"take chances, make mistakes, get messy."

I laugh (because it pisses me off) when White nurses hate on Filipino nurses, both US-born and Philippine-born (before you attack me, go look it up).  Yes, I can’t generalize, so maybe they are White nurses who are able to transcend racism and are allies. They whine because Filipino nurses are “taking their jobs,” are “too successful,” or because “there’s too many of them,” and other crap.  OH WAIT.  First of all, you benefit from the structure of racism, so you’re respected more, you’re trusted more, you make more money, the laundry list goes on forever.  So, own your privilege.  Second, back in the day, the US intentionally recruited from the Philippines because of shortages in the US.  And, the Immigration Act of 1965 supported their immigration.  And, they were recruited because the US wanted to “civilize” them.  So, the recruitment of Filipino nurses was initiated by the US and rooted in discrimination.  And now you’re mad that they are present in many places around the nation.  So, in order to suppress them, you implement “English-only policies” and don’t allow them to unionize.  You’re mad that they’re bilingual.  You’re mad that they’ve risen together and have pushed back against this system of racism, hate, and ignorance.  Educate yourself. Damn.  God forbid someone else proves that they are skilled and competent. God forbid they worked hard.  God forbid they’re Brown, smart, loving, and powerful.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
November 25, 2011

Reference: Raquel Redondiez, Chairperson, GABRIELA-USA

Email: chair@gabusa.org

GABRIELA-USA MARKS IDEVAW EXPOSING

ROLE OF THE 1% IN VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Filipina Women’s Alliance IDEVAW Video Slideshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoMpZFFLHL8

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — GABRIELA-USA, an alliance of organizations representing Filipino women across the U.S. commemorate Nov 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) with a slideshow of their members and supporters exposing the role of the 1% in perpetrating violence against women throughout the world.

While domestic violence and rape are what comes to mind as examples of violence against women, GABRIELA-USA is choosing to highlight economic injustice, as well as political repression and human rights violations as more pervasive and systematic forms of violence suffered by women throughout the world.  “As women of the 99%, we hold the 1% accountable for the culture and system of violence they perpetrate on women around the world.  Hunger and poverty, joblessness and exploitation, evictions, forced migration, lack of housing and healthcare are all part of imperialist plunder and war on the 99% by the 1%,” said Raquel Redondiez, Chairperson for GABRIELA-USA.

As the 99% all over the world are rising up, political repression and human rights violations also continue to rise. This is highlighted in events that occurred just last week when University of California, Davis Police brutally pepper-sprayed student activists of Occupy Davis.  Earlier this week was also the 2-year anniversary of the election-related Ampatuan Massacre which took the lives of 57 people, 22 of them women, in the Philippines.  To this day, family members of the victims continue to seek justice and recently filed suit against former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for arming and supporting the Ampatuans. “Political repression, human rights violations, and economic injustice continue to be the most pervasive and brutal forms of violence against women.  This violence is systematically carried out by the 1% through their private armies, public police, and other state machinery to protect the economic interests of the few, leaving the majority of the world’s population with fewer resources to survive on,” concludes Redondiez.

Women’s activists have marked November 25 as a day to fight violence against women since 1981. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by Resolution 54/134. The date came from the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, politicalm activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoMpZFFLHL8&feature=colike

Want to share your story of the 99%? Take a photo and send it to info@gabusa.org.

Reference: Irma Bajar, Chairperson, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), fire.nyc@gmail.com

In 2011, six women from the NY-based GABRIELA USA organization, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE NYC), traveled to the Philippines on an exposure and integration program with Gabriela Philippines. The women, Hanalei Ramos, Candice Sering, Jennine Ventura, Zarah Vinola, Julie Jamora, and Krystle Cheirs, had one major goal in mind: to experience first-hand what the MASS MOVEMENT is like in the Philippines, and bring back what they learned to their community in the United States. On Monday, November 21, 2011, FiRE will host a special report-back from 7:00pm-9:00pm at the International Action Center’s Solidarity Center (55 W. 17^th Street, Suite 5 C).

“We want people in New York to feel the dynamism of the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines,” stated Candice Sering, FiRE’s Cultural Director. “It was also important that we pay tribute to the organizers and communities that we met in a creative way.” The event will include interactive elements (guerilla theater, sound installation, and visual arts), traditional Filipino street foods, and stories. FiRE has also made it possible to view the event live via UStream.tv, a live-streaming Internet site, for those who are abroad (both nationally and internationally) but wish to support the event. “Our friends and fellow organizers in the Philippines can’t physically be here, but we wanted them to be able to share in the telling of their stories, so we’ll set up a live-stream,” stated Hanalei Ramos, who served as team leader for the summer trip.

In the wake of a global economic crisis and the worldwide Occupy people-led movement (including Occupy Philippines), FiRE is drawing connections to the people-powered National Democratic Movement in the Philippines. “By sending our members to the Philippines for an extended period of time, they witness and experience first-hand the concrete conditions that the basic masses, the real 99% of the Philippines, are living under every day,” said Jackie Mariano, Vice Chairperson of FiRE. “Most importantly, they learn how the masses have organized themselves to take action to build a brighter future.” The report-back will shed light on the daily injustices committed in the Philippines and the ways in which Filipinos are responding, challenging and changing the system.

For more information on Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment and the Exposure & Integration Program, visit http://firenyc.org.

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Please note the time change that was not added to the flier!

EDUCATE. ORGANIZE. MOBILIZE.

A Reportback brought to you by FiRE

MONDAY NOV 21, 2011

International Action Center Solidarity Center

55 West 17th Street, Suite 5C

NY, NY

8PM-10PM, doors open at 7:30PM.

For live-streaming: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/fire-nyc