Minneapolis, MN – The Women’s March organized a rally and march as a part the National Day of Action on October 2 to protest the anti-abortion law passed in Texas in June. Up to 10,000 people of all genders gathered at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden holding signs and banners expressing their outrage over the Texas law SB 8.

The new law effectively bans all abortions after six weeks and has no provisions for a woman for any reason to get one. It includes a terrifying provision where people can sue any woman who gets an abortion and anyone who may assist them – including doctors, friends, family members and even Uber drivers.

Throughout the rally, the speakers highlighted why it was important to be here right now. Many echoed phrases, “We will not go back to the way it was before Roe v. Wade.” “We must continue to fight back against any anti-abortion laws that will put women in danger and restrict their access to abortions.”

Signs included “My body my choice,” “We won’t go back,” “They love you until you are born,” “Vasectomies stop abortions” and “Forced birth equals violence.” Some featured a picture of deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the slogan, “We are ruthless now, act accordingly.” Men held signs, “If your penis was regulated, would you vote differently?” “He who is without ovaries shall not make laws for those who do,” and “Her body – her choice.”

When the march started, the banner of “Bans off our bodies” was proudly displayed in front. As the crowd marched over a bridge from the Sculpture Garden to Loring Park for the main rally, cars passing underneath honked in support and the people waved back. The march was so long that that it took an hour and a half to fully cross over the bridge to the park.

The marchers chanted, “When women’s rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” “They say no choice, we say prochoice!” “We won’t go back to the alleys in the night!” “Stop the ban!”

Speakers pointed out that there is a lot of work to be done in Minnesota, by removing abortion restrictions, needing to break down barriers, protect and expand access and funding – but that the pro-choice people outnumber those they are fighting against.

A handful of anti-choicers tried to disrupt the rally but were quickly shut down by the people around them.

A speaker representing the Planned Parenthood Action Fund told the crowd, “The attacks we are seeing on abortion are not about protecting life but instead will do harm. Our most vulnerable, low-income, rural and communities of color will be hit the hardest if abortion becomes illegal. Abortion is essential healthcare. We must protect our bodies, our rights and our rights here in Minnesota. We cannot let a bill like the one in Texas pass here.”

A member of Youth Against Sexual Violence Minnesota Chapter and who works at Planned Parenthood rallied the crowd, “We absolutely cannot let a room full of male politicians decide what happens with our bodies and our futures. Minnesota cannot become Texas. We must provide reproductive and sexual healthcare now and our generation is in the future. They may think that young people don’t care and are not paying attention but what they don’t realize is that there are thousands and thousands of young people who are not settling for the status quo. We will not stop raising our voices until reproductive healthcare is reality for all of us!”

Nature Inger, human rights advocate from Botswana stated, “It just infuriates me that we have to be here. The people who create these laws are spending time with their families, wives and daughters. Let’s face it and, in most cases, they will not have to adhere to these rules and laws.”

More speakers noted the abortion movement cannot be separated from other movements. The community will attain reproductive justice when abortion is safe, legal and accessible.

#MinneapolisMN #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #AbortionBan #WomensMarch

Grand Rapids, MI – About 500 people rallied and marched thru Grand Rapids, January 19, to build resistance to Trump during the 2019 Women’s March. The women’s movement in West Michigan hosted leaders from the immigrant rights, African American freedom, student and labor movements.

Many of the speeches were personal and heartfelt, detailing women’s struggles against sexual assault, workplace discrimination, and mistreatment at the hands of ICE, law enforcement and the courts.

“This month we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, a man who unselfishly shared his dream of equality with us,” said Cindy Rosado, a Rapid bus driver, reading a statement by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 836. “Two years ago, many women marched on Washington DC to remind those in positions of influence that the strength and value of women as major contributors, i.e. champions of change, is not to be overlooked.”

Emily Butt, a Teamster from Lansing, explained, “High profile politicians like Trump and Kavanaugh are normalizing violence against women. Resistance by working-class women is a major part of the movement for women’s liberation in opposition to them!”

In 2019, the women’s movement in West Michigan continues to strengthen and build, sending a strong message to local reactionary Betsy DeVos. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, possibly the most disliked figure in the Trump administration, is infamous for attempting to roll back Title IX laws and protections won by women over many decades in education and sports.

#GrandRapidsMI #Labor #US #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #AmalgamatedTransitUnion #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

Washington, DC – Thousands converged on Washington, DC today, January 19, for the third yearly Women’s March. The protest comes amidst the Trump administration’s attempts to legitimize misogyny and attacks reproductive rights, trans rights, the rights the survivors of rape on campuses.

The huge turnout came despite a concerted attack by right-wing commentators and Zionists. These reactionaries are distraught because some of the march organizers have demanded justice for the Palestinian Rasmea Odeh, a heroic Palestinian American who faced trumped-up charges and who was later deported.

Large numbers of the print edition of Fight Back! were distributed at the protest.

#WashingtonDC #PeoplesStruggles #WomensMarch

St. Paul, MN – Thousands of people rallied at the State Capitol, January 19, as a part of the Women's March. Many joined in the marches today, in Saint Paul and around the country in their ongoing anger and outrage over the Trump administration’s continued attacks on women, reproductive rights, as well as the attacks on Muslims, immigrants and refugees.

Chants included, “Hey oh, this president has to go!” Slogans on banners included “No more deportations” and “No more stolen sisters.”

#StPaulMN #US #PeoplesStruggles #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

Jerrica Hoey, a member of the ten-person Washington DC distribution team states, “It's important that we continue to build the struggle against Trump. This movement showed from the outset that the people will not stand for the Trump administration's war on women. We're excited to hit the streets to get the word out on #MeToo, to put out a call for International Women's Day on March 8, and to share stories with survivors and organizers on the ground.”

Tracy Molm of Freedom Road Socialist Organization is heading up Fight Back! distribution at the Saint Paul, Minnesota march. Molm states, “We’re looking forward to getting Fight Back! into people’s hands and bringing a revolutionary perspective to the protests. It’s going to a big day.”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #WomensMarch

Denver, CO – On Jan. 20, thousands of people gathered in Denver to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the women’s march. This crowd included individuals from every background to march for women’s rights and against the various misogynistic policies put into place by Donald Trump. The weather was frigid, but that did not stop the marchers from carrying on. They gathered at the Civic Center amphitheater and marched around Civic Center Park where they then held a rally.

Leftist groups were in attendance, including Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) members. Compared to last year, there was a marked radicalization of the event. Whereas last year saw mostly speeches centering around “turning red states blue,” this year’s speakers were more diverse both in identity and message. Multiple speakers spoke on the injustices committed against immigrant women by the current reactionary administration.

Denver FRSO member Ryan Hannigan said, “I specifically really enjoyed this year’s attempt to be more inclusive, such as the speeches talking about Dreamers and DACA.”

#DenverCO #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #WomensMarch

Dallas, TX – Thousands of people turned out here, Jan. 20 for the second annual women's march and proceeded from Saint Paul Methodist Church to Pike Park.

The focus of the march was anger at U.S. President Donald Trump, with many signs calling for his impeachment or resignation. But other signs referred to issues such as ending police brutality and freeing Palestinian political prisoner Ahed Tamimi.

At Pike Park, speakers addressed the crowd from the gazebo. However, the turnout was so high that most marchers could not fit in the park and relatively few could get close enough to hear the speeches.

#DallasTX #PeoplesStruggles #Texas #Trump #WomensMarch

Milwaukee, WI – On Jan 20, the Young People’s Resistance Committee (YPRC) attended Milwaukee’s Women’s March. Around 20,000 people were in attendance to counter the Trump administration’s continuous attacks on women, queer people and other oppressed communities.

YPRC asked the attendees to acknowledge the struggle of Palestinian women resisting the violent military occupation by Israeli forces, saying, “If you stand with #MeToo, you must also fight for a free Palestine.”

Milwaukee’s 2018 Women’s March proved that women are aware of their oppression and are ready to mobilize around it. This is only the latest example of Milwaukee’s willingness and ability to fight back against the dangerous sexist and racist attacks of this administration, with more struggle and unity to come as 2018 advances.

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #Palestine #WomensMarch #YoungPeoplesResistanceCommittee

Chicago, IL – On Jan. 20, over 200,000 people marched through downtown Chicago on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration as part of nationwide Women’s Marches.

The Arab contingent at the Chicago Women’s March, led by young women from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network brought signs about Ahed Tamimi, a young Palestinian girl currently in Israeli occupation jails for daring to defend her land and rights.

Young Arab women led the chants, “Ahed Tamimi was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight,” and “When Palestinian women are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

#ChicagoIL #Palestine #WomensMarch #AhedTamimi #USPalestinianCommunityNetwork

Jacksonville, FL – Over 150 trade unionists and activists rallied March 11 in downtown Jacksonville to defend the working class. Beginning at 2 p.m. in Hemming Park, organizers held a militant event focused on building the struggle against national ‘Right to Work’ legislation proposed last month in Washington.

The event also focused on building the fight against other attacks on organized labor and the working class as a whole, such as attempts to privatize public education and cut Social Security and Medicare. The rally to defend the working class was endorsed by several important local trade union organizations and community groups, including the North Florida AFL-CIO Central Labor Council (CLC) and the Women’s March Florida – Jacksonville Chapter. About two-thirds of those who attended the rally were in unions.

Speakers representing unions gave spirited speeches about the need to rebuild a militant rank-and-file working class labor movement, including representatives from the AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Communication Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Iron Workers, American Postal Workers Union, International Longshoremen’s Association, United Faculty of Florida, and many others.

The rally included two very special guest speakers: Kimberly Schultz and John Palmer, recently-elected Southern Region vice presidents for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) who ran on the Teamsters United Slate last year with Fred Zuckerman. Zuckerman himself praised the rally the next day at a large Teamsters United meeting in Orlando.

After union leaders delivered their speeches, organizers with the Young Workers of Jacksonville began leading the crowd in chants such as “Working class unity – always leads to victory!” “When workers’ rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, Fight back!” “Banks got bailed out – workers got sold out!” and “Workers party now!” Organizers led the crowd of people onto the streets and on a march all the way down to the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, where several more speakers addressed the crowd about the need to build a strong labor movement.

The rally inspired many to learn more about the rich history of struggle that working people have. Many of the young people in attendance showed a great deal of interest in getting union jobs and fighting for workers’ rights on the shop floor alongside the activism they do in the community, like fighting police crimes.

“Today’s rally is momentous for the working class in Jacksonville,” said Dave Schneider, a rank-and-file Teamster and one of the lead organizers for the event. “We brought together union and non-union workers to fight against national Right to Work legislation and the new employer-led attacks on organized labor. Marching on the Jax Chamber of Commerce with 100 workers was about taking the fight directly to the 1% that rules the city and the entire country. The way forward is uniting workers of all nationalities to resist these attacks, and allying with the movements of the oppressed nations.”

#JacksonvilleFL #rightToWork #NorthFloridaAFLCIOCentralLaborCouncil #WomensMarch

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles, Jan. 21, for the LA Women’s March, calling for women’s rights. The massive protest was one of hundreds that took place across the U.S. the day after Trump’s inauguration.

“I wish I had more newspapers!” says Fight Back! distributor Sol Márquez.

#LosAngelesCA #LGBTQ #US #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

On a bright, warm day, an estimated 250,000 people turned out for the Chicago Women's March. As supporters of the Women's March Chicago filled the streets, their number grew so large that event organizers canceled a planned march to the Federal Plaza. Thousands took to the streets anyway, raising their voices and chants for women's rights, immigrant rights, and against Trumps’ destructive agenda. Chants could be heard that women will not “go back,” they will fight back.

#ChicagoIL #LGBTQ #US #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

Chanting “Forward together, not one step back!” a crowd of approximately 10,000 people, predominantly women, rallied and marched through downtown Asheville as part of a national day of action following the inauguration of the billionaire misogynist and bigot Donald Trump.

Speakers from Our VOICE, Tranzmission, Planned Parenthood and others told of the need to resist attempts from the new far-right administration to roll back progress on issues of women's health and services, abortion rights and LGBTQ rights.

Many present spoke to the importance of keeping the pressure on and building a broad mass movement to oppose and defeat the Trump agenda.

#AshevilleNC #LGBTQ #US #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

Hundreds of thousands of women and supporters gathered in DC, Jan. 21, to stand up to Trump’s agenda and march throughout the city. The protest was set for the day after Donald Trump was sworn as the 46th president. The organizers of the protest wanted to promote unity of all movements against bigotry and hate.

While some newspapers estimated the number between 400,000 and 600,000 attendees, the numbers soon swelled to go well past a million people. There were more in attendance to support women’s rights than the numbers attending Trump’s inauguration.

The Women’s March on Washington was one of hundreds of Women’s March events happening throughout the country – from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York.

Steff Yorek, of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, who attended the rally and march said, “This march is a great event. It represents women going out and opposing Trump’s agenda from day one. And based on today, we know there’s a commitment to continue that fight.”

#WashingtonDC #WashingtonDCDC #US #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

Minneapolis, MN – Donald Trump, the U.S. president-elect, embodies an anti-woman agenda. He promotes rape culture, attacking women who dare speak out against him as fat and ugly. He is guilty of serial sexual harassment and believes that women want to be grabbed by him because he is a celebrity. It’s difficult not to read the election of Trump as an attack on women’s gains against sexual harassment and assault and for full equality – not so much because of who didn’t win the election but because of who did. A system run by the rich and powerful, in the interests of the rich and powerful does not serve the interests of the vast majority of us no matter what face represents it.

For most of Trump’s life he said he was pro-choice but changed his position to fit into a right-wing context and win the election. His campaign was filled with racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy proposals. We can expect that his policy initiatives will be bad for poor and working women in many arenas, whether it is the right of women to control our own bodies or raise our children. While it is not enough to focus solely on reproductive rights and the right to choose we can look at that issue and see it as a test on where his policies will come down in terms of how women will be impacted.

It is glaringly clear that his cabinet is full of anti-choice-ers. This isn’t just about possible Supreme Court picks. The proposed cabinet members have the potential to limit and restrict not only abortion access, but all reproductive health services, including standard preventative sexual transmitted infection (STI) screenings, cuts to childcare and early childhood education and dismantling worker protections. Poor and working-class families will suffer the brunt of these policies.

Trump’s attorney general pick, Jeff Sessions, is notoriously anti-abortion. He has voted against Health and Human Services grants and federal funds being given to organizations that perform abortions, he has voted for preventing children and whoever might be accompanying them from crossing state lines to receive an abortion, and has voted against the protection from harassment and violence for those who work in organizations that provide abortion.

These are just a few highlights from Sessions’ anti-choice voting record. As attorney general, we have to acknowledge the real risk of what the Justice Department will be able to dismantle in the area of reproductive rights. Trump wants to repeal completely the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While, most can agree, the ACA does not go far enough, what it has done is provide free access to all methods of birth control and education for female-bodied people. With Sessions as attorney general, the Justice Department could very well decide to stop defending this coverage requirement – allowing employers to not cover birth control. He could also stop enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which protects healthcare workers and patients from violence and intimidation. We know that we have seen a surge of violence against women and oppressed nationalities since Donald Trump was elected. Now, we are facing the real threat of having some of our legal protections ignored by the Justice Department or worse, repealed all together.

Similarly, there is Tom Price, the candidate who is expected to be appointed as secretary of health and human services. He is just as ferociously anti-choice, anti-ACA and anti-Medicaid and Medicare. His position would allow him to rescind the contraceptive coverage aspect of the ACA, making birth control and STI testing probably unattainable for under-insured and uninsured people.

Then there is Mike Pence, vice president-elect. Pence knows full well the effects of limiting access to reproductive health clinics that may or may not provide abortions, like Planned Parenthood. In 2011 Pence defunded Planned Parenthood in the state of Indiana which led to clinics closing by 2013. Now, after only a few short months, the state is suffering from an HIV outbreak – 140 new cases in four months at the beginning of 2015.

Finally, there’s Trump, whose ambition is to ban abortion. We know that an estimated 50,000 women die each year worldwide from unsafe abortion. Banning abortion doesn’t make it go away or decrease – it goes underground and becomes unsafe. This endangers all women, but low-income and oppressed nationality women will be the hardest hit. Already, capitalism restricts access to effective contraception and reproductive health care, resulting in a higher rates of STIs and unplanned pregnancies for these women. Trump administration policies promise to make all of this worse.

Women have come a long way over the past few decades, and that progress is worth fighting to defend and expand. Female-bodied people are amongst the many who are under attack, and it is incumbent upon us to resist every policy that undermines our historic victories. While white upper class women may have been the face of yesterday’s women’s movement, but it is working class women, and oppressed women who make up the majority, and must define the way forward.

If there is a silver lining presenting itself in the face of an incoming racist, sexist, homophobic president-elect, it is this: it is the people, not corporate politicians, who are the makers of history. Our movements will become emboldened to move this country forward – this is just a challenge.

#MinneapolisMN #LGBTQ #US #PeoplesStruggles #WomensLiberation #Elections #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch

St. Paul, MN – Tens of thousands of marchers, predominantly women, are in the streets of Saint Paul today, Jan. 21.

According to a statement from protest organizers, “The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized and threatened many of us. We will march in numbers too great for administration to ignore on their first day in office. We march and stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families.”

This is the second day of major anti-Trump protests in the Twin Cities. On Friday, Jan. 20, 6000 people marched through the streets of Minneapolis.

#SaintPaulMN #DonaldTrump #WomensMarch