“[To be a woman leader] is to love and defend our
culture, land, race, identity.
It is to defend who we are.”
- Claudia Rincón, Colombian leader
Throughout history against oppression, those on the frontline always know that the struggle might take their lives. For a body that persistently refuses to be invisibilized, refuses to be at the very least passive in the face of oppression, is stolen, just like the land.
On every corner of this planet, we who refuse to have our bodies, our minds, our communities bound and suppressed, have always had heroes, we are surrounded by them, they are with us, they are us.
“Everything we do at Casa La Serena is an act of constructive rebellion that generates positive realities in the midst of structural violence,” explain Ana María Hernández and Cinthia Pacheco, both of Consorcio Oaxaca.
Against bleak ghosts of familiar urban landscape and CCTV cameras labelled “for your protection” the news on the radio skits between weather forecast, rationing, raids, a special public appearance by the queen, politicians promising increased production and London quarantine zones to be avoided “for reasons of health and safety”.
- Impressions from V for Vendetta, 1982
Talking to feminists these days, you get a range of perspectives on the current crisis and where we’re headed.
The Governor of California, the US State where I live, has ordered the entire state to “shelter in place” for the foreseeable future, meaning we can leave home only for essential tasks. Yes, the virus is yet to be fully known and controlled; yes, the incidence of infection is increasing and cannot be predicted accurately; yes this virus causes death. And yes, we must keep washing our hands and taking other precautions and maintaining physical distance.
What if we had trillions of public dollars for all people and communities hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis? Our policy brief and workshop facilitation guide can turn these "what if we had these resources" into "what we can use these resources for".
Feminists have mobilized on a massive scale to generate our own autonomous resources for daily acts of solidarity and survival and to respond politically, collectively, and powerfully to this moment. Many of these actions are coming from within communities and movements in some of the hardest hit and less privileged places, and especially amongst Black, LBTQI+, disability, migrant, land & labour movements. Some of the responses are localised, while others are global.
In recognition of this particular moment in time, and knowing that so many movements may be relying more and more on organising remotely for the next few months, APC, AWID and FRIDA share some of what we have learnt around how to organise politically in virtual worlds.