Women in USA, Spain and all over Mama Earth are striking today, March 8, 2018, in protest of patriarchy, unequal pay, workplace sexual harassment, etc., etc., etc. What about poor women who lost their jobs; lost their homes; lost their kids; and finally lost their minds? Who is striking for these sisters’ rights? Today I’m striking a blow against racism and sexism by registering African American and Latina women to VOTE.
We need to vote out reactionary politicians and vote in people who will: raise workers’ wages, provide the same healthcare that politicians give themselves to all, provide housing to all, protect the environment, punish police killings of unarmed Black people, and push forward progressive programs to uplift everyone.
Voting matters. African American women voters in Alabama kept racist Roy Moore out of the US Senate. If voting doesn’t matter, why do you think racists in South Carolina and South Africa fought so hard to deny Black people the right to vote? The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed with the blood of African Americans who gave their lives in the struggle for equal rights and justice. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, by allowing southern states with a history of denying the right to vote, to change their voting laws without federal approval.
If I seem obsessed with protecting and advancing the right to vote rather than typical International Women’s Day topics, it’s because International Women’s Day has become a cotillion, with fresh bouquets of roses, flowery speeches and Hallmark eCards. Many do not know or care that International Woman’s Day began in New York, USA in 1907 when young immigrant garment factory workers (all women) marched to protest dangerous work conditions, low pay and in favor of the right of women to vote. I encourage everyone to honor the work of these and so many other unsung “sheroes” by doing something positive to achieve the goals of equality and justice for all.
(I wrote and sang social justice songs on my new album “OUT” which will be released in 2018.)
“The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you do not see.” Langston Hughes
One Love…
Aria
