SUMMER SCHOOL OF WOMEN’S ACTIVISM DAY 3:​ Militarism and the Assault on Land and Women

New York — From Puerto Rico to Hawaii, women are placing their bodies in the line of fire to resist colonization and protect the sacredness of the land. More than 120 years after the United States stole these lands, state-sanctioned violence continues. In San Juan 100,000 people rise up against an imperial puppet governor and his corruption, homophobia, and misogyny. In Mauna Kea, AF3IRM sisters have chained themselves to the land to stop the construction of a telescope that is in truth conquest masquerading as scientific exploration. Meanwhile, militarization against protesters seeks to choke our sisters with tear gas and cuff our elders’ hands.

“The settler state is misogynist,” said AF3IRM Hawaii in a statement this week. “Only patriarchy could rationalize the use of hundreds of men armed in riot gear to protect and perpetuate the conquest of feminized land.”

Militarism is as American as apple pie. It has always been a central tool for U.S. imperialism. And in times of war and expansion, both the land and women’s bodies are taken and occupied. The third session of AF3IRM NYC’s Summer School of Women’s Feminism will focus on militarism and militarization. How does militarism show up locally, globally, in policy, and in our everyday lives? How are land and women impacted by state-sanctioned violence?

The session will be facilitated by Princess Manuel, Organizing Director of AF3IRM National, and Genevieve Rana, a core member of AF3IRM NYC. They will be joined by guest speaker Yordanos Goitom, who witnessed the impact that civil war in Eritrea had on her family. Jaslin Kaur, a Policy & Advocacy Organizer with Know Your IX, will lead a training on bodily autonomy and self-defense.

AF3IRM NYC’s Summer School of Women’s Activism (SSoWA) is a space for participants to learn, discuss, and grow together, personally and collectively, politically and intellectually. The theme of this year’s summer school is “Decolonize Feminism! Land & Women Not for Conquest,” in resistance to corporate-designed “feminism” that homogenizes the collective and generational trauma of transnational women of color, tethers our ‘liberation’ to capitalist notions of productivity, and divorces us from our pre-colonial relationship to the land. Our school runs for four hours over four Saturdays: July 20, 27 and August 3, 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Reserve your spot today on Eventbritebit.ly/2HNnfcn

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