San Francisco
Women draw inspiration
from Cuba and Chiapas
By
Brenda Sandburg
San Francisco
"The
U.S. government has amnesia when it comes to celebrating the struggles of
workers, particularly the historic battles that began in the United States,"
Alicia
Jrapko said as she opened a celebration of International Women's Day held
here on March 11.
But
the standing-room-only crowd of 200 people that filled the Women's Building was
deeply conscious of struggles women have waged around the world since IWD was
created in 1910.
The
dynamic meeting paid tribute to women throughout the world, with a focus on the
women of Cuba and Chiapas. Jrapko, a member of the Bay Area U.S.-Cuba
Friendshipment, also saluted women in prison.
Johana
Tablada, second secretary of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C.,
was the featured speaker of the meeting. She has seen the fruits of women's
battle for equality. Citing the tremendous advances women have made in Cuba
since the 1959 Revolution, she noted that 25 percent of the members of the Cuban
parliament are women and 51 percent of the country's doctors are women. Young
women also have eclipsed men in attendance at universities.
Today,
the biggest challenge Cuban women face is to hold onto the gains they have made,
Tablada explained. She noted that since the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba has
lost 83 percent of its worldwide trade. Women have been affected the
most.
Tablada
said the early 1990s were the most difficult. Women who were directors of
hospitals and scientific centers or presidents of universities had to leave
their positions to take care of their families during a time of tremendous
shortages. Now, "We are encouraging women to take these positions
back."
Tablada
also thanked the audience for its solidarity in the struggle to return young
Elián González to his family in Cuba.
Native
activist Cora Lee Simmons gave a moving talk about visiting Cuba in February. To
resounding applause, she compared the struggle of the Cuban people with that of
Native nations in this country. The U.S. government "robbed us of our babies and
took them because we didn't have telephones in our homes or running water,"
Simmons said.
Laura
Harlan, another delegate on the Peace for Cuba trip, said she also was changed
by the experience. "I have been able to do things I didn't think I was capable
of and given myself a voice," she told the audience. She added that she has
shared her newfound knowledge with her mother, who just finished reading a book
on Che Guevara.
"It's
good to see that same fighter awakening in my mom," Harlan
said.
'Women
push the soldiers
back'
The
meeting also honored the women of Chiapas. Nancy Charaga of the Bay Area
Zapatista Coalition testified about the role women have played since the Jan. 1,
1994, uprising of the Zapatistas. "Women stand in the entrances to villages and
push the soldiers back," Charaga said.
Mexican
student Irena Arellano spoke about the recent battle Mexican students waged to
maintain free education in their country. Arellano was a member of the council
of students that led a nine-month strike at the National Autonomous University
of Mexico.
Arellano
said the Mexican government signed an agreement with the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank to begin privatizing education last year. "The director
of the university said my generation, 'generation X,' wouldn't care what's going
on, that we wouldn't have a problem, it would just affect future generations,"
Arellano said. "But we did
care."
The
meeting featured music by Rosa Martha Zárate. A special highlight of the
event was a tribute to six longtime activists in the struggle: Jackie Kiernan,
Workers World Party; Hilda Roberts and Juanita Rieloff, Bay Area U.S.-Cuba
Friendshipment Caravan; Joan Intrator, International Peace for Cuba Appeal's
Medical Journals Project; Zvetana Zaneva, International Action Center; and
Frances Steadman, Marin Interfaith Task
Force.
"These
courageous fighters for justice are our role models and an example to all of
us," Jrapko concluded.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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