For the 15th year marking International Women’s Day in Southern California, on March 8th a warm and sunny Saturday, a mixed race and enthusiastic crowd of approximately 450 women, men, quite a lot of young people, and lots of children gathered for a free concert and speakout at the MacArthur Park Band Shell in Los Angeles.
This year: IWD events internationally marked Haiti’s revolutionary legacy, and the continuing courage and resilience of its people, starting with women. From Berkeley, Boston, Claremont, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Springfield (USA), Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor (Canada), Guyana and elsewhere, to Dublin and London, people have gathered in solidarity with the Haitian people. Actions in Haiti and across the world marked the 10th anniversary of the coup (29 February 2004) which overthrew the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide – former liberation theology priest and Haiti’s first democratically elected and much loved and trusted President. Also on this the first anniversary of the death of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, we were remembering this extraordinary leader of the Bolivarian Revolution which changed Latin America and the world.
Full Story: Rock, Rap & Speakout vs Poverty, Prisons & War By Ruth Todasco of Global Women’s Strike/LA