capitol building.

The rally kicked off with co-emcee Minx Leal calling out to the crowd, “All right, are y’all ready to scream?” Met with loud cheers, Leal led the crowd in a round of chants, including “Gay, straight, Black, white, one struggle, one fight!” and “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Greg Abbott go away!”

As the rally continued, strong gusts of wind brought a chill in, but that did not dampen the energy of the crowd. People both young and old, students and families, huddled together to listen to passionate speeches given by Austin students and community members.

Jules Lattimore, of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, gave a speech that received many cheers throughout, stating, “Our system is unable to make real progress. Even when women and LGBTQ+ folks have won legislative victories, millions of women all around the world have been killed by U.S. bombs, starved by U.S. sanctions, suffered under U.S. puppet regimes, shoved into U.S. sweatshops, and exploited and trafficked by wealthy American men. Capitalism is unable to bring about the liberation of women.”

Lattimore continued, “It’s not all doom and gloom, however, and it is not hopeless. International Women’s Day was created not only to expose the dysfunctional evils of capitalism, but to fight for a better world. We need socialism.”

Later in the program, a group of women sang a Mexican song, Canción sin miedo (Song Without Fear), slightly changing the lyrics to honor the women of Palestine, Congo, and all immigrant mothers whose families are threatened by Trump’s call for mass deportations. The crowd cheered as the women sang:

“Que tiemble el Estado, los cielos, las calles,

Que teman los jueces y los judiciales.

Hoy a las mujeres nos quitan la calma.

Nos sembraron miedo, nos crecieron alas.”

(May the State, the sky, the streets tremble,

may the judges and policemen be afraid.

Today, peace is taken away from us women.

They sowed fear in us, we grew wings.)

Co-emcee Aidan Magner, of Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), closed the rally with a call for everyone to continue the struggle by joining an organization, such as SDS, that is fighting back against the many attacks from the Trump administration.

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