April 2001

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Weaving a Web of Solidarity--A Feminist Action Against Globalization

Starhawk, author and ecofeminist, is an environmental and peace activist and trainer.

On the weekend of April 20-22, leaders of 34 countries will come to Quebec to tie a new strand in the web of corporate globalization: the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), the regional accord that will expand NAFTA throughout the hemisphere. In response, thousands of us will come to Quebec City to resist them. From Canada to Argentina, women and men will take action to express our opposition to the extension of the corporate web.

Women bear the brunt of the violence of globalization. Yet despite all the oppression, repression, and exploitation, women continue to rise up. This is a call to join together in a Women's Action. We are taking action because we will no longer tolerate the web of corporate control that binds us down and constricts our lives. We will not allow this system to continue. We have taken its measure: its time is done. Instead, we will spin a new web of connection, of solidarity out of our rage, out of our love.

We will weave together our hopes and dreams, our aspirations, our indictments, our testimony, our witnessing, our demands, our visions. We will write on ribbons, on strips of cloth, on rags. We will draw, paint, knot cords, braid yarn, whisper into pieces of string. And from these materials we will weave our web.

If they ignore our voices and continue their deliberations, the cries of women will haunt them and undo all their plans. Though they erect a fence to stop us, we will twine our web through its mesh to be the visible symbol of the power of women, of the revolution we weave. When they try to wall us out of their meetings, they will only wall themselves in. We claim all of the world beyond their wall.

Chateau Frontenac, Old City, Quebec, off-limits to public during the Summit of the Americas. Photo: Arnie Alpert and Judy Elliott

We ask our brothers to support us, to honor our women's space so that we who have so often been invisible can stand forth and be seen. We ask you to support us by looking honestly at the ways that, even within our own movements, women are ignored, suppressed, or discounted. And when you support us in this action, where we stand together as women, it will spark actions where we fight side by side. For we know that you too, are weavers of this web.

We ask the ancestors to stand with us. For the web of life links the living and the dead. We ask the generations of the future to stand with us, for we fight for the world you will inherit. We ask the spirits of the earth to support us and be our ground, for we fight for the continuance of life. We are invincible, for life itself weaves with us.

An Invitation to the Women of the World to Form Affinity Groups

An affinity group is a group of 10-20 people with whom you have a common bond (family, friends, common issue, work colleagues, etc.), that meets regularly to discuss common issues and to act. Choose one or two members to represent your group at the Council of representatives. The Council will "meet" in virtual space until the week before the Summit of the Americas, at which point meetings will take place in Quebec. The Council meetings will be the forum to decide on strategy for the action. Keep your eye on the CMAQ (Quebec Center for Independent Media) website (www.cmaq.net) for a Women's Web of Solidarity action link.

Initiate (or continue), in your affinity group, a dialogue on the impacts of globalization on women in your home area. Our voices together will allow us to add to the feminist analysis of globalization, and to strengthen our cause. Weave your part of the web of solidarity. Take what comes out of your dialogue on women and globalization, and, as a group, weave a section of the web of solidarity to represent your consensus. Use your imagination; use yarn, materials, photos, newspaper clippings. The sky is the limit.

Add your section to the Web of Solidarity in Quebec City in April 2001

Here are some suggestions on the many ways to join your section of the web to the larger web of solidarity:

• Come as an affinity group to Quebec City to participate in the collective weaving of the web of solidarity. A fence is being erected around the buildings where the Summit is being held in order to keep protesters out, and residents inside the perimeter are required to have identity cards in order to gain access to their own homes during the Summit. This fence symbolizes, for us, the anti-democratic process of the FTAA. We want to reclaim that fence, that space. Those wanting to weave (literally or symbolically and non-violently) their parts of the web into the fence are invited to do so on the 19th of April (the day preceding the opening of the meeting). Affinity groups not wanting to approach the fence are invited to plan other kinds of actions using the web parts (blocking an intersection to catch Summit negotiators in the web, or decorating a park with parts of the web, etc.). Creativity and imagination are key!
• Send your section of the web to the address below and the women present in Quebec will ensure that your section is woven into the larger web.
• Send a photograph of your section of the web to the address below, and the women present in Quebec will enlarge it and add it to the larger web.
• Get together with other affinity groups in your area and weave your sections together closer to your home.
  

Quebec contact information: Toile femme Quebec 2001, C.P. 70021, Quebec, Quebec, Canada G1R 6B1 <toile_femme@ moncourrier.com> www.alternatives-action.org/salami

New England Anti-Globalization Events;

This is just a small sampling of the astonishing array of events and resources available; to find out more, contact any of the groups listed.

New Hampshire FTAA Coalition Meeting, 4/10, 6 pm; Concord Unitarian Universalist Church, 274 Pleasant St, Concord NH; a meeting of NH activists to plan public education and activities for the Quebec City Trade Summit; contact Judy Lavoie at 603/229-1967; jhlavoie@aol.com

Democracy for Sale, 4/10, 7 pm; Portsmouth Unitarian-Universalist Church, 292 State St, Portsmouth NH; with Ronnie Dugger (Alliance for Democracy); sponsored by Seacoast Concerned Citizens, 333 Bartlett St, Portsmouth NH 03801; 603/436-7861

Free Trade Reality Tour, 4/12-16; speakers from the Maquila Organizing Project, Committee of Border Women Workers, & Fuerza Unida, & an economist from El Salvador will be touring New England; 4/13, noon, Latin America Center in Manchester NH; 4/16, 3 pm, UNH Durham, Rm MUB-330; 4/14 & 4/16 in Western Mass (further details TBA); for a complete schedule, contact AFSC-New Hampshire, POB 1081, Concord NH 03302; 603/224-2407

Anti-FTAA Standouts, 4/16-19, 3-6 pm; Greenfield, Northampton, Springfield, & other towns in Western Mass; information tables, letter-writing campaigns, & more; contact AFSC, 140 Pine St #10, Florence MA 01060; 413/584-8975

Rally & Sendoff for Demonstrators Traveling to Quebec, 4/20; Springfield MA; for details contact AFSC, 140 Pine St #10, Florence MA 01060; 413/584-8975

Hemispheric Day of Action on FTAA, 4/21, 11 am; Concord NH; Quebec solidarity rally and local, globalization walking tour; not going to Quebec City? Join us as we have fun protesting the FTAA! For more information contact the American Friends Service Committee, POB 1081, Concord NH 03302; 603/224-2407

Child Labor Discussion, 4/29; Tuck Library, Concord NH; with Dr. David Parker, author of Stolen Dreams, a book documenting present day child labor; also Parkerís photographs and other exhibits about child labor are available at The Hamel Center, 6 Eagle Square, Concord NH; for more information on the Child Labor discussion and the art exhibit, contact the NH Historical Society, The Tuck Library, 30 Park St, Concord NH; 603/226-3189

RESOURCES

Anti-FTAA & Quebec Solidarity Events in Maine & Vermont; Maine Global Action Network, RR 1 Box 1013, Stockton Springs ME 04981, 207/567-4075; Vermont Mobilization for Global Justice, POB 604, Burlington VT 05402, 802/863-0571, www.vermontactionnetwork.org

United for a Fair Economy can send you a list of action packets, workshop materials, fact sheets, handouts, and articles available from a variety of sources, with full contact information to help you access them; UFE, 37 Temple Place, Boston MA 02111; 617/423-2148

www.soaw-ne.org/FTAAGuide.html offers a good overview of FTAA-related topics

www.stopftaa.org has excellent field links to local action

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