by Jess Clarke
It’s tempting to blame Donald Trump for the fact that the US was woefully underprepared for this pandemic, but getting caught up in a manufactured made-for-TV surreality show could kill us. Our most urgent task is to reimagine our social order, our economic policies and our relationship to planet earth.
Our joint event with the The Center for Political Education has been cancelled so we can join forces with another WTO anniversary event sponsored by Shaping San Francisco
Seattle/WTO Shutdown: 20th Anniversary
Wednesday 7:30-9:30
Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics
518 Valencia Street (near 16th), in San Francisco
A theatrical Town Hall: Voices from the Iranian Community and Allies.Central Stage, 5221 Central Ave, Richmond
Sunday, June 16th, 2:00-4:00pm
Kairos Theater Ensemble, in collaboration with Central Stage is hosting an interactive townhall and teach-in using theater (Playback Theater/Theater of the Oppressed) to lift up and explore the voices of the Iranian community, its community of allies, the stories and hopes of those who fear for war and hope for peace.
Events in recent years have triggered a reawakening across the United States of a movement that acknowledges the importance of worker rights and of protecting the livelihoods of this country’s working class. Historically, however, one group of workers has routinely been excluded from the gains made by the larger labor movement, i.e. farmworkers—the people who weed, pick, harvest, and pack, often in 100 degree weather, while routinely being exposed to hazardous chemicals.
Approximately 700,000 farmworkers reside in California at any given time. Farm employment is unstable and the average farmworker is employed for only seven months of the year (nine months in California). For female workers the employment season is even shorter. Jobs are scarce, even during high season. In California, about 350,000 jobs are available from April to October and 275,000 from November to March. Historically, migrant workers returned home during the winter months. However, with the increased militarization of the border, this practice has become harder and many migrants remain in the U.S. out of fear even in the rainy season when they have little or no income. And although a majority of farmworkers are male, women and children are increasingly crossing the border and entering the workforce, as men can no longer maintain a seasonal migration.
By Jess Clarke
"We want to make visible not only the work that women do in the workplace but also outside--in the sphere of social reproduction."
Doug Henwood Interviews organizer Cinzia Arruzza about the theory and practice that grounds the organizing of the International Women's Day Strike in the United States in 2017. Aruzza is anAssistant Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. Originally broadcast on KPFA on March 16, 2017
