NEWS

26 WILPF branches across the US stood together with a single message this Earth Day

These events across America connect us to one another and to new allies in our communities. They raise our visibility and amplify our voices.

Boston Branch

N. Vermont/Burlington Branch

Corvallis Branch

Berkeley-East Bay Branch

Detroit Branch, l-r Marilyn Grosteffon, Laura Dewey, Barbara Beesley

Des Moines, IA Branch.

Essex County, NJ Branch. L-R, Blanca Gerard, Virginia Hanley, Anandi Kimmel, Barbara Girt, Joan Adams, Lauretta Freeman, Fran Gardella.

Phila/Delco Branch

Humboldt County Branch

Madison Branch

Mid-Missouri Branch

Monterey Country Branch. Order our Right to Health & Safe Food Infographic Cards HERE.  Our Monterey CA branch has been working to prevent fracked fluids being used as irrigation on the lettuce and vegetable crops of Salinas Valley, ‘the nation’s salad bowl’.

Peninsula-Paolo Alto Branch

Phoenix Branch. There is no way to win a war in Syria. Our Middle East Issue Committee has lots of information about the many proxy wars in play in that decimated nation.

Pittsburgh Branch

Portland Branch.

Sacramento Branch

San Jose Branch

San Francisco Branch

Santa Cruz Branch. Santa Cruz WILPF has been working on Sanctuary City and immigration issues, helping develop resilience plans for families in danger of deportation.

Southern Indiana Branch.

St. Louis Branch

Triangle, NC Branch. WILPF has been working closely with the NAACP and the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina since the weekly protests began.

Tucson Branch

Palm Beach County Branch

At the CSW event dedicated to the conversation on the #NoBordersOnGenderJustice Initiative. Credit: Alexandra Rojas/WILPF.

By Robin Lloyd, Burlington Branch and co-chair of DISARM/EndWar

The annual gathering of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN in New York City involves more global citizens in UN processes than any other UN event. Women care about the UN. Those of us who took part in the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women (1995) remember the excitement when we met our sisters eye to eye and committed ourselves to global solidarity. We’re not going to let go.

However, this year, for the first time, attendance suffered a decline. Why? The Trump immigration ban denied visas to women from the Middle East, precisely the women whose voices we need to hear. WILPF International, which had planned several panel discussions featuring women from Syria and Yemen, sharply criticized this decision and withdrew from this year’s CSW. WILPF warned that “the absence of women from countries affected by the recent US travel ban undermines the basic premise of the CSW as being an inclusive and participatory process and threatens its legitimacy.” Although most other women’s groups, including WILPF US, did not withdraw, they expressed solidarity by including an empty chair in their panels with a sign, “Why is this chair empty? #NoBordersOnGenderJustice.”

US WILPF’s special program for college students—the Practicum in Advocacy—was smaller than usual, with seven students. Blanca Gerard of the Essex County, NJ Branch was the sole participant in the Local2Global program for WILPF members who are active in their branches or at large. Nancy Price and Barbara Nielsen participated as members of the overall oversight committee of the program. Maureen Eke, professor and WILPF US board member, and Lamia Sadek, former managing director of WILPF US were to lead a “parallel event” at the Church Center across from the UN––with the title “Empowering Indigenous Women and Young Girls: Ending Economic Exploitation”––but it was scheduled for Tuesday, March 14, the day of the big blizzard. Everything was canceled, and, unfortunately, this workshop was not rescheduled.

The following comments reflect my experiences and opinions as an emeritus Local2Global participant.

The focus of this year’s CSW was Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work. Representatives of 162 member states met for two weeks to create a 17-page document designed to advance women’s rights globally. They do this every year. Meanwhile, over 3,900 representatives from 580 civil society organizations met concurrently across the street and shared what was going on in their countries and strategized on how they might influence the outcome document.

“The Guardian” newspaper called the CSW negotiations “a display of geo-politics and a battleground to preserve decades-old agreements on promoting gender equality.” Indeed, the inside/outside relationship is complex and gets more difficult every year. How does one try to “lobby” our United States UN representative (Nikki Haley), when everyone knows her positions are determined by Washington? And what impact will these 17 pages of seemingly progressive statements for women’s equality have on women on the streets and in the sweatshops and brothels around the world? The 45 different points begin “the Commission reaffirms,” “the Commission recognizes,” or “the Commission calls for.” The Commission never says “demands,” “insists,” or “orders." An advance, unedited version of the Agreed Conclusions is now available.

A wise woman—and there are many who stride the hallways and take part in the NGO sessions at the Church Center—suggested a way to look at the final document. Her name is Marta Benevides. She is a progressive activist and former WILPF member from El Salvador. In conversation, she said to me: “These documents [including the Millennium Development Goals 2000-2015 and the Sustainable Development goals 2015-2030] should be looked at as a modern-day version of the Sermon on the Mount: moral teachings on peace and gender justice that should be seen as the agreed values of the world community to be used by groups and individuals when they are faced with injustice or indifference on the part of their government.” With righteous indignation, activists can argue “You consented on this document; you must follow its dictates!”

Thus, it depends on the nongovernmental activists, waiting to take the final document back to their countries, to hold their governments accountable.

Some of the panel discussions I listened to explained service projects they performed in their countries. Others supported business interests and explained how women can become entrepreneurs in Africa. One lively debate was titled “A Strategy Session to Confront the Global Surge to the Right.” Yifat Susskind of MADRE: Demanding Rights, Resources, and Results for Women Worldwide, asked: “What is the historical movement we are moving through now? Who is most in danger now? We’re differently positioned in this crisis. We must take this difference and build a resilient movement to encounter the ascendant populist and authoritarian upsurge of the moment.” Hakima Abbas of the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) added: “So many forms of oppression have been normalized, such as inequality: the obeisance and homage the media encourages us to give to billionaires and celebrities.”

Kavita Ramdas, who directs the Global Fund for Women, the largest foundation in the world supporting women’s human rights, pointed out that eight men control the same wealth as 50 percent of the global population. “Everything is so exploitive of the earth,” she cried. “All relationships are now transactional. This system is not sustainable.”

Another woman who heads Women Moving Millions—now a black-led philanthropy—stated that, from her perspective, the worldwide threat to women is the threat to reproductive rights. Now, she said, they are pushing against contraception. A woman from Poland spoke up and described the women-led demonstrations in the streets of over 60 cities protesting the criminalization of abortion. “Women’s power has been awakened. How do we maintain it? How will we not get tired?”

At another workshop, “Corporate Power and Women's Economic Empowerment,” a critique was made of the increased encouragement within the UN of public-private partnerships, when the risk is always put on the public sector. Unions have decreasing power vis-à-vis corporations, but they do have labor rights. After the Bangladesh labor catastrophe, unions gained some money and rights. But the workers still receive only $68 a month!!

A woman from the Solidarity Center, which supports global union movements through the AFL-CIO, remarked that trade unions are battling corporations on a daily basis. But there are many restrictions on strikes. Unions are afraid of being sued if they go on strike to support another union. “But if we don’t fight, how are we going to win? We support a GLOBAL STRIKE!!”

These were some of the comments coming out of the more radical workshops that I attended. We have to disrupt their consensus. The governments are not working for the people. We must be daring enough to invent the future.

Solidarity events are moving forward in 26 branches across the US, and the benefits for WILPF US and for our branches are wide-ranging. Turns out, Solidarity is fun and empowering. These events connect us to one another and to new allies in our communities. They raise our visibility and amplify our voices.

The theme that members chose is Peace & Planet Before Profit. Every participating branch will take and share a photo of that branch with a banner or sign that features the theme, which was chosen by member vote on the ONE WILPF Calls. The theme connects the issues of Climate Justice, Environmental Concerns, Women & Human Rights, Peace, Militarism, Disarmament, and the importance of #MoveTheMoney from a war economy to an ethical budget that addresses the real human needs of the majority of Americans. These issues are deeply entwined, but that connection is invisible to most Americans. On Earth Day, WILPF US is pointing out the glue that holds them together.

View all photos submitted by WILPF US Branches here.

It’s NOT too late to get engaged. For more information, email 1wilpfcalls@gmail.com.

• Make a basic sign that says [your location] WILPF demands Peace & Planet Before Profits. 
• Bring your sign to the local Earth Day events.
• Order some CLIMATE JUSTICE+WOMEN+PEACE Infographic cards to hand out (mbgardam@gmail.com).
• Talk to people about the military budget overshadowing all human needs in our nation’s budget.
• Talk about the historic Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty being negotiated right now at the United Nations, with 123 nations demanding to BAN the BOMB!
• Start organizing now for a June 17 Women’s March to Ban the Bomb in your town, and sign people up on April 22! Bring a clipboard and sign folks up to march with you on June 17.
• Stay in touch with people who sign up, between now and then, so they remember. Perhaps hold a social gathering to discuss their concerns about peace, the planet, corporate takeover of our democracy, and nuclear weapons. Host a potluck in a church basement, or arrange a casual meeting in a coffee shop. Listen well. Being heard empowers people and encourages them to share leadership.

A Milestone for WILPF US

This is the first time in anyone’s memory that WILPF US branches have coordinated across the nation on a single theme and spoken with one voice on an issue. This is building our skills for strategic collaboration that takes advantage of our national and international identity. Exercising our solidarity muscles in a few coordinated Solidarity Events during the year will not only strengthen our national visibility, but will also have benefits for the individual branches.

Community Building—Many of our branches are experienced collaborators, but some are not. And some who do collaborate do so with only a narrow group of fellow peace activists, “the usual suspects.” This theme, which crosses many issues and connects them powerfully, offers the opportunity to connect with environmentalists, women’s rights activists, city domestic abuse shelters, human trafficking programs, education advocates, labor activists, the local scientific community, health care proponents, and human rights activists, including refugees and immigration rights. We’ve encouraged branches also to engage with local artists, schools and universities, drama classes, and musicians. We hope branches are making these connections. They will serve us well as we move forward.

Gaining Visibility—Participating branches will help us raise visibility nationally, because we will be posting the banner and sign photos of all our branches the weekend of April 22. But, by reaching out to new allies and forming new collaborations, we’ll also be increasing the connections and amplifying our voices in our local communities. The media will be contacted, both by the participating branches and by WILPF US, to underscore the importance and solidarity of this event.

Gaining New Members—Branches can certainly use this event, even if it’s just the banner photo, to gain support from community members who stand with us on this issue, even if they have not yet joined WILPF. Asking others in the community to be part of your event, or to stand with you for the group photo, can stir their awareness of WILPF and increase their potential commitment to joining us.

When People See Us in Action, they understand more clearly who we are and what we stand for, and they are more likely to join us. These Solidarity Events are putting our mission and theories about peace and planet into action.

What’s Next? June 17—Women’s March to Ban the Bomb!

In a rare moment of outreach, International WILPF’s Disarmament Program Reaching Critical Will has asked for collaboration and solidarity from our WILPF US branches.

Big News! Right now, following a decade or more of quiet, patient diplomacy by Reaching Critical Will staff, over 123 non-nuclear nations are gathered at the UN to negotiate a historic Nuclear Ban Treaty. This is not a nonproliferation treaty or a nuclear test ban treaty. This is a treaty that aims to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all. Despite the heavy-handed efforts on the part of the US to oppose these negotiations, they are going forward. The world is finally standing up to the nine nuclear nations and saying Enough Is Enough.

The New York–based Reaching Critical Will staff, with Ray Acheson leading, is planning a June 17 rally and march in New York City, the Women’s March to Ban the Bomb. The point is to raise awareness for this treaty negotiation in a nation where our media has squelched any effort to let Americans know that the world is finally reaching critical will on this issue. Ray Acheson is asking US WILPF branches to organize sister branches in cities where we have a presence, and to use these marches as a way of raising awareness of this historic treaty and the determination of most of the world to take steps to abolish nuclear weapons.

This June 17 event will probably be the second Solidarity Event we take on as ONE WILPF. The majority of call participants during the March ONE WILPF CALL voted in favor of acting in solidarity with Reaching Critical Will to organize these local “sister marches.”

Start planning now for June 17. We can help! Sign up to help organize this in your community, as an individual at-large member, or as a branch. Send an email to 1wilpfcalls@gmail.com with the subject line “Sign Me Up.”

The 26 WILPF US branches (in no particular order) participating in the April 22 Solidarity Event are:

Boston, MA
Greater Phoenix, AZ
Greater Philadelphia, PA
Peninsula/Palo Alto, CA
Monterey County, CA
Bloomington, IN
Sacramento, CA
Tucson, AZ
Humboldt County, CA
Portland, OR
Madison, WI
Essex County, NJ
East Bay, CA
San Jose, CA
San Francisco, CA
Pittsburgh, PA
St. Louis, MO
Maine
Des Moines, IA
Triangle, NC
Burlington, VT
Ann Arbor, MI
Santa Cruz, CA
Corvallis, OR
Central Missouri
Detroit, MI

By Nancy Price, Earth Democracy

Native Americans and indigenous peoples worldwide know water sustains life and is sacred. Their relationship with the natural world is unique. The Standing Rock Lakota opposition to the DAPL is to protect the sacredness of our water commons for all people.

Here’s what we, you, all of us Water Protectors, who believe that water is life and water is sacred, must do now to save our water commons.

First

Join the Divestment movement to stop the big banks funding the Dakota Access (DAPL) pipeline—in particular Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, JP Morgan, US Bank, Comerica, and TD Bank. These and other banks also fund the KXL, which Trump has now approved, and the web of pipelines and associated infrastructure being constructed all across the country, which we must stop as well.

Food & Water Watch is a good resource on the banks. The website Fossil Free provides an excellent escalation guide to divestment.

This is an emergency. We are in a climate crisis. With President Trump accelerating fossil fuel extraction (much of it for export) and opening federal public land to fossil fuel exploration and development, now is the time to get your city council and county council to divest and to mobilize your state to divest its pension funds.

Second

Be sure to also “Break up with Your Mega-Bank.” Follow these 10 Steps. There’s no time like the present.

Third

The April 22 One WILPF Solidarity Events are on the same day as the March for Science in Washington, DC.

April 29 is the People’s Climate March in DC and across the county. Find a march near you.

• Use the banner you made for April 22, or make a new banner with “Climate Justice+Women+Peace” if you have time, and add the WILPF US logo and your branch name and website.
• Don’t forget to order your infographic cards now.
• Tear up old white sheets and make hatbands or sashes that say “Climate Justice+Women+Peace.” Get creative! Get out WILPF’s message on this.

Fourth

May 5-13 is Global Divestment Mobilisation around the world. Time to Divest from Fossil Fuels—Time to Move the Money. Learn more about this mobilization, find an event near your, or plan a divestment action in your town and put it on the 350.org map .

A final note: I urge you to read Rosalyn R. LaPier’s compelling essay Why Is Water Sacred to Native Americans? Rosalyn R. LaPier is a 2016-17 Women’s Studies in Religion Research Associate and Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and Environmental Studies and Native American Religion at Harvard Divinity School.

Read also Rebecca Solnit’s essay, Call Climate Change What It Is: Violence. She writes: “Climate change is global-scale violence, against places and species as well as against human beings. Once we call it by name, we can start having a real conversation about our priorities and values. Because the revolt against brutality begins with a revolt against the language that hides that brutality.” Listen to a recent interview with Solnit on Democracy Now.