ALLIANCE NEWS
March 10, 2015

AF3IRM AND 60 ALLIED ORGS LEADS 3,000 WOMEN’S MARCH IN DTLA

Los Angeles– In 2008, AF3IRM lead its first protest March in Pershing Square In Los Angeles with less than a thousand protestors.

But in an awesome development six years later, on March 8, 2015– more than 3,000 protestors led by Filipina activists, Association of Filipina Feminists Fighting Imperialism Re-feudalization and Marginalization (Af3irm) with other allied 60orgaanizations shut down downtown LA.

SHUT DOWN LA

AF3IRM National Chair Jollene Levid inspired the crowd saying, “When history books looks back to March 8, 2015, they will see that waves and waves of hundreds of women of color and allies shut down the streets of Los Angeles that the women are here and are not going anywhere.”

The protests which began in the Los Angeles City Hall steps made stops at the Police department, who has been under fire for recent officer involved shootings.the federal building and detention center where undocumented immigrants are detained and have to navigate the legal system,

They also march to and rallied the “Twin Towers” or the LA County Jail and ended a the Plaza Del Mariachi in East LA for the end rally.

Women’s Issues are People’s issues

Ivy Quicho , National Organizing Director of Af3irm said. “There are about 5,000 Filipinas who are being trafficked into the United States as mail-order brides. The number one export out of the Philippines are our women and the money that gets sent back to the Philippines is also the remittance that we send to people back home. So literally our economy is afloat on the backs of women,”

Cheryl Zarate of the Pro People YouthKMB said, “Every stop we’re making is about women. It’s about our future, it’s about our children,”

“It’s to fight for the genuine liberation of women. That’s why we’re here. Filipino women are subject to sex trafficking, subject to a lot of sexual violence,” Stephanie Sajor, KmB Pro People Youth, Vice Chair said.

For Filipino Americans, International Women’s Day is not just about the feminist movement, it’s also about fighting for other groups that have been historically marginalized.

“These different classes of women are being marginalized but it doesn’t stop with us. We feel like we’re not only fighting for the genuine liberation of women. We’re fighting for genuine liberation of all humanity,” Quicho said.

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