Milwaukee’s International Women’s Day Coalition honored women this weekend with its first rally. In 53 degree weather, organizers offered gloves, coffee and an array of signs with messages like “Defend Trans Kids’ and “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.” For folks like Nadezhda Young, the global holiday means recognizing women.
“Well, I am a trans woman, so it’s a very important holiday,” said Young. “For me, it’s remembering all of the struggles that women have participated in to improve living conditions for humans all over the world.”
Young also empathized the need for national liberation for Black, Brown and Indigenous folks, something that the rally promoted with their chosen speakers. Adelana Akindes, with Students for a Democratic Society, expressed that a coalition is needed in Milwaukee because struggles for women’s liberation still exist today.
“From attacks on reproductive rights to the killing of Black women by police, to the severe pay gap between men and women, there is a need for women’s leadership and organizing,” said Akindes.
Among the crowd was Yasmine Mohamed Ahmed who said that International Women’s Day is a reminder of self-pride.
“It means celebrating every woman all around the globe,” said Ahmed. “Because we are everywhere. We are the creators.”
While any day makes for an excellent opportunity to celebrate the woman in your life, International Women’s Day gives you one more reason to do precisely that.
