A Million Women: Why Did They March? Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the November 13, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- WHY DID A MILLION WOMEN MARCH IN PHILADELPHIA? By Monica Moorehead In the aftermath of the Million Woman March in Philadelphia Oct. 25, questions are still being asked. Like what motivated over a million women of African descent to mobilize to come together? Why now? How will this event affect the traditional women's movement and the labor movement? Why did the big-business press give just a minimum amount of attention to this historic outpouring of women of color? The primary catalyst that made the Million Woman March a success was a national call for unity on the part of Philadelphia community organizers Asia Coney and Phile Chionesu. These main initiators and other grassroots organizers established a 12-point platform. The organizers wanted to instill in Black women a self- help spirit that would lead to greater unity and empowerment within the Black community--which is suffering a multitude of economic and social attacks. WELFARE REPEAL A BIG FACTOR A big factor as to why this march was called at this particular juncture is the federal government's overturn of welfare. In August 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the so- called welfare reform legislation. This law eliminates Aid to Families with Dependent Children and other forms of public assistance for the poor over the next five years. Even before Clinton signed it, it was well documented-- even by administration officials--that this law would throw an additional 1 million children into poverty. Single women and their children are hit hardest by the welfare cuts. And African American women are affected in huge and disproportionate numbers. As it is, one out of every two Black children is born into poverty. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, Black women workers earn on average 85 percent of white women's wages and 62 percent of white men's wages. In 1995, nearly half--3.7 million or 46 percent--of all Black families were headed by women. And 45 percent--1.7 million--of these families were living in poverty. Black women were three times as likely to live in poverty as white women. These figures do not even take into consideration the results of the deeper cuts that have begun since welfare was eliminated. The attacks filtering down from the federal government gave impetus to the Million Woman March. A sense of urgency is felt by these oppressed women. They understand more than anyone that the days of the social safety net have been snatched away, and that an economic vacuum needs to be filled--and soon--just for the basic survival of their communities. There are also the other forms of racist attacks of a more political nature--like the erosion of affirmative action, the rise of police brutality, the increase of Black women in prison, domestic violence, the special oppression Black lesbians face, and much more. These were underlying factors that brought these extraordinary women together as one in Philadelphia, despite their varying degrees of political and class consciousness. UNITE WITH THE MOST OPPRESSED In an implicit, grassroots way, this march pointed the finger at the capitalist system for all the problems affecting Black women in particular and Black people as a whole. If this were a society free from racism, national oppression, sexism, and lesbian and gay oppression--a society where economic and social equality united all the nationalities--why would a Million Woman March even be necessary? The Million Woman March was an astounding expression of national and sexual pride within a hostile environment. It was a profound statement made by Black women who refuse to go to the back of the bus and who want to be seen and heard as a powerful force to be reckoned with. The big-business media were hostile toward this march from the beginning. They only give coverage to these kinds of events if they are forced to by pressure from below. The media gave more coverage to the Million Man March in 1995 because they wanted to use Minister Louis Farakkhan as a scapegoat. That march also played up the angle of "atonement," which in essence let the capitalist government off the hook. The media could not find any similar scapegoat with the Million Woman March--although they tried feebly to discredit South African leader Winnie Mandela, and also Rep. Maxine Waters for her heroic stance on exposing the CIA's role in flooding the Los Angeles Black community with drugs. The Million Woman March sent a strong message to the traditionally white women's movement, which historically has been insensitive toward the special oppression and needs of women of color since the days of slavery and the suffrage movement. The message was: Just because we are all women, it does not mean we are all equal. Further, you cannot expect us to show solidarity with your struggles as women until you have shown real solidarity with our struggle against racism and national oppression first and foremost. The organized-labor movement should have also received a strong signal from the march. If the unions are to be revitalized and grow, they should be reaching out to the women who marched in Philadelphia--because these are exactly the workers who can make that happen. They want to be in the unions. The unions need them. African American women, along with other women of color, can not only breathe life into the unions but link labor with the communities and with the struggle against racism. This kind of unity--from the wo men's and labor movements in particular--is the only way to build a truly working- class, independent movement against all forms of capitalist exploitation. Such a movement will one day have millions of women, young and old, gay and straight, employed and unemployed, in the streets fighting for a better world for all humanity. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. 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