Women Taking to the Streets

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is woman's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. ~ Oscar Wilde

From Honduras to Zimbabwe, women are taking to the streets, demanding democracy, justice, and peace, only to encounter violence and repression. When institutional channels fail to hold governments accountable, street action remains citizens’ only choice – at which point protest becomes a matter of survival as well as human rights. As women worldwide pressure international institutions and look to the Obama administration to uphold human rights, JASS’ regional and global solidarity focuses on amplifying women’s voices and perspectives against whitewashing or marginalization by mainstream media. Throughout September, JASS joined many allies in support of the mobilization by our Honduran and Latin American sisters against the coup with a signature campaign for a letter asking the UN Security Council to take action. In 24 hours, 101 women’s organizations from 24 countries had signed on with more coming in. This newsletter features some of the courageous and creative ways women are organizing for a better world across differences and borders. We hope that they inspire you to join in and rally your spirits if you’re already in the thick of things. ~ Lisa VeneKlasen, Executive Director

Honduran Women Call for International Action

Mass demonstrations in support of democracy followed the return of President Manuel Zelaya to Honduras in September. The coup government responded with further suspensions of civil liberties, including a total media blackout. A letter to the UN Security Council (in Spanish) was mobilized and signed by JASS and 100 other women’s organizations in 24 countries as part of our ongoing solidarity efforts since the coup occurred three months ago. As the need to focus on the Obama administration became increasingly clear, Honduran Feminists in Resistance appealed directly to the U.S. President with JASS' and other allies' support. Official U.S. response has continued to fall short: “Micheletti and his U.S. allies are playing hardball,” said one commentator, “while the administration is playing softball.” You are invited to read the personal experiences of a young Honduran feminist, sign the petition to Obama, and read more.

Bridging the Divide between Lesbians and Feminists

"Organizing as a lesbian isn't easy here," says Patience Mandishona of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), "considering the president's open homophobia." In a JASS conversation featured this month, Patience discusses the challenges of mobilizing Southern African women around hate crimes, trans identities and other LBTI issues (lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex.) Patience notes that tensions exist because the broader feminist movement seems unwilling to take up the issues of LBT women, but that JASS has always been inclusive, sharing the assumption that lesbian issues are central to a feminist agenda.

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Change Flowing through Mesoamerica

Launch of Sea Change School in Panama Leads to...

...Rivers of Change in El Salvador

At the first regional Mar de Cambios/Sea Change School (Panama City, July 5-10), 40 Mesoamerican women set out to deepen their common political analysis and to mend the disconnects between mind, body and spirit that cause feminist burn-out. Seeking inspiration and insight for strategies, the gathering (organized with the Petateras, IFUN, CEASPA and Alas de Mariposa) created a mural of ancestors to recover and retrace women's contributions to history.

Sea Change flowed into the first national-level Ríos de Cambio/Rivers of Change initiative (August 31-September 2). With the FMLN victory in March opening opportunities to influence the national agenda, Ríos de Cambio enabled women leaders from both rural and urban areas to find common avenues for engaging with government. Led by the Association of Salvadorean Women (ASM), Salvadorean Petateras , ISDEMU and allies, the process combined the theatrical production of Wings of the Butterfly with political dialogue and analysis around the country.

Organizing Women's Vote in Indonesia

Before Indonesia's elections, JASS SEA and North Sumatra ally PESADA invited women to workshops on Nias Island, to encourage votes for women and emphasize political rights. Highlighting the obstacles to women's political participation, one woman told JASS, "Our custom restricts us tightly. Men are more important in Nias society. We say 'Amaga obala' – Father is God." JASS' Niken Lestari targeted young women voters through a blog in Indonesian and her involvement in a Vote Women! campaign, which included a TV talk show.

Movement-Building in Zambia

JASS launched movement-building action with women in Zambia, working with our allies around the country to chart the context and needs of grassroots women HIV/AIDS activists and their women's rights allies. The process builds on experiences and learning from JASS workshops in Malawi, with the aim of strengthening diverse women leaders to work together around a feminist agenda to improve livelihoods as they organize for rights. There, Hope Chigudu noted "with bonding, and collective solidarity. I could see the seeds of a movement beginning to sprout."

Multigenerational Feminist Leadership

JASS Southeast Asia is nurturing a growing community of young feminists from Indonesia and Timor Leste, an important step given the legacy of painful historical divisions between the two countries. JASS Southeast Asia Co-directors Nani Zulminarni and Dina Lumbantobing mentor numerous young women as they move into new positions of power in the two countries. In January, Yasinta Lujina Conceicao das Regras took over as director of Rede Feto Timor Leste – a confederation of 18 women's organizations. "At JASS workshops, I learned about feminism and now my job is to promote gender equality," says Yasinta in a profile on the JASS site.

A New Face at JASS Cross-Regional

Joining us as of May, Vyjayanthi Vadrevu brings extraordinary energy to her position as Cross-Regional Program Support. After studying Anthropology and International Studies, Vyjayanthi worked at the World Security Institute and the Institute of International Education. A professional Bharatanatyam dancer, her passions include green business, world music and languages – she speaks Telugu, Spanish and English fluently, and gets by in Arabic, Tamil and Hindi.

A Room of One’s Own

… and time to think: the dream of every exhausted feminist activist came true for JASS ED Lisa VeneKlasen in August 2009, thanks to a radical initiative of the Gaea Foundation. Awarded a Sea Change sabbatical in Provincetown on Cape Cod, USA, VeneKlasen pointed out, “We all talk about the realities of burn out, but we never have the resources or give ourselves the time and space. It took me nearly two years to plan this miraculous time off and even then, I felt guilty and rebellious about disconnecting from the e-mail lifeline with my colleagues. But it allowed me to clear my mind, stand back, read, and learn from movement history to think more deeply about the challenges we face as organizations and movements. And just as energizing was the time I had with my 12-year old son unburdened by the conflicts of work and logistics… I love this photo of women who were the invisible backbone of the Provincetown community when it lived off the sea – and a perfect inspiration for sea change.”

JASS (Just Associates)
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