Solidarity Statement for 2008 March 8 International Women’s Day March,

Brussels, Belgium from Mary Lou Greenberg, Revolutionary Communist Party USA

In 2006 I was honored to be part of your proud and determined march in Germany and The Hague.  Today in Brussels, your continuing bold defiance of the woman-hating regime in Iran and other Islamic fundamentalists, and your defiance of US efforts to use women’s oppression to justify its war for empire in the Middle East and its threats to attack Iran, need to be heard around the world.

Anyone looking for a way out of today’s horrors and destruction can take inspiration from the women here who refuse to bow down or be intimidated by either the whips and stonings of the Islamic theocrats or the guns and bombs of U.S. imperialism. By spitting in the face of both oppressive alternatives, you are showing that it is possible for women – and men – to rely on themselves and forge another way.

Today the world’s peoples are being told they must side with one oppressor over another – what Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party USA, has called “historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these ‘outmodeds,’ you end up strengthening both.”

The refusal of the women on this march to side with either of these reactionary poles can help others to stand firm against both. We in the U.S. are proud to stand with you in this struggle.

For people in the U.S., it is especially important to have clarity and build resistance to  the far greater oppressor – U.S. imperialism – and its crimes, including the possibility of war on Iran. As an internationalist, revolutionary party working in the U.S., we take seriously our special responsibility to stand firm against these crimes and lead others to do so.

The horrific oppression of women throughout this planet is woven deeply into the fabric of class society today, reinforcing and being reinforced by other forms of oppression. But things don’t have to be this way – and the only reason they are this way is because of the economic and social relations constantly generated by class society, by a whole system that can only operate by exploiting and oppressing the vast majority of humanity.

Humanity needs revolution and communism.  Whether in imperialist countries or in countries dominated by imperialism, this is the only way to thoroughly shatter the patriarchal chains that enslave and suppress women and all chains that condemn the great majority of humanity to suffering and degradation. Just think of what unchained  humanity could accomplish - the new songs that could be sung, the new wonders that could be discovered and imagined and achieved. The lives that could be saved and the spirits that could soar. And think of the women – half of humanity - who would be unleashed to contribute to all of this.

I am very happy to send this message of solidarity with your march and the larger struggle that it is part of. Together and in internationalist unity, we will break the chains and unleash the fury of women as a mighty force for revolution.