Pouring rain and high winds on Saturday March 13 forced Mothers March Globally inside, but spirits were not dampened. Fifty women and men gathered in Center City to protest the lack of recognition and support for mothering.

Interviews at the Int'l Women's Day event at DC Cuban Interest Section

On Saturday March 13, Philadelphia women joined with mothers around the world in "Mothers March Globally" to mark International Women’s Day and the 11th Global Women's Strike, focusing their protest here on the unjust removal of children by the Department of Human Services.

Mothers March Globally events took place around the world, including in Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, Turkey, the UK (see photo from demotix.com) and Venezuela, echoing the demands of the Global Women’s Strike that society “Invest in Caring, Not Killing,” beginning with payment for caring work, including for the first carers: mothers.

In Philadelphia, a 12 noon press conference featured mothers fighting to get their children back from DHS, former social workers, mothers working for justice for loved ones in prison, grand- and great-grandmothers, Katrina survivors, and men in support including fathers and other carers, plus greetings from other Mothers March events in other countries. A march to DHS and Family Court will followed. Full Press Release | Background

Related: International Women's Day in the Philippines | International Women's Day at the Cuban Interest Section | International Women's Day in Ashland | Support Immigrant Women, Support the Driver's License Campaign! (Where the Allies At?) | Mother Recounts Lead-Up to Murder of Her Son by OPD

Past Coverage of IWD: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

This past Saturday the Third Annual Rogue Valley Celebration of International Women’s Day took place at Southern Oregon University. It began with a parade which started at Triangle Park and ended at the SOU Student Union. The parade was led by three large puppets as it made its way down Siskiyou Blvd with about 150 people participating.

from the open publishing newswire: Calling all allies and supporters!

Please come out to support the Mujeres en Liderazgo as they take their campaign for driver’s licenses to the capitol. 

After over two years of organizing, the Mujeres en Liderazgo are preparing for their bill to be voted on by the state representatives.  This is a crucial moment for the bill which would give drivers licenses to everyone.

With the support of the community, different organizations, religious groups, and legislators, “Mujeres en Liderazgo” has introduced a Bill in the State Legislature that would allow anyone living in Minnesota to get a driver’s license, regardless of their citizenship status.

Related at TC Daily Planet: Driver's License Bill for Undocumented Workers

Licencias_de_Conducir_para_Todos[1].pdf

The community is invited to the 3rd annual Rogue Valley International Women's Day parade and celebration.

On Saturday March 6 beginning at 11:30 am, the Rogue Valley community is welcome to take part in a march for women's reproductive rights. You are invited to meet in Triangle Park and the group will march in a parade together down Siskiyou Boulevard towards the Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University.

Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother from Oakland, CA, is facing up to a year in military prison for refusing to leave her son in Georgia foster care while being deployed to Afghanistan.

Fort Stewart, GA, Army officials announced four separate court martial charges against Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, the single mother of a one-year-old son who missed deployment in early November 2009 when her childcare plan fell through. Despite assurances by military public affairs officers that the Army would work with Spc. Hutchinson and her attorneys to resolve the matter administratively, rather than through the criminal process, charges of missing movement, AWOL, dereliction of duty, and insubordinate conduct were filed on January 13th. Spc. Hutchinson is a 21-year-old native of Oakland, CA, now facing over three years in prison, a dishonorable discharge, and the loss of custody of her infant. She has been assigned to Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, GA, since February 2008.

Military objector support group Courage to Resist is raising funds for Hutchinson's defense and circulating a petition on its website to demand that charges be dropped. Read more | Previously: Seeking time to plan for son, Army mother is arrested

On February 4th, demonstrators for women's reproductive rights will protest in front of the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. They will rally to protest the network's plan to air a commercial from a right-wing anti-abortion group during the Super Bowl on February 7. A rally for reproductive rights is also being scheduled to take place in front of the CBS affiliate in New York City the same day. The Raging Grannies of South Florida made a short film giving the acronym CBS a new, unflattering meaning.

January 22nd marked the 37th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The January 23rd "Walk for Life", was smaller than in past years. By its own estimate, the group against reproductive choice was 20,000 to 30,000. However the San Francisco Chronicle estimated the size at "several thousand", not the "tens of thousands" that the pro-lifers claim. More than 200 pro-choice activists, while a smaller group, had a significant presence with music by Brass Liberation Orchestra, the Raging Grannies, a great pro-woman rapper on stage.

Planned Parenthood moving to a new bigger facility got churches across the country to ship thousands of folks here to Houston on Martin Luther King day to protest abortion and womens access to safe and affordable health services. Pro-Choice and feminist groups were able to mobilize a small number of folks (honestly, at around 30 this is bigger than many Houston protests) but it was dwarfed by the thousands of carpetbaggers who came to protest Planned Parenthood.

Sunday January 10th here in Ashland a "Take Back the Night" march and candlelight vigil took place. There were 75-100 women, men and children in the march which started out at Triangle Park and made it's way down Siskiyou to the Downtown Plaza.

A January 2, Boston Globe editorial, "Don’t be shy on family planning" announces that the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA)has been blocking Planned Parenthood advertisements on Worcester buses.

Demonstrators gather in Tucson and Phoenix, demand justice for Marcia Powell

On December 17 and 18, demonstrators gathered in Tucson and Phoenix to demand human rights for prisoners and sex workers in Arizona. Participants held memorials for and focused on the case of Marcia Powell, a prisoner of the state of Arizona who was left in a cage in the desert sun last May and died. She was serving a 27-month prison term for prostitution.

I filmed a 5 minute interview about the "PDX Undeclared Emergency" regarding women being safe on the streets when they are houseless. The Right 2 Survive campaign informed me on some recent bad news regarding homeless women being raped in the Portland area. Lately there have been some rapes in the homeless community in and around NE Portland. The Right 2 Survive is concerned and is activly doing something about it.

The activists have been organizing foot patrols and handing out whistles to women who are sleeping outside to use in the event that they are being abused or attacked. If you hear a whistle blowing go towards it and see / help / etc.... The Right 2 Survive group is asking for community solidarity in offering protection to folks (women) who are without any source of security to be free from rape and abuse while they just try to get through the night. The Right 2 Survive activists are not only seeking protection and organizing whistle handouts and networking on the street level, they are also asking and demanding the city takes a responsible role as well. They are showing up in city offices and working for real changes. They need the greater PDX community's support and their solidarity.
VIDEO Filmed at the recent Portland WTO D5 protest.
right2survive.blogspot.com

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