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Dear Progressive Reader,
March 8 was designated ([link removed]) in 1977 by the United Nations as International Women’s Day, but the holiday was first celebrated more than one hundred years ago. In 1909, the Socialist Party of America announced ([link removed]) February 28 as a day in solidarity with women garment workers in New York who were organizing for better working conditions and safety on the job ([link removed]) . That was the same year that The Progressive began publication as La Follette’s Weekly on January 9, 1909. Our magazine, too, had its origins ([link removed]) in the support of women's rights ([link removed]) , worker's rights ([link removed]) , and human rights
([link removed]) .
In his official press statement ([link removed]) on March 8 this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “On International Women’s Day, the United States stands with the international community in celebrating the tenacity, determination, and leadership of women and girls around the world and the immense contributions and accomplishments they achieve toward more peaceful and democratic societies.” But as is so often the case, the official position is more ambitious than the reality of actual practice. In one stark example, Robin Whyatt’s article ([link removed]) in the current issue of The Progressive outlines the dark history of the ways that Native women have been, and continue to be, treated in our country. And as Sarah Lahm wrote ([link removed]) in December 2021, before the June 2022 ruling by the
U.S. Supreme Court, “From racist and xenophobic attacks against Muslim women, to the likelihood of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, it’s clear that women’s lives carry little value.”
This week on our website, Susan Maas speaks with ([link removed]) activist and attorney Tara Houska about her work to train future movement leaders; Amelia Rayno reviews ([link removed]) the new film Argentina, 1985 which is up for an Oscar this weekend; Jeff Abbott reports on ([link removed]) the stripping of citizenship from Nicaraguan dissidents; and Zach Roberts delves into ([link removed]) QAnon with journalist and author Will Sommer. Plus cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates ([link removed]) some of the problems with the new app that asylum seekers are being told to use before they try to enter the United States at the border; and Saurav Sarkar previews
([link removed]) the upcoming testimony by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in front of the U.S. Senate regarding his union-busting activities. Sarkar writes, “Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, had been pressuring Schultz for weeks to testify at the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee that he chairs . . . . When Schultz refused to appear, Sanders threatened to issue a subpoena.”
Finally, we are saddened to note the passing ([link removed]) of civil rights activist Kevin Alexander Gray, who died at his home ([link removed]) in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday March 7. Gray was a longtime supporter ([link removed]) and adviser to The Progressive and had been South Carolina state coordinator of Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign.
In 2014, Gray had these words ([link removed]) to say at our annual Fighting Bob Fest: “We’ve got to talk about changing the violent nature of our national politics and our local politics. We’ve got to start putting people in power who aren’t about killing people. It’s about equal rights, equal protection, and equal treatment for everybody.”
In a 2020 interview in The Progressive magazine, he said ([link removed]) , “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and in this fight it’s been ongoing. The main thing I keep falling back on is that you have to keep organizing. . . . Organizing never stops. You meet people at their needs, not at their fears. You don’t take anybody for granted.”
There will be a celebration of life ([link removed]) for Kevin Alexander Gray at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in his hometown on Wednesday, March 15, followed the next day by an online discussion titled “Reaching Higher Ground: Lessons From the Political Writings of Kevin Alexander Gray” on March 16 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Ruth Conniff and I will be speaking at the event on behalf of The Progressive. Several other national activists will be a part of the program, which will also honor the birth of Freedom’s Journal, the nation's first ([link removed]) African American-owned and operated newspaper, founded on March 16, 1827. Anyone interested in attending the program can register via this Zoom link ([link removed]) .
Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S. - The new 2023 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available. You can order one online ([link removed]) .
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