‘Mayday for Money’ in Chicago: A Call for Total Reform of the US Monetary System
Published on August, 33 2024
WILPF US Women, Money & Democracy Committee members Gwen Hallsmith (center with guitar) and Dianne Blais (in pink with WILPF sash) demonstrated and sang in front of the Chicago Federal Reserve Building in the heart of the Chicago financial district during the MAYDAY FOR MONEY event; Credit: Maybeth Gardem
By Marybeth Gardam of the W$D Committee and Lucille Eckrich of Alliance for Just Money.
July/August 2024
From May 17-19th, the WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee, co-sponsored (with our ally The Alliance For Just Money, allies at Move To Amend, and our partner An Economy of Our Own), an event in Chicago that called for a total reform of the monetary system in the United States.
The WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee was well represented at the MAYDAY FOR MONEY event in Chicago. Committee Chair Marybeth Gardam and W$D members Mary Sanderson (Madison WILPF), Dianne Blais (the Jane Addams Branch), Gwen Hallsmith, the Madison WI Raging Grannies and Lucille Eckrich (who organized the Mayday For Money event for Alliance For Just Money) showed up to signal the need to rethink how our currency works, how to separate it from the debt-money system we have now and how we can work together to demand a more just system.
The event featured a demonstration in front of the Chicago Federal Reserve. Members of the Alliance for Just Money attempted to deliver a copy of a letter they had already sent to the Federal Reserve, calling for the Federal Reserve to relinquish their right to print money and return that right to the US Treasury Department, where most Americans believe it still resides. A rally the next day in front of the Alexander Calder sculpture in the financial district featured speakers from all over the US and international representatives as well.
A public reading of a play about monetary reform and creating a more equitable system was performed Saturday night, and on Sunday morning two wonderful teach-ins were held. (The recordings of both will be available soon at the Alliance For Just Money website.)
The WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee (with our ally The Alliance For Just Money and our partner An Economy of Our Own) co-sponsored the Chicago event that called for a total reform of the monetary system in the US. You can learn more about why the WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee is calling for a transformation of our monetary system by viewing a recorded webinar we presented in February 2022, in collaboration with Alliance For Just Money. The webinar, titled “The Future in Our Pockets” does a great job of explaining what confuses most people about our monetary system, and how changing the system could help us defund militarism, polluters and lobbyists who work against the interests of regular Americans.
Stay tuned for more educational awareness programs and projects from the WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee, and our allies. W$D meets by zoom every 3rd Tuesday of the Month at 8pm EST.
For more information about how to join the meetings and participate, contact Marybeth Gardam at mbgardam@gmail.com.
Learn more about:
- WILPF’s W$D work
- Alliance For Just Money’s work
- About our partner, An Economy of Our Own, and how our economy punishes women and families
