I mentioned earlier on Facebook that I had an idea about moving past the corrupt and dysfunctional government in the U.S. It is no longer a question that the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are working for anyone but the 1%. We the people need to take action. The idea in this blog entry is for women.
Truth is, it's not "my" idea but a collection of ideas based on centuries of work by Indigenous, African American, and Latinx women that White women have either ignored or colonized to serve their own interests.
The idea: Stop working. Refuse to participate. Boycott. Organize.
Women are 51% of the population in the United States. We stop working, spending money, and enabling the patriarchy en masse and the economy would grind to a halt. All "they" care about is money and owning women like property. It's about power and control. And dehumanization.
Deny them our money, our labor, and our bodies.
This is not about taking a day off work or marching for a day. This is long haul work with consequences. In the Montgomery Bus Boycott, begun by the Women's Political Council, people organized intricate carpools to stay the course until change began. United Farm Worker protests lasted years; while much work remains, much change occurred.
This challenge will look different for every woman, in every community. Race, culture, religion, class, geography, language, (dis)ability, gender expression, sexual orientation, citizenship status, marital status, age ... will intersect in complex ways. Each form of resistance will vary widely. Some communities, or groups within communities, may be able to have full work stoppages. Single parents with small children may not be able to stop work, but could coordinate with others in their communities. First responders, hospice care workers, maternity ward workers, home health care workers, and others upon whom lives depend won't be able to stop, but we can still have their backs.
Apologies now to RBG, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elaine Kagan - please don't participate. We need you on this one.
I challenge those women with the privilege of wealth to support others in their communities and across the nation to support this work. Set up ways for women in your community to get the food, water, mortages/rents, and other needs met with relative ease.
Even though corrupt minds are convincing people facts or evidence do not matter, here is a beginning list (not even close to exhaustive) of some evidence of the threat to women and some women with ideas to follow and work alongside as co-conspirators (Love, 2019).
Latinx change makers you need to know (includes LGBTQ+ activists)
A brainstorm of demands:
- Eliminate the horror of women as a prize of war.
- Universal reproductive rights.
- Prosecute and hold accountable ALL rapists and pedophiles who prey on women and girls.
- Equal pay in all workplaces.
- End domestic violence.
- End trafficking in women's bodies.
- End sexual harassment and assault.
- Abolish gender discrimination.
WHAT ELSE?
I don't have answers, only building an idea. I am calling out for dramatic action to stop the war on all women. Gather with others in your communities, find the women already doing the work and ask to join along. Don't try to run everything alone or take over someone's else work; this is collective action. Do something that gets attention and causes a ruckus big enough to change the system of oppression in which we find ourselves.
A book to get organizing and non-violent resistance ideas: Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
Please comment with what you do, links to other people resisting, and needs.