WILPF San Jose News: Women’s March and White Privilege Workshop
Published on March, 09 2019
By Paula Rochelle
San Jose Branch
On January 19, 2019, WILPF San Jose participated in the 2019 Women’s March in San Jose with a booth at Call to Action Alley.
WILPF information for both the San Jose Branch and the Palo Alto Branch was at the booth. San Jose highlighted WILPF anti-nuclear work and coming events. We had Peace & Freedom magazines available and the Raging Grannies recruited singers with their banner.
The San Jose Gaggle of Raging Grannies, a part of the San Jose WILPF branch, serenaded the marchers from a nearby street corner.
Roberta Ahlquist from Peninsula/Palo Alto WILPF reported, “The January 19th 2019 Women’s March in San Jose was a big success. First, the weather was great; the sun shone brightly and the temperature rose as the day went on. The marchers carried a variety of messages and were in high spirits. The Arena Green (where the Action Alley took place at the end of the 0.9 mile march) flowed with diverse people of all ages and sizes. Music welcomed the marchers to the site. The speakers were upbeat and articulate about what we need to do to keep this movement alive. WILPF was one of the many tents/tables there with abundant relevant information about current issues that we can continue to become engaged in as we move forward in 2019.”
Cherrill Spencer and Judy Adams of the Peninsula/Palo Alto Branch helped organize some materials for the table, but it was Roberta who stood at the table and engaged with passers-by because Cherrill was ill at home suffering from what turned out to be a ruptured appendix (removed 2 days later). Here is the front and back of a flyer on the UN sustainable development goals that was available at the WILPF table.
The January meeting of WILPF was the Friday night before the Women’s March and highlighted the creation of the statue at San Jose State University honoring the athletes who, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, raised a fist to protest the treatment of blacks.
At the February WILPF meeting, we hosted Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) San Jose chapter, who led us in a White Privilege workshop. The workshop is based on the 1989 article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, which first appeared in Peace & Freedom magazine.
Programs on water (March) and climate change and food (April) are coming up.
For more information, contact Paula Rochelle; prochelle1@aol.com
