Lolita Lebron, Puerto Rican nationalist leader and revered icon of independence, died on August 1, 2010 at age 90. She suffered from a cardiopulmonary condition. Amidst a sea of Nationalist and Puerto Rican flags, hundreds of people showed up to pay their respects to...
Claims of ‘women’s power’ ring hollow under capitalism
The following is an adapted version of a speech given on March 5 at public forum held by the Los Angeles branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. In November 2009, the first lady of California and the Center for American Progress published “The Shriver...
The history of IWD: Women’s power is people’s power!
March 8 marks the 99th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The date honors the economic, political and social achievements of working-class women worldwide. The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in the United States on Feb. 28, 1909, following a...
Can sexism be eliminated under capitalism?
How can women be liberated from the many bonds of sexism in U.S. society? For well over a century, powerful women leaders and mass movements have struggled to accomplish that challenge. Yet the situation remains grim. Despite the fanfare of high-profile women...
Vilma Espin: A revolutionary life
June 20, 2007 Dear people of Cuba: It was with profound sorrow that we learned of the death of beloved comrade Vilma Espín, who was an exemplary revolutionary not only for Cuba but for the world. Her actions, from an early age, in the clandestine struggle against the...
Gabriela Silang: Anti-colonial fighter in the Philippines
María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang, born March 19, 1731, and known as Gabriela Silang, is remembered as a fearless warrior and a great leader of the people of the Philippines. She was a military general in the resistance to Spanish colonialism and led the longest...
Harriet Tubman: Liberator of the enslaved
"I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves." —Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was responsible for the emancipation of thousands of Africans enslaved by the racist capitalist slaveowners in the United States. Her...
Leila Khaled: Palestinian fighter, Marxist revolutionary
"I have a cause higher and nobler than my own, a cause to which all private interests and concerns must be subordinated." —Leila Khaled Palestinian women have been participating in all forms of resistance, including armed resistance, for as long as the Palestinian...
Mother Jones: Union organizer, revolutionary agitator
"The workers asked only for bread and a shortening of the long hours of toil. The agitators gave them visions. The police gave them clubs." —Mother Jones West Virginia district attorney Reese Blizzard dubbed Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, "the most dangerous woman in...