Toronto, ON—March 1, 2011—In celebration of the 100th year anniversary of International Women’s Day, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) in collaboration with UKPC@UofT (Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino Sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario at the University of Toronto) will proudly hold “Reclaim the Revolutionary Road towards Women’s Liberation,” a public lecture featuring a fundraising dinner and solidarity performances. It will take place at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Room 5202 on Saturday, March 5th from 6pm to 9pm. As part of UKPC@UofT’s lecture series, the event will challenge all to reclaim the working-class women’s struggle as an integral component of the struggle of the entire working-class.

A lecture presented by Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), will emphasize the need to continue building upon the revolutionary ideas and actions of working-class women that were crucial in propelling the women’s liberation movement in the Global North. Besides celebrating the progress set forth by the resistance of revolutionary women for the last century, the event also poses a challenge to all women, feminists and women’s groups to embark upon the revolutionary road towards the genuine emancipation and liberation of all women, especially working-class women and women of colour in Canada.

“As women of colour play a key role as members of the Canadian women’s movement, we have to address women’s oppression comprehensively. Real gains for all women must be based on a dynamic understanding race, class and gender,” says Diocson. The systemic relegation and subjugation of women of colour from the South, particularly Filipino women, to become domestic workers through the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) is a clear indication of the ongoing oppression, marginalization and exclusion that women of colour face. “We cannot be liberated while the LCP continues to exist, and while the absence of a national childcare program for all women continues to persist,” she continues.

“During this 100th year anniversary of IWD, we believe that all roads that lead towards women’s liberation must serve all women regardless of race or class, and must address the oppression and exploitation of working-class and women of colour in Canada,” says Kim Abis, a UKPC@UofT member and undergraduate student. While regressive economic policies such as the LCP continue to pit women against each other on the grounds of race or class, its detrimental impacts continue to be shouldered by racialized women, who often carry their community’s economic burden.

“It is time to reclaim the revolutionary road towards genuine women’s liberation and place the struggles of proletarian women at the forefront of the struggles towards women’s and class liberation. This is the only way to truly bring back the militancy and activism back to the women’s movement,” says Aila Comilang, a UKPC@York and PWC member. “The revolutionary road towards women’s liberation will not leave any aspect of reality untouched and is not limited to women alone. Within our context as Filipino Canadian women, it is a road that will simultaneously lead towards our liberation and towards the just and genuine settlement and integration of the entire Filipino Canadian community,” ends Comilang.

“Reclaim the Revolutionary Road towards Women’s Liberation” will challenge all women to embrace the struggles of working class women and to forge solidarity along anti-racist and anti-imperialist lines that are fundamental towards building a strong women’s liberation movement in Canada.

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For more information, contact:
Kenneth Santos
416-519-2553
pwc-on@magkaisacentre.org
www.magkaisacentre.org