Susan Dorazio susandor(at)crocker.com

Comrades,

Two weeks from yesterday (i.e., Friday, October 19) the SP 2007 National Convention will be convening. As you will see from the agenda draft below, it will be a full 3 days of discussion and decision-making. I hope that many of you will be there, or will be in close contact with your delegates and alternates between now and then, so that your opinions will be represented.

SP women: I hope you will be able to attend a meeting of the Women's Commission over breakfast on Sunday morning. I also look forward to informal opportunities to talk with others about the status of and possibilities for women SP members, in the party and in our communities. One of the best ways women can influence the direction of the party is to be a National Co-Chair or Co-Vice-Chair, or a member of the National Committee. Please consider being a candidate for one of these leadership positions.read more »

United States Social Forum 2007

June 27 - July 1, 2007 Atlanta, GA

more info at http://www.ussf2007.org/

SP-USA Delegation Updates

October 19-21, 2007: Socialist Party USA National Convention- St. Louis Missouri

more info

Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day. Socialist Party activists were instrumental in founding IWD almost a century ago, and it has a special place in our proudly feminist party.

Below is some history of IWD, The Women's Commission call for IWD 2007, and some events going on locally and internationally.

Remember, Celebrate, and Struggle on!

From the SP USA Women's Commission: March 8th is our day.

It's our opportunity to come together to speak out for a world where democratic socialist feminist values and programs enable people to live lives in ways they never will be able to under capitalism and patriarchy. That's the truth. That’s our power.
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IWD pamphlet (pdf): download here

A History of International Women's Day (8 March)

2007 SPUSA Endorsed International Women's Day Local Events throughout the month of March

March 8th: Join the Northern New Jersey Socialist Party in a vigil to defend free, safe and legal reproductive health services in New Jersey.
Time/Location: 5:30 PM on Engle St,. near the Metropolitan Medical Clinic
Information: 201-803-7574 or info@njsocialistparty.org
Sponsored by: Northern NJ Socialist Party and others tba soon.

Free Screening and Discussion: "Engendering Colonialism"
March 25th: The Socialist Party of New York City invites you to join them for a free screening of "Engendering Colonialism: The Effect of 100 Years of U.S. Colonialism on Women in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and The Philippines" Discussion to follow.
Time/Location: 339 Lafayette Street (between Bleecker & Bond), Manhattan, NYC (buzzer #11)
Sponsored by the Socialist Party of New York City, GABRIELA Network USA, and the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign, in observance of International Women's Day.

STOP THE (WOMEN) KILLINGS!: GABRIELA Network NYNJ IWD Event

THURSDAY, 8 MARCH 2007 6:30 PM -8:30 PM
GABNet NATIONAL OFFICE
4 WEST 43RD ST. 2ND FLOOR
(btwn. 5th & 6th Ave.)
RSVP at nynj@gabnet.orgread more »

NYC Activist Calendar for March 7th-8th-9th

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1909

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910

The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911

As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914

As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917

With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.

And download the SP-USA's 2007 IWD pamphlet (pdf)

Comrades,

The Editorial Collective of Socialist Women/Mujeres Socialistas is seeking material for the Summer 2006 issue. The deadline for submissions is Monday, May 15. Our theme for this issue is community and workplace organizing. It will be ready for distribution at our SP organizing conference this July.

Due to the fact that we are an 8-page publication, the articles need to be fairly short: in the 500-650 word range. We also welcome poetry, commentary, and letters to the editor, in either Spanish or English. Graphics are also needed. We also happily accept ads or socialist feminist greetings. Due to space constraints, these would be limited to 1/4 or 1/8 of a page, at a cost of $25 and $15, respectively.read more »