The seeds of the battle for the emancipation of women were sown in the fight for the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of millions held in bondage. Women like Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were the face of an expanding freedom struggle for the liberation of all humanity, and who exemplified the leading role of women in that battle.
The post-Civil war period was a time of great upheaval as the country was trans- formed from a society based in agriculture to an industrial behemoth. In 1908 more than 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City demanding higher wages and shorter hours as well as voting rights. Later, in 1911, the world watched in horror as the “Triangle Fire” took the lives of more than 140 working women in New York, and International Women’s Day honors their memory today.
In 1917 women in Russia led a strike for “Bread and Peace”which ultimately led to the abdication of the Czar. International Women’s Day is now celebrated in countries all over the world.
Today, in the wake of another time of great upheaval, new technological advances find women struggling harder than ever, an integral part of a new class which in- creasingly faces a life of destitution. The struggle of women today is for all that the material changes in society make possible — the reorganization of society where the fruits of society are enjoyed equally by all.
We are moving forward toward a revolutionary transformation of society, and once again, “only with the women.” We celebrate International Women’s Day not only to honor the heroism of the past, but the promise of the future.
March/April 2013. Vol23.Ed2
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