For One Billion Rising: Rising up in NYC & more
February 21, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader and member of Stop Patriarchy in NYC:
“Rise up for the women of the world
For the women of the world, RISE UP!
Make revolution for the women of the world
For the women of the world, REVOLUTION!”
The chants rang out in Union Square yesterday as we marked One Billion Rising for Justice (OBR) and Stop Patriarchy joined with Revolution Books to call for a flashmob. It was exhilarating. With a big banner saying “Break the Chains! Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty force for Revolution.” We started with about 20 people, then a crowd gathered as we took turns “mic-checking” Stop Patriarchy’s Call to Action.
Palm cards passed through the crowd with this powerful quote from Bob Avakian:
You cannot break all the chains, except one. You cannot say you want to be free of exploitation and oppression, except you want to keep the oppression of women by men. You can't say you want to liberate humanity yet keep one half of the people enslaved to the other half. The oppression of women is completely bound up with the division of society into masters and slaves, exploiters and exploited, and the ending of all such conditions is impossible without the complete liberation of women. All this is why women have a tremendous role to play not only in making revolution but in making sure there is all-the-way revolution. The fury of women can and must be fully unleashed as a mighty force for proletarian revolution.
That quote was the theme of our rising and we returned to it and shared it throughout the day.
We also distributed lots of palm cards for the upcoming protest on March 8, International Women's Day. People enthusiastically took stickers for “BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!” to slap on their coats and bags, as well as Stop Patriarchy’s stickers for “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology,” “Imagine/CREATE a World Without Rape” and “If you can’t imagine SEX without PORN, you’re Fucked!”
And then: We danced! We danced the One Billion Rising “Break the Chain” dance and then people from the crowd joined in & improvised. We knew that millions of women & men, in hundreds of countries were in the streets this day, rallying & dancing to stand against violence against women, and all the injustice around the planet. There were dozens of actions in NYC and hundreds across the U.S. In fact, a young women’s theater collective was performing for OBR right in the subway station below us, and when it was over, a few of them came outside to join us as we danced.
Scanning the OBR website today, I’m watching photos & videos of what happened all around on this day, from Mexico City to Budapest, from Port-au-Prince to Kabul—where Afghan women risked their lives to march for justice for victims of domestic abuse.
Along with our action in NYC, people from Stop Patriarchy in the Bay Area, Chicago, LA, Seattle and more took the movement to End Pornography & Patriarchy: The Enslavement & Degradation of Women into One Billion Rising. People from Revolution Books and people getting out with Revolution newspaper were part of this as well, bringing the movement for all-the-way revolution.
Then we marched, danced and skipped (the best we could on slushy sidewalks), to Revolution Books where more people joined in for a dinner and wonderful open-mic with music & spoken word. We declared our determination to bring forward a liberating culture—and last night we did. I want to share with readers this one powerful piece:
"More than a Dream"
Was I dreaming?
I turned on the news and there were no reports of women being raped or murdered or abused.
I must've been dreaming.
Women weren't the butt of every joke on the morning radio shows.
Am I dreaming?
I was able to dance without the lyrics to every song demeaning me.
I had to be dreaming.
I wasn't harassed or frightened as I walked the streets alone.
It must be a dream.
My self esteem didn't decrease as I saw all the billboards, advertisements,
and magazines.
I could breathe easy, I could feel confident, I could be happy, I could be safe.
But then I awoke and nothing had changed!
Even though I'm the victim I'm always to blame!
This nightmare, this oppression is real.
Force fed how to act and how to feel.
Don't ever get drunk!
Don't dress that way!
You don't have to think!
You don't need equal pay!
Don't try to decide, your body's not yours anyway.
The outside's for show and god claims the inside!
I had enough long before this!
I refuse to pretend to be satisfied with less!
I refuse to tear down other women, that's so popular these days.
I refuse to allow my rights be stripped away!
Now is the time for us all to rage!
Now is the time to wake up from this daze,
because the system is broken, it's not what it seems!
The system is broken, it's run by fiends!
And now is the time for us all to do more,
than just dream.
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