Today is International Women’s Day — a day to join women around the world to #EmbraceEquity and speak the names of the women who paved the way to win the types of rights that we all deserve.
Foremothers like Melnea Cass, Geneva Evans, Dorothy Bolden, and more organized workers to build power, waged campaigns to combat systems of oppression and fought for racial and economic justice.
These women, and so many others like them, are the blueprint.
At NDWA, we are committed to carrying it forward. We are one of the largest membership-based alliances of women of color in history, and we are dedicated to building our collective power to win the long overdue dignity, respect and rights that domestic workers deserve.
John, we can’t do this alone. Can you donate $38 this International Women’s Day to help us support, train and organize the next generation of domestic worker leaders?
Today, we speak the name of Melnea Cass, a former domestic worker who devoted her life to organizing for racial and economic justice. She was a pillar of Boston’s Black community for over half a century and served as the president of the Women's Service Club for more than 15 years, during which time she initiated the Homemakers Training Program to ensure domestic workers, most of whom were young migrant women of color from the South and the Caribbean islands, could receive social security and other benefits.
We also speak the name of Geneva Evans, whose tireless activism represented the ongoing efforts of Black women to achieve economic justice in the United States. As a home care worker in Boston, Massachusetts, Evans’ led hundreds of her fellow laborers to organize for a living wage.
We also speak the name of Dorothy Bolden, who worked 42 years as a domestic worker and became one of the most successful organizers in Atlanta. She founded the National Domestic Workers’ Union of America in 1968 where she fought for the dignity of domestic labor and the black women who performed it.
Melnea Cass, Geneva Evans, and Dorothy Bolden have shown us what is possible when we organize, tap into our collective power and dream for something more.
They dedicated their lives to win recognition and respect for the care workers, nannies and housecleaners — the majority of whom are women of color and immigrants — who do the work that makes all other work possible.
At NDWA, we are building upon this proud tradition of women of color tirelessly organizing for a better, more inclusive society. Every day, we help domestic workers build their leadership and find their voices. We are committed to investing in even MORE domestic worker leaders to lead the way in the fight for building an economy and society that works for us all.
Exploitative and oppressive dynamics are enshrined in every single aspect of society. Our approach to dismantling these systems: empower women of color.
Our foremothers paved the way. We are committed to carrying it forward, but we need your help. Take action today. Join us.
Thanks for all that you do,
Care Team
National Domestic Workers Alliance
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This email was sent by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nation's leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States.
National Domestic Workers Alliance | 45 Broadway, Suite 320 | New York, NY 10006 | domesticworkers.org
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