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NORTH CAROLINA
Youth host women’s fightback conference
By
Mary Tamburro
Raleigh, N.C.
Published Nov 9, 2006 7:50 PM
Young people from North Carolina and three other states gathered
together on Nov. 4 to have a conference with the goal “to
push the struggle against gender oppression to the very front of
the social justice movement—to look at where we are, how we
relate to each other, and how to move forward.” The
Women’s Fightback Conference reached and exceeded this goal
with the help of youth from North Carolina State University, the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local Raleigh high
schools, the Socialist Unity League of UNC at Asheville, the N.C.
Green Party, and Raleigh FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand
Together).
Raleigh FIST and other participants at Women’s Fightback Conference.
Photo: Tony Macias
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This conference brought together 95 people of many ages, genders,
sexualities and nationalities in a safe space to talk about the
disempowerment of women in society and how it affects the
movement. The all-day event included four workshop sessions with
topics ranging from “Imperialism, Women and War” to
“Sexist Language and Meeting Dynamics.”
One workshop entitled “Women in the Workplace and the Labor
Movement” featured a young woman who is currently
incarcerated and being exploited in a work release program. She
talked of not being able to confront her boss because she had no
one at the women’s facility to back her up. She said it was
their word against hers, and that no one would believe her. She
also explained that she gets paid $1 a day and that they take
rent out of her meager checks every month.
A member of UE Local 150 was on the panel to discuss their
struggle as well.
The conference culminated with a cultural event that combined
speakers, spoken word performances and some inspirational music.
Fruit of Labor, which is the cultural arm of Black Workers for
Justice, had the crowd singing, “Organize, organize,
organize!” They ended the night with the Diane Reeves song
“Endangered Species,” and conference participants all
joined in the chorus: “I am an endangered species / But I
sing no victim’s song / I am a woman, I am an artist / And
I know where my voice belongs.”
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