July 14th, 2011 WCW Update

Greetings from the Women's Economic Agenda Project!

I hope folks are getting excited about the work of the World Court of Women on Poverty in the US. Thank you to all those folks that joined us for the Teach-In and World Court update on July 14th. There were folks from across California who joined us; including representatives from CHAM Deliverance Ministry (San Jose), Hip-Hop Congress, Lifelong Medical Care (Oakland), Lifetime (Oakland), Safeground (Sacramento), Save the Babies, Inc. (Oakland), SHOC (Sacramento), and more individual participants.

In Eduardo Galenao's "The Upside-Down World", a piece found in a collection of essays from Asking, we walk, one of the texts created from previously held World Courts of Women, he speaks of the growing gap between those with wealth and those without: "In this era of privatization and free markets, money governs without intermediaries. A state that is judge and police and not much else keeps cheap labor in line and represses the dangerous legions of those without work" (2007, 6). Galeano, a reporter and people's historian, writes this piece to spotlight the plight of poor people all over the world and to look at the damaging effects of global capitalism on all people. Fighting to eliminate poverty int the US, must simultaneously incorporate the fight to end poverty worldwide and the US' deleterious impact on other nations and peoples. We join a strong momvement. We in America are no alone. We work in solidarity with other actors across the globe.

The World Court of Women on Poverty in the US stems from the tradition of 37 other courts, held internationally, starting in 1992. These have drawn on the structure and layout of the Nuremburg trials and various human rights commissions. There will be four courts in the US by region and one that will include the national collectivization of the Courts. People will have a chance to speak on their trespasses and the injustices they have suffered. One of the goals of these Courts is to highlight the commitment made by the US in signing onto the Universal Declaration of Human Right. The signed documentation that promises to uphold our human rights has seen little incorporation into how our nation functions. The abandonment of America's obligation to international human rights has become increasingle clear as the we watch the social safety net in the US systematically dismantled. Little is being done by federal or state governments to protect many of our rights. In 2004, during the World Court held at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, Corrine Kumar declared that we must go beyond the politics of violence and find a new imagination, to redefine a dream, not just as spectators, but as people who remember past atrocities so they are not repeated.

Historically, change comes through work done in three arenas: courts, public policy, and the streets through a mass and social processes. Our rights that protect us from unjust laws cannot simply be obtained through legislation; they need to be addressed in all three arenas. Political education impacts all of these efforts. We have to look at the notion that laws can hurt people, that they are sometimes unjust, and thus need to be changed. In our work, we need to elevate a broader vision; we have to work in a legislative arena, the public policy arena, and in the streets to educate and mobilize people. We need is a broad, transformative movement to achieve the change in the US and the world that we require.

The Planning Committee in organizing for the World Court of Women in the US draws on laws that have been created through ethical and moral practices. The tribunal does focus on the formal law, but instead focuses on re-imagining what is necessary to allow people to live healthy and sustainable lives. Through the Courts, we have to help craft our collective future and engage with leaders across the country who are fighting their battles to create a nation that address the needs of the people.

Two questions that arose from this meeting: Are we going to have a long term or short-term goal? And how will the verdict of the jurors be handled? The jurors as wise members from the community (tleaders and advocates on issues of poverty, labor, etc.) will listen intently to the words of people who have experienced a different array of effects of poverty on themselves, their family and their community. From this, they will share their reflections on people's words and give recommendations on future steps to be taken and realistic policy changes we can address structurally.

Another reflection shared at this meeting was that there needs to be a re-establishing of the law of the land; that human rights need to be infused into the current law and policy of the US, so that there is a change from focusing on money, privilege, and historic concentration of the world's wealth in fewer and fewer hands to re-directing that abundance and centering on our rights as one class of working people as most important to our nation and the world.

Our current list of organizational endorsers are 9 to 5, California, A Window Between Worlds (Venice, CA), CHAM Deliverance Ministry (San Jose, CA), Journey for Justice (Central Valley, CA), LIFETIME (Oakland, CA), St. Mary's Senior Center (Oakland, CA), Sisters of the Road (Portland, OR),  United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local #5 (CA), and the Women Studies Department at UC Riverside (CA), Assembly to Abolish Poverty (MI), Women In Transition, National Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PA), and Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (CA). Also, DVDs about the past Courts of Women will soon be sent out to those agreeing to serve on the planning committee. Endorsements are necessary in this action and movement to eliminate poverty in the US. An endorsement is a commitment to action, a bringing together and collectivization of us as humans, a necessary resource to make change and actively engage in building the World Court of Women on Poverty in the US. We need to build the Courts through demonstrations and events that encourage dialogue and leadership for those people experiencing the effects of poverty, and the many ways that is present in people's lives. We also need to organize and find resources (and with this sponsorships ) for the Courts: accommodations, spaces to meet, translation, funds for people to travel, food, care taking for children and disabled leaders etc. We need to be able to bring many people and voices together in order work together on the many diverse issues that consist within the area of poverty.

For folks who would like to endorse and participate in the World Court of Women process, we invite organizations, community groups, domestic violence groups, health clinics, shelters, schools, universities & the many departments in the Western states to contact us. Endorsement and sponsorships can be emailed (weap @weap.org or weiman.b@gmail.com), faxed (510-986-8628), or mailed (449 15th Street, 2nd Floor; Oakland, CA 94612) to us.

SAVE THESE DATES! The next World Court of Women planning meeting conference call be held on Thursday July 28th, 3:30 - 5:40pm PST; there will be a segment featuring "Workers Rights, Women's Rights" with a special presentation from Housekeepers from Unite Here Local#2 and will be open for conversation afterwards to continue with the ongoing planning for the World Courts of Women here in the west.  We ask all participants to email weap@weap.org to confirm your presence and allow us to provide url and phone instructions.

From that, the next Teach-in with a World Court update will be on Thursday, August 18th. As a reminder, there is planning going on with the Planning Committee members to have a roundtable in Merced during August, which will be hosted by Journey for Justice; folks from across Californian are invited to participate. There will be also be the Safeground Jubilee in September, location and activities TBA. WEAP is also in the planning a Sidewalk Teach-In which more information will be sent out when a date is confirmed. We encourage you to stay up to date on future events by visiting our home page and joining the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

If there are any questions, or organizing strategies or contact information people would like to share as part of the World Courts of Women on Poverty in the US, or are interested in finding out more about the history and process, please feel free to contact Beth Weiman. You can also check out the Women's Economic Agenda Project website for more information about the work we do as well as on the World Courts of Women that is to be be held in the Western region of the US. Thanks for all your support, and we looking forward to further conversations and continued collaborations!

Take care & keeping strong in this fight,

Ethel Long-Scott, Executive Director
Women's Economic Agenda Project
&
Beth Weiman, World Court of Women Community Liaison
Women's Economic Agenda Project