For Immediate Release
July 9, 2015
Contact: Hazel Koons, AF3IRM South Bay, [email protected]

Wilmington, CA–As the movement for women’s liberation grows, the transnational feminist organization AF3IRM continues to expand by hosting  its Summer School of Women’s Activism (SSoWA) for the first time in the South Bay of Los Angeles. The South Bay SSoWA builds upon AF3IRM’s previous Summer Schools of Women’s Activism held in New York (currently in its fifth year) and San Francisco Bay Area and the Summer School of Youth Activism in Iowa. The South Bay is especially unique in that the area is known for its refineries, as well as the adverse effects of their pollution on its communities, and it has become that much more urgent for families and women of color to not only address local issues and environmental justice, but to connect these with feminist activism and the fight against patriarchy.

Beginning this Saturday, July 11th,  AF3IRM South Bay will learn and build with the community to understand politics and transnational feminism, as well as connect these to participants’ own interwoven race, class, and gender experiences.  This safe space is especially created for the women-identified. The first session will be followed by three other sessions, all to be held on consecutive Saturdays from 9am to 12noon, with a light breakfast provided.  The cost is $25 for all four sessions.

On the first Saturday, the class will discuss Transnational Feminism and the Fourth Wave of Feminism and it will be facilitated by Desiree Magsombol and Princess Manuel.  Our students will gain an understanding of different feminisms and their relationship to the current wave of feminism. Attendees will also learn about transnational feminism and how it manifests both locally and globally.

The second Saturday, facilitated by Fe Panaligan Koons and Hazel Koons, will focus on Militarism and Police Brutality.  We will be discussing what modern-day militarism looks like specifically in the South Bay and for communities of color and will connect militarism to war, prostitution, police, and state-sanctioned violence.

The third session is titled Imperialism and Capitalism and Their Effects on Immigrant and Migrant Rights.  Led by Jennifer Garcia and Primrose Villena, this session will identify how imperialism is active in our communities and how the commodification of women and children of color affects to our im/migrant families.

The closing Saturday session will be on setting these theories and perspectives into practice and will be facilitated by Hasley Pineda and Angel Bartolome. It will focus on the connection between studying transnational feminism theory and living it in one’s life.

In addition, each session will begin with a Self-Care portion because AF3IRM South Bay recognizes the power of taking care of ourselves – mind, body, and soul.  As women, self-care keeps us strong through our second, third, and even fourth shifts in life.

The members of AF3IRM South Bay are excited and empowered by the growth and strength of our communities. We encourage women to participate in this year’s Summer School of Women’s Activism, to get organized, and to join us throughout the year as we work to  dismantle these systems that oppress us. We continue to persevere and do this difficult work, as South Bay co-coordinator Princess Manuel stated, “to emancipate all of humankind.  The struggle is worth the solution!”

==

To register for the Summer School of Women’s Activism in the South Bay, visit http://bit.ly/ssowa-sb. The Summer School of Women’s Activism will take place over four sessions: July 11th, 18th, 25th, and August 1st. Scholarships and financial aid are available. For more information, contact [email protected].

##