THIS TOO SHALL NOT PASS!

CALL FOR AN ANTI-FASCIST BLOC AT THE MARCH FOR CHOICE 4/25 IN DC

Anti-Racist Action is calling for a visible antifascist bloc on April 25th in Washington DC as part of the March For Women's Lives. The climate of fear engendered in this country by the Bush administration's military agression and assult on civil liberties has created an opportunity for the forces of the right wing to consolidate their power and work together to push through an agenda which is oppressive in many ways, one of the most visible today being the assault on sexual and reproductive freedom. This calls for nothing less than total resistance, and it is critical for anti-authoritarians to make our presence felt as part of this opposition.

As anti-authoritarians and anti-fascists, we work to build strong communities of families and inclusive support networks. We come from a position where we find our attempts at strengthening our communities under attack by state regulations in many different ways. We need to stand up for what we need: full reproductive freedom, access to birth control, acceptance of adoption as a choice, support structures for having and raising children, access to affordable prenatal and birth options, and free abortion on demand. Ultimately we want to care for ourselves and we believe in taking practical steps toward that - NOW.

Our call for an antifascist bloc allows us to raise awareness of the ties between fascism and the restriction of sexual freedom. Historical fascism was much more effective in its patriarchal redefining of gender relations in the "homeland" than in its more widely publicized racist outrages, and right-wing religious and nationalist movements today, from the Taliban to the Christian Right, similarly build their power first and foremost on state power over women as a class, and state regulation and social conditioning of sexual and family relationships. Bringing up this often-overlooked connection keeps the struggles of women and sexual minorities from being marginalized.

This march, organized by mainstream and liberal feminist groups, will be the largest gathering in recent years of a broad spectrum of forces opposed to the current right-wing clampdown on sexual and reproductive freedom, and in the context of a presidential election season and ongoing legal and political battles in the fields of gay marriage and abortion rights, it will be highly significancant in its own right. While we recognize this march as an important step towards fighting for the freedom of choice, we also identify the need for a greater focus in local work. There are many steps we can take to increase our presence and impact right where we live. We need to be shutting down fake clinics,providing abortion clinic defense, creating alternative and independent groups focusing on reproductive health, supporting sexual freedom, reaching out to youth with empowering messages about sexuality and choices, reinventing the family structure and organizing opposition to anti-freedom groups/events.

The March For Womens Lives begins at 12 noon at the Mall. The antifascist bloc will meet with the Radical Cheerleaders' Bloc Potluck at 10:00 am at Stanton Park (C St. between 4th and 6th, NE). We are calling for a bloc with banners having creative antifascist, women's liberation, and "freedom without compromise" statements. We encourage everyone to bring information on the organizing work being done in your own communities to hand out at the march and rally.

See you in the streets!

Baltimore and New Jersey Anti-Racist Action
mobtownara (at) hotmail.com
newjerseyara (at) ziplip.com
www.antiracistaction.us