By Ashley M. and Nadeen el Kassem
On March 12, Women United Against Imperialism (WUAI) joined with many more women to take to the Toronto streets in the annual International Women’s Day march.
WUAI led a contingent of approximately 200 people that included marchers from Gabriela, IWWorkers, BASICS, Barrio Nuevo, UFCW Local 1000a, amongst others.
These organizations came together to highlight the strength and ongoing struggles of working-class women of colour in this city and internationally.
Marchers held their banners high, and chanted loudly to tell Toronto that they will not stop fighting as long as there is oppression and exploitation of working-class women.
The night before, WUAI held an International Women’s Day Cultural Night entitled “Celebrating Women’s Cultures of Resistance” at the 519 Church Street Community Centre.
The evening featured performances from: Faith Nolan, Joce Tremblay, the AngelHeartRiverwalker Project, Alex Flores, Sushmita Rai, Afi Browne, Panyalito, Shaunga Tagore, Doyali Islam, Stacey BE, iwWorkers/Gabriela, superINDAYS, and many more.
These artists are community builders that provide the foundation of our movement. Through our art, our voices, our lyrics, our roots, we will strengthen our fight against imperialism.
“Reading poetry from my upcoming book was a dramatic and insightful experience, as this event was my first major public reading,” said Doyali Farah Islam.
“As women, we garner strength and courage by taking up opportunities such as this one, for our power lies partially in embracing and sharing our unique and individual gifts as creative beings.”
As a follow-up to the march, WUAI will continue highlighting women’s struggles and achievements through public forums and by coming together with many other anti-imperialist women’s organizations at the International Women’s Alliance, taking place this summer in the Philippines.
Long live the working-class women’s movement!
For more information about Women United Against Imperialism, please send an email to [email protected]
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