:: Spring/Summer 2007::Solidarity WorkBuilding Bridges to Justicetext Teena Apeles photo Solidarity Work
In May 2006, 45 women, most of whom had never met before, gathered in Lake Arrowhead, California, for an organizing retreat. They came from all over the United States as well as South Africa, India, Canada, New Zealand, Palestine, Israel, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. They were organizers, scholars, lawyers, educators, artists, and activists. Over two days, under the aegis of the University of California–Riverside’s Center for Ideas and Society, they met to build an international community of women working against imperialism and militarization. What emerged was Solidarity Work, a network dedicated to internationalist and anti-racist women’s human rights. “Solidarity Work re-engages a very, very old understanding of political alliance building—from internationalist and leftist Third World organizing … to think about what solidarity really might mean,” says retreat co-organizer Piya Chatterjee, an associate professor of women’s studies at UC Riverside and member of a North Bengal–based organization of tea-plantation women. Planners sought a balance of participants between North and South, with an emphasis on grassroots organizers. Among the attendees were Black Laundry’s Dalit Baum; Shreen Abdul Sharoor, who works with women affected by war in Sri Lanka; and filmmaker Aishah Shahidah Simmons, whose 2006 documentary NO! looks at rape and sexual violence in African American communities. Others represented organizations such as the South Asian Solidarity Group and the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It was an inspiring event, but it is just the beginning of a long journey. “The retreat was just that … a retreat,” notes Chatterjee. “It did not have any grand plans and grand visions except to create a space where women could have rest—really. And if something emerged organically, we would be delighted.” The future of Solidarity Work is “wide open,” she adds. But the seeds have been planted, and the organizers and participants hope others will join them, noting that “we need … more spaces where international, Global South, and U.S. women of color [can] meet, greet, commune, eat, sing, and laugh together.” Participants plan to use the Solidarity Work Web site as an organizing tool and a place to exchange information and discussion. To learn more about Solidarity Work, visit www.womensstudies.ucr.edu/solidaritywork/. © 2007 make/shift |