Filipino women's leader tours U.S.

Emmi De Jesus, a leader of Gabriela.

Emmi De Jesus, secretary-general of the women’s group Gabriela in the Philippines, arrived in the U.S. April 6 for a national speaking tour of four cities. She is traveling from coast to coast, speaking in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and San Francisco to support the recent founding of Gabriela-USA.

In the different venues, De Jesus is speaking on the burning issues at the forefront of women’s lives in the Philippines, the gross human rights violations situation, violence against women, abject poverty, and gender and sexual discrimination.

De Jesus was a founding member of Gabriela Philippines in 1984. Today, 24 years later, the group is the largest national alliance of women’s organizations in the Philippines. As a Filipino women’s campaign center, Gabriela integrates their struggles into the Philippine resistance against first-world domination and for genuine sovereignty and democracy. Gabriela is a model for women’s movements all over the globe, mobilizing broad communities for state accountability to repression and violence in the Philippines.

“The current economic crisis in the Philippines that is fueled by global trade policies is forcing Filipino women to leave their homeland at alarming rates. For their families’ survival, educated women are becoming domestic workers, entertainers, and even face modern-day slavery as trafficked persons,” declared Joanne Alcantara, the National Coordinator of Gabriela-USA. “Because of this, it is crucial that we continue building an organized movement for true economic justice in the U.S., from the voices of Filipino women.”

The speaking tour highlights the linkages between Filipino women’s struggles in the U.S. and the Philippines and, simultaneously, celebrates the rich spirit of resilience they share across oceans and continents.

De Jesus spoke at UC Irvine, where a community gathering was hosted by Strong Womyn of Irvine and The Womyn’s Collective of Los Angeles.

De Jesus was hosted by Pinay sa Seattle on April 12. She keynoted at an anti-trafficking conference at the University of Washington called Asian Pacific Islander Community Responses to Human Trafficking: Working Together to Create Change.

This conference was co-sponsored by Pinay sa Seattle, University of Washington Women’s Center, Marc Lindenberg Center, UW Center for Global Studies, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Asian Pacific Islander Women & Family Safety Center, and the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking.

Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) will be welcoming De Jesus in New York with a community reception at the Bayanihan Center on April 18 at 7 p.m., at 40-21 69th Street in the heart of the Filipino community in Woodside. De Jesus is also the keynote speaker during the annual Filipina showcase Diwang Pinay (Spirit of the Filipina) on Saturday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at Judson Memorial Church at 55 Washington Square South in Manhattan. The Women’s Fightback Network-New York Chapter will be holding a reception for De Jesus at the Solidarity Center at 55 W. 17th St. from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. on April 19.

In San Francisco, Babae will host De Jesus as a featured speaker at the 6th Annual Diwang Pinay, co-sponsored by the League of Filipino Students, SFSU. The showcase is set for Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Community Center located at 901 Brunswick St., Daly City, and will conclude De Jesus’s U.S. tour.

“Emmi De Jesus’ historic and momentous tour will only intensify the growing Filipino women’s movement in the U.S.,” Alcantara states. “She will receive a warm welcome at her every stop in the U.S. Wherever Filipino women are, we will be proud to carry the flag of Gabriela as we expand our international women’s movement.”

Pinay sa Seattle, Babae (San Francisco) and FiRE, a mass-based women’s organization serving New York City and its surrounding areas, are part of Gabriela-USA, the first overseas chapter of Gabriela. Go to www.firenyc.org or call 641-715-3900 for more information about the tour.