AF3IRM NYC Summer School Combines Theory and Practice

NEW YORK:     The pervasive phenomenon of the “vanishment” of women and their achievement from history will frame the first session of AF3IRM NYC’s 2015 Summer School of Women’s Activism.  The discussion will be led by Ninotchka Rosca and Justine Calma, with input from a guest presenter.   The SSOWA begins on July 11, Saturday,  through three more Saturday sessions.   It is designed to enable participants to view women’s history and women’s struggle holistically.    Those interested can register at www.ssowa2015.eventbrite.com.

There is a registration fee of $40 for professional women;  $35 for students and low-income;  $80 for each institutional representative.  The fee includes a light lunch and reading materials.  Donations to cover the registration fee for the low-income and young women and women-identified are welcome.  Women-identified, persons of color are strongly encouraged to attend.

From priestesses to women scientists, the eradication of women’s contributions to human social, political, scientific and economic history has been thoroughly removed from general public awareness.  “Understanding why it was necessary for current social formations to eradicate the idea of women’s capability and abilities should enable women to rectify the situation,” said Chapter Coordinator Olivia Canlas.

The NYC chapter with Sister Circle Collective was pivotal in visibly raising the issue of women killed by the police during the Millions March last December.  “We carried the names and faces of cis, trans women and gender nonconforming that were killed,” she noted.  “Most of the placards were focused on black men killed by the police. That was just.  What was not just was the neglect of women who had suffered the same fate.”  Since then, the issue has gained traction as more and more organizations became conscious of the need to emphasize that women, especially black women, were suffering from the same oppression.

“There are historical reasons why women, particularly women of color and women of the underclass, seem to vanish when national issues are discussed – as though women’s issues are limited to the private and personal.  This must be corrected.  No change can be considered radical enough, if it leaves out more than half of the constituency it’s supposed to benefit,” said Ninotchka Rosca, who coordinates the 2015 Summer School.

“This is a matter of urgency,” she added.   “We must know and understand thoroughly the core ideas of the women’s struggle for liberation.  It is the only way we can fully comprehend women’s vision of a just and peaceful society, and truly do away with the hierarchy of privilege.”   — #