Members of the Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF community rallied at Hendricks Chapel on Thursday, temporarily shutting down the women’s and gender studies department as faculty and students participated in the International Women’s Strike US.

The WGS department closed its offices from 12 to 2 p.m. Thursday in solidarity with other strikers to protest “the misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, heterosexist, ableist and elitist US regime.”

About 35 people arrived at the base of the steps in front of Hendricks Chapel at noon. Unlike past rallies in front of the chapel, nobody carried signs.

I’m at the #InternationalWomensDay rally for @dailyorange. Follow along. pic.twitter.com/R5jKFjGZXS

— Kennedy Rose (@KennedyWrites) March 8, 2018

The strikers laid out six demands, said Megan Ferreira, a SUNY-ESF alumna:

• An end of gendered violence for both cisgender and transgender women
• Reproductive rights and the ability for people to decide whether they want children
• Safe conditions and livable wages for women
• Full social provisioning — health care, education, unemployment and disability benefits — for all people
• An anti-racist and anti-imperialist feminism movement that rejects mass incarceration, military occupation and persecution of immigrants
• Environmental justice for all people, including rights for indigenous peoples and guaranteed access to safe, clean water and other resources

Ferreira called people from the crowd to take the megaphone and speak.

Dana Cloud, an SU professor of communication and rhetorical studies and a member of the International Socialist Organization, took the megaphone first. She read the statement from the WGS department.

“Another world is possible, and another world is necessary and I believe women can lead the way,” Cloud said.

Farhana Sultana, a professor in the geography department, brought her class on gender and globalization to the rally, in support.

“When you take care of women and girls, you take care of the whole world,” Sultana said.

Rowan McGrath, a SUNY-ESF student, spoke about other marginalized communities. McGrath said he has worked at six different restaurants, in the past, often alongside undocumented immigrants.

He said the people he worked with were not entitled to days off and often had to work through illness and injury seven days a week. They would arrive at the restaurant before he did, and would still be there when he left, McGrath said.

McGrath also said sex workers should have access to regular STI exams, health care and unions. He said sex workers are comparable to manual laborers because they selling their bodies to earn capital to support themselves and their families.

Katherine Sotelo, a former Daily Orange digital design editor and a member of Xicanxs Empowering Xicanxs, said she wanted to start a “revolution of love,” and that she did not want to believe women should have to undergo pain and hardship to be wise and gain reverence. She said she hopes people question and stand against bigotry and oppression.

“We are unstoppable! Another world is possible!” the crowd chanted as the rally ended.

Published on March 9, 2018 at 12:08 am

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001