Today the annual ceremony commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire takes place outside the Washington Square building that now houses NYU offices and labs. There, 99 years ago, 146 women died, inside succumbing to smoke and flames and outside after jumping from the ninth floor to escape. Check out my comments from last year about the ceremony, the history and the books. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle fire. I hope women workers seize control of this history and make big plans to mark the day the way it should be marked, with an orientation toward the class struggle, not as a salute to the (extremely racist and misogynist) New York Fire Department.
This Saturday, March 27, in NYC, we'll be doing something like that, albeit on a smaller scale, marching and rallying to demand an end to violence against women, imperialist war which always hits women hardest, and for jobs and housing. We gather at 12 noon at Union Square in Manhattan.
There's nothing small scale about the participation of women in the great revolutionary struggle now under way in Nepal. They are playing a leading role.
These photos, courtesy of Jed Brandt, are from earlier this month, the International Women's Day march and rally in Kathmandu, Nepal.
What a wonderful day that looks to have been.
