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An activist places a candle in a offering to murdered Honduran indigenous environmentalist Berta Caceres during a demonstration outside the Honduran embassy in Mexico City on June 15, 2016. (Photo: PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)
Sowing a Feminist Future
"This is the struggle of a whole people who know they are thirsty for justice and have the wisdom to forge their liberation."
Mar 07, 2021
In many parts of our world, early March is synonymous with bright beginnings. Hints of green find their way through monochrome winter landscapes like tiny figurines stretching their limbs as if waking up from a long nap. At first they appear exposed against the elements: awkward, fragile, and out of place. But before long, the green blankets the stark earth that lies beneath.
March is also a time in which we focus on women as the beating heart of social change. Today, International Women's Day, offers a moment for reflection and coordinated action. This year marks a milestone in the retreat and rebirth of solidarity movements towards women's liberation.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism.
Just last week Grassroots International joined Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, World March of Women, and Indigenous Environmental Network in launching the Berta Caceres International Feminist Organizing School.
The school is a space for organizers and social movements to build global feminist solidarity and strengthen convergences led by women and gender non-conforming people. Several of our partners and allies from geographies as diverse as Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nigeria, Palestine, and Puerto Rico were key in putting the process together and will be participating in the school as attendees and trainers of trainers.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism. In other words, there is no room here for bourgeois "feminists" or other apologists for empire.
The school borrows its name from the beloved Berta Caceres, an Indigenous Lenca woman who dedicated her life to the defense of territory and promotion of feminisms in her native Honduras. Berta's commitment to her community and the river that is its life source flowed across the world. She was so effective that exactly five years ago this past week, she was murdered in an attempt to silence the resistance.
But Berta never organized as an individual; in fact, the movement that she founded, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), has managed to protect Lenca territory by pressuring corporations and governments to withdraw from extractive projects. COPINH, represented during the launch of the school by Berta's adult daughter Bertita, continues to be an indispensable social movement leader in feminist organizing.
Speaking to the group that was meant to have gathered in Kenya but met online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bertita shared memories of her mother and of the legacy she left for future generations; it was no coincidence that the school launched on March 4, Berta's birthday. She said, "With her memory in my heart, we start a great day that will be a global outcry for justice."
"Berta didn't die, she multiplied!" answered many of the women in the virtual space, in several different languages. Just this past week on the anniversary of Berta's murder, two Garifuna land defenders were detained by the Honduran police on trumped-up charges related to land conflicts.
They are part of a movement that is continuing to build on Berta's legacy.
It is said that in death we plant our loved ones as seeds. In Spanish, this is called siembra, which roughly translates to "sowing" in English. This life cycle also applies to our movements, because we always stand on the shoulders of our ancestors--especially the women who gave us life.
In this spirit, as we gaze toward the horizon with the winds of our ancestors behind us, we march towards women's rights grounded in multiple feminisms. Or in Bertita's words: "This is the struggle of a whole people who know they are thirsty for justice and have the wisdom to forge their liberation."
For this is the promise of spring.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Salena Tramel
Salena Tramel is the senior global learning coordinator at Grassroots International and a researcher of political ecology at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.
In many parts of our world, early March is synonymous with bright beginnings. Hints of green find their way through monochrome winter landscapes like tiny figurines stretching their limbs as if waking up from a long nap. At first they appear exposed against the elements: awkward, fragile, and out of place. But before long, the green blankets the stark earth that lies beneath.
March is also a time in which we focus on women as the beating heart of social change. Today, International Women's Day, offers a moment for reflection and coordinated action. This year marks a milestone in the retreat and rebirth of solidarity movements towards women's liberation.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism.
Just last week Grassroots International joined Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, World March of Women, and Indigenous Environmental Network in launching the Berta Caceres International Feminist Organizing School.
The school is a space for organizers and social movements to build global feminist solidarity and strengthen convergences led by women and gender non-conforming people. Several of our partners and allies from geographies as diverse as Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nigeria, Palestine, and Puerto Rico were key in putting the process together and will be participating in the school as attendees and trainers of trainers.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism. In other words, there is no room here for bourgeois "feminists" or other apologists for empire.
The school borrows its name from the beloved Berta Caceres, an Indigenous Lenca woman who dedicated her life to the defense of territory and promotion of feminisms in her native Honduras. Berta's commitment to her community and the river that is its life source flowed across the world. She was so effective that exactly five years ago this past week, she was murdered in an attempt to silence the resistance.
But Berta never organized as an individual; in fact, the movement that she founded, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), has managed to protect Lenca territory by pressuring corporations and governments to withdraw from extractive projects. COPINH, represented during the launch of the school by Berta's adult daughter Bertita, continues to be an indispensable social movement leader in feminist organizing.
Speaking to the group that was meant to have gathered in Kenya but met online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bertita shared memories of her mother and of the legacy she left for future generations; it was no coincidence that the school launched on March 4, Berta's birthday. She said, "With her memory in my heart, we start a great day that will be a global outcry for justice."
"Berta didn't die, she multiplied!" answered many of the women in the virtual space, in several different languages. Just this past week on the anniversary of Berta's murder, two Garifuna land defenders were detained by the Honduran police on trumped-up charges related to land conflicts.
They are part of a movement that is continuing to build on Berta's legacy.
It is said that in death we plant our loved ones as seeds. In Spanish, this is called siembra, which roughly translates to "sowing" in English. This life cycle also applies to our movements, because we always stand on the shoulders of our ancestors--especially the women who gave us life.
In this spirit, as we gaze toward the horizon with the winds of our ancestors behind us, we march towards women's rights grounded in multiple feminisms. Or in Bertita's words: "This is the struggle of a whole people who know they are thirsty for justice and have the wisdom to forge their liberation."
For this is the promise of spring.
Salena Tramel
Salena Tramel is the senior global learning coordinator at Grassroots International and a researcher of political ecology at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.
In many parts of our world, early March is synonymous with bright beginnings. Hints of green find their way through monochrome winter landscapes like tiny figurines stretching their limbs as if waking up from a long nap. At first they appear exposed against the elements: awkward, fragile, and out of place. But before long, the green blankets the stark earth that lies beneath.
March is also a time in which we focus on women as the beating heart of social change. Today, International Women's Day, offers a moment for reflection and coordinated action. This year marks a milestone in the retreat and rebirth of solidarity movements towards women's liberation.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism.
Just last week Grassroots International joined Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, World March of Women, and Indigenous Environmental Network in launching the Berta Caceres International Feminist Organizing School.
The school is a space for organizers and social movements to build global feminist solidarity and strengthen convergences led by women and gender non-conforming people. Several of our partners and allies from geographies as diverse as Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nigeria, Palestine, and Puerto Rico were key in putting the process together and will be participating in the school as attendees and trainers of trainers.
Deeply committed to intersectionality--as both an analytical tool and as a political framework for system change--this space is curated by Black, Indigenous, and peasant women who are most oppressed by the interlocked levers of oppression of racialized capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism. In other words, there is no room here for bourgeois "feminists" or other apologists for empire.
The school borrows its name from the beloved Berta Caceres, an Indigenous Lenca woman who dedicated her life to the defense of territory and promotion of feminisms in her native Honduras. Berta's commitment to her community and the river that is its life source flowed across the world. She was so effective that exactly five years ago this past week, she was murdered in an attempt to silence the resistance.
But Berta never organized as an individual; in fact, the movement that she founded, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), has managed to protect Lenca territory by pressuring corporations and governments to withdraw from extractive projects. COPINH, represented during the launch of the school by Berta's adult daughter Bertita, continues to be an indispensable social movement leader in feminist organizing.
Speaking to the group that was meant to have gathered in Kenya but met online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bertita shared memories of her mother and of the legacy she left for future generations; it was no coincidence that the school launched on March 4, Berta's birthday. She said, "With her memory in my heart, we start a great day that will be a global outcry for justice."
"Berta didn't die, she multiplied!" answered many of the women in the virtual space, in several different languages. Just this past week on the anniversary of Berta's murder, two Garifuna land defenders were detained by the Honduran police on trumped-up charges related to land conflicts.
They are part of a movement that is continuing to build on Berta's legacy.
It is said that in death we plant our loved ones as seeds. In Spanish, this is called siembra, which roughly translates to "sowing" in English. This life cycle also applies to our movements, because we always stand on the shoulders of our ancestors--especially the women who gave us life.
In this spirit, as we gaze toward the horizon with the winds of our ancestors behind us, we march towards women's rights grounded in multiple feminisms. Or in Bertita's words: "This is the struggle of a whole people who know they are thirsty for justice and have the wisdom to forge their liberation."
For this is the promise of spring.
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