Anarcho-feminist Conference in Barcelona, Spain this weekend

Iberia - Anarchist Communist Event
Saturday March 06 2010
Start Time: 11:00 AM

Barcelona: Anarcho-Feminist Conference

This year - 2010 - the CNT celebrates 100 years since it was founded, in
a context very different from today's. For this reason, we want to
analyze and reflect on the path that this class-struggle union has
followed throughout its history and examine its role today. There is no
doubt that the people who have been members of the CNT have mostly been
women and men with a capacity for critical thought, sometimes well ahead
of their time, and there have been times when the CNT has played a vital
role, as in the social revolution of 1936. Today we ask ourselves how it
sees itself as a union that fights against every form of authority, and
especially against something as important as patriarchy which, along
with capitalism, inhibits the freedom of many living beings and is
destroying the planet.

So, this Feminist Conference arise from the need of various female
members of the CNT to visualize the vital role that women play in the
anarchist movement, to reflect on the connection between anarchism and
feminism, to challenge traditional gender roles, female and male, on
which patriarchy are based.

The Conference on Women and Anarchism will be an opportunity to get
closer to the realities of female militancy. We intend to analyze,
discuss and highlight the participation and organization of women who
identify with libertarian principles without giving up their gender
identity. We want to see the problems that affect us as women in the
various areas where we operate: labour, educational, organizational,
health, emotional, etc., and the problems arising from a patriarchal and
capitalist society such as ours that affects us and our comrades, male
and female alike.

To this end, we will try to deal with the subject on two levels: one
level is our own situation as female workers and union activists in a
class-struggle, revolutionary and libertarian union, covering the
historical perspective and the needs that we see today. The second level
is feminist women's participation in the various organizations that seek
to contribute to social change. We are interested in highlighting these
daily struggles, the projects that result from them, the difficulties
that exist and the contradictions that we encounter. We also wish to
work on these aspects by collecting multiple experiences from the past
and others that are in progress today all over the world.

To try to cover these objectives, we have organized five topics:
1. Women, work and the union
2. A historical reference: the Mujeres Libres
3. Anarcho-feminism: organized women
4. Women in the press and propaganda of The Idea
5. Sexual diversity and anarchism.

Everyone is invited to participate in these reflections on our/your part
so that we can try to get closer to achieving our/your utopian society.

Let our thoughts become action.

PROGRAMME:

- Saturday 6 March 11.00 a.m.

Women and Anarcho-syndicalism: with Ana Sigüenza (first Secretary
General of the CNT) and Laura Vicente (Doctor of Contemporary History at
the University of Alicante), author of "Teresa Claramunt. Pionera del
feminismo obrerista anarquista".

Venue: Centre Cívic Drassanes - Sala d'Actes. C/Nou de la Rambla 43. (
L-3: Liceu, Drassanes ó Paralel).

- Sunday 7 March 5.00 p.m.

Workshop - Self-managing our health (women-only event - prior
registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com)

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Wednesday 10 March 7.00 p.m.

Cine forum: "Adrift (by casual women workers)" Authors: precarias a la
deriva.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Friday 12 Marzo 7.00 p.m.

Anarcho-feminist Theory & Practice, with La Katino Anarkista (member of
the Red Anarcofeminista de Mujeres and creator of the publication
"Alejandra") and Vanessa Ortíz, from the Juana Julia Guzmán collective
(Bogota).

Venue: Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes - FELLA.
C/Joaquin Costa 34. ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).

- Saturday 13 March 5.00 p.m.

Anarchist women propagandizing The Idea, with María Ángeles García
Maroto, anarcho-feminist journalist and writer, member of the Alcoi SOV,
and Antonina Rodrigo, writer, author of the book "Amparo Poch y Gascón,
médica y anarquista".

Presentation of feminist publications. RAG (Ireland), Herstory
(Barcelona), Histeria (Barcelona), Mujeres Preokupando 8 (Barcelona) and
others...

Venue: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona. C/Regomir 3. ( L-3: Liceu ó L-4 Jaume I).

- Sunday 14 March 5.00 p.m.

Feminist self-defence workshop. Organized by a Barcelona self-defence
group (women-only event - prior registration required:
libertariascnt@hotmail.com).

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Friday 19 March 7.00 p.m.

Animal liberation, liberation of the land and liberation of women.
Natalia, Maria, Isabella and Clara.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 20 March 5.00 p.m.

Mujeres Libres, yesterday and today, with Martha Ackelsberg, professor
of Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies at Smith College,
Northampton, MA (USA) and author of "Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and
the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women", together with comrades from
the Mujeres Libres in Extremadura and Madrid.

Venue: CCCB -- Aula 2. C/ Montalegre, 5 ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2
Universitat).

- Friday 26 March 7.00 a.m.

Gender, race and class. Carla.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i
Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 27 March 11.00 a.m.

Sexual Diversity and anarchism: debate organized by D-género, a
pro-sexual liberation libertarian collective from Madrid, Karolina,
Filipo Brenda and Maricarmen.

Venue: Centre Cívic Barceloneta. C/Conreria 1 -- 9. ( L-4: Barceloneta).


* Workshops are for women only. Prior registration is required - write
to: libertariascnt@hotmail.com . Dates for the workshops are subject to
change, and in this case participants will be advised by email. Further
workshops may be organized if the maximum number of participants is
exceeded.

Organized by: Comisión del CeNTenario (Barcelona)

English translation by FdCA-International Relations Office

Related Link: http://www.cnt.es/centenario

Source http://www.anarkismo.net/article/15927

This Saturday: Brighton Anarcha-Feminism Day!

This Saturday 30th Jan 2010 sees the new year welcoming...

A DAY OF ANARCHA-FEMINISM
a completely free day and night of super feminism for all ages and genders
@ the cowley club, 12 london road, brighton

this event supports a new brighton womens homeless shelter and the launch
of the new anarcha-feminist group 'Organise!'- come along and get involved

DAY EVENT:
10.30am-6.30pm
including:

workshops n discussions (what is anarchfeminism?, feminist squats,
feminist childrearing, privilige, self-defense, men and anarchafem plus
many many more!)

skillshares n distros (DIY herbalism, zines, stencilling, subvertising,
radical knitting, plus so much more!)

PLUS!
-creche all day with kids workshops on storytelling n zines
-film sessions from 6.30-8.30pm
-yummy vegan lunch, tea n cake
-open to all, if you are new to anarchafeminism or an old hat!
-most workshops are wheelchair accessible and if not they can be adapted,
so please do ask the organising group for any particular needs you may
have: brightonanarchafeminists@lists.aktivix.org

NIGHT EVENT:
Fundraising gig, comedy, djs
7.30pm-2am
ALL FUNDS FROM THE DAY N NIGHT EVENT GO TO LATITUDE SAFE SPACE- A NEW
INITIATIVE FOR A BRIGHTON WOMEN'S HOMELESS SHELTER.

please support Latitude and get involved in the new brighton
anarchafeminist group ' Organise!' by coming to this event,

see you there!

Herstory of Witches for Kids: Re-writing, Re-learning, Re-membering

Who were the real witches? Traditionally witches were ‘wise women’, poor women in the village that knew how to use herbs and other healing practises. So witches were real women who healed real people: they were ‘doctors without degrees’, passing down their knowledge by word-of-mouth from grandmother to mother to daughter. Instead of the ‘Devil worship’ they were accused of, they mostly were Pagans, and had a much more indepth understanding of nature and the human body than we could ever dream of.

If they were so good, then why does everyone think witches are bad? The very idea that, with some knowledge, you could heal your own illnesses with herbs growing wild or in your own garden, annoyed a lot of people. In the middle ages, no money was to be made from witches and their craft, and a new invention called ‘science’ was intended to take over, with professional male doctors charging for new medicines in central hospitals. This made more money for the rich in power, whilst the poor suffered. Witches were demonised as being evil, so they could be gotten rid of, and so that the new scientific medicine could take its place. Whilst the women healers were still around, people wouldn’t want to pay for the new medicines from the professional doctors.

What does ‘witchcraft’ mean? It’s the use of supernatural or magical powers. Witches were blamed for many things: disagreeing with the Government, disobeying the Church, for being sexually-aware women, for organizing amongst themselves, and for using magic powers both to harm and to heal. The Church and the State (those in power) saw their attack as being upon pagan magic: to them herbalism was not medicine, it was magic. Although many of the modern medicines we take today were derived from herbs and their healing uses- probably discovered by witches! The equivalent of the Church’s prayers, were the witches charms, and so the beginnings of modern medicine had more similarity with the witches crafts than with science as we see it today, and many doctors actually learnt about the body parts from witches.

What were the witch-hunts? They were the pre-planned hunting down, torture and murder of people accused of ‘witchcraft’, by those in favour of a new political, medical, and scientific system. Namely, the rich men in power within the Government and The Church. It is thought that, in Europe over 9 million people were killed, often burnt alive at the stake, for ‘witchcraft’. Over 85% of these deaths were of women and even children. They occurred in Europe between 400 and 700 years ago. In the witch trials, Women were accused of practising ‘witchcraft’ (healing the sick, of being ‘witches’, for unexplainable events like the death of cattle) and the professional ‘doctors’ would decide if the action was ‘witchcraft’, or natural body illnesses. The witch-hunts did not totally wipe out the poor women healers, but it labelled them as magical and possibly bad, and they have been demonised ever since.

Is this a Feminist issue? Yes! The main crime that the witches were accused of committing is that of being a woman! And a woman with healing knowledge, at that! Herbalism meant that poorer people could heal themselves for free, and meant that women (who were banned from studying/working as doctors) could also be involved. When learning about the herstory of witches, you are learning about the beginnings of institutional sexism itself. The beginnings of capitalism. The beginnings of the patriarchal system that governs us today. Over 7 million women and children are estimated to have been murdered in Europe alone, in the most horrible way, over a period of hundreds of years! This is an important part of women’s history, and essential to understand how we live today. The witch-hunts were deeply political, religious and- of course- sexist to the core.

Why weren’t we taught this in school? Good question. The History you are taught in school is only a small selection of the major events that have happened. In a nutshell, rich men in charge of popular education narrowed the History that THEY see as important down, and sexism is still affecting History education today. Feminist Herstory should be part of school History lessons. You have a right to question the education you receive in school, and to learn about topics that were essential to our lives then, as they are today. Many topics that are taught do not include enough work, history, thought, on by or about, women- especially poor women This is sexist. Both boys and girls will miss out on the knowledge that women’s herstory could bring. Don’t accept what they tell you- ask the questions they don’t want you to ask! Ask about the witch-hunts.

Anti-copyright: article taken from 'Spratz! a feminist kidzine'. Most of this info was adapted from ‘Witches, Midwives and Nurses’ zine and http://www.suppressedhistories.net/


Which Witch? a herstorical poem for kids

I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! A witch with an itch.
Yes. There’s something bothering me just a titch.

Y’see, I don’t have a black cat.
Or a tall pointy hat.
Or long ginger hair that I wear in a plait.
Fancy that!

I AM a witch…
But I don’t dress in black.
And a steel cauldron I lack.
And legs of a frog?! Well, you can put them RIGHT back!

Yet, I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! Are you thick?!
A witch who’s never even SEEN a broom-stick!

Don’t you understand?
We’re not like Dorothy’s witches in OZ-land!
Real witches aren’t like those for Hallowe’en,
We’re not scary with faces all green.

In fact, we’re not like any good or bad witch in a book.
So forget what you’ve learnt, and take another look!
Put those useless stories back on the shelf,
Learn something new- become a witch yourself!

Witches are wise women,
Wiccans, Pagans, Herbalists too.
Healing the sick and cheering up the blue:
Those old wives tales were true!

So. I am a witch.
Ahh a WITCH? So am I!
I never knew it ‘til now, and now I know why...
I thought witches flew in the sky!

Relearn the history!
Rewrite the books!
Ask teacher about the Witch-hunts,
And the true numbers THEY took.

Millions of women and children,
Killed by Church and State.
For crimes of ‘witchcraft’: burnt at the stake.
Learn about THIS- for goodness sake.

So next Hallowe’en- dress up and have fun.
But understand that real witches aren’t like those ones.
And if you understand that, then ask yourself this:
Whose truth are you believing?
Are the textbooks really teaching…or ARE they deceiving?

I am a WITCH! Shout it out loud.
I’m a witch too! And PROUD!
We both are witches. It’s great and it’s true.
But the big question is…

Which witch are YOU?

Anti-copyright Tumbleweed 2009 (Taken from Spratz! a feminist kidzine)