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Women, Raise Your Voices!
Building the Movement Against U.S. Imperialism
by Amee Chew
June 20, 2005
Three years ago, the Women of Color Resource Center released a statement about the War on Terror that's still relevant: ?Women, Raise Your Voices!? They listed ten reasons for opposing the War on Terror, chosen to illustrate the gendered effects of militarism and imperialism.
Today, deep into the quagmire of the unjust and brutal occupation of Iraq, segments of the anti-war movement continue to point out connections between war, and patriarchy or domestic inequality. For instance, these marginalized parts of the anti-war movement draw attention to the U.S. military as not only a racist, but also a misogynist institution; or to social budget cuts which disproportionately impact women and communities of color. But a gendered analysis ? an understanding of the connections between imperialism and U.S. patriarchy ? is hardly an integral part of a movement which only recently began taking the racist poverty draft seriously, and which is still struggling to rebuild itself after the invasion.
As the anti-war movement grapples with how to grow from its diminished state, there is a trend which seeks to build the movement by focusing it on a ?lowest common denominator?: ending the occupation of Iraq and bringing the troops home now. In the activist circles I'm a part of in Boston, some advocate presenting this LCD to the exclusion of other issues, as the unifying ?slogan' or focus of events, rather than building events around multiple, related issues. When I raised the possibility of adding a reference to the military's misogyny or homophobia in an advertisement for a counter-recruitment protest, this was dismissed as too potentially divisive, a dilution of focus ? even if such information is perfectly relevant to potential women recruits.
At the same time, these activists' purported adherence to the LCD is somewhat disingenuous, because the same individuals are willing to pair it with other slogans exploring militarism's economic impact ? ?Money for Jobs and Education, Not War and Occupation? ? and more recently, the ?racist poverty draft.? Apparently these activists have made a decision about which issues they think will have the most (white male) mainstream appeal, to build the biggest movement as fast as possible.
Related links:
- Women of Color Resource Center
- "The ?War of Terror' Intensifies Violence Against Women of Color, Third World Women, and Our Communities,? produced by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
