On Sunday, Mar. 8, hundreds of families, women, and children gathered at Lake Merritt in Oakland to participate in the 12th annual International Working Women’s Day march and rally. A sea of red poppy flowers, Palestinian and Mexican flags, along with vibrant protest signs filled the streets for the celebration. This year’s event focused on migrant women locally and globally, and was put together by various community organizations, including Mujeres Unidas y Activas, GABRIELA Oakland, and Palestinian Feminist Collective.
Approximately 400 people convened at The Pergola in Lake Merritt at 11 a.m., many of them holding out signs that read phrases like, “I.C.E. Out,” “Chinga La Migra,” and “Defend and Protect Each Other.” The event kicked off with speakers from different community organizations highlighting the importance of immigrant working women. Instead of calling it International Women’s Day, the march and rally is named after the day’s original name, which originated with the labor movement in 1909.
“It’s important [to be here today] because we must recognize the strength and value of women,” said Carmen Ceja in Spanish, one of the members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas. “We were often repressed, as if we had no right to speak. So now we must assert our rights as strong, powerful women—Latinas, Indigenous women—and make our voices heard.”
One of the MC’s was Laura Aguilar, a Maya Mam Mujeres Unidas y Activas staff member who helped organize the event. Aguilar, 30, has been involved with Mujeres since 2022 when she moved to Oakland from Guatemala.
“I come from an indigenous community—Maya Mam—I do this for [my] community because sometimes there are challenges with the language,” she said in Spanish. “The organization provides information in [Mam] so that [people] also know their rights, so that they know they are not alone here in this country, that there are organizations that support them.” She added that she is committed to supporting the entire immigrant community.
After a series of energizing speeches, those in the crowd were invited to destroy a makeshift gray cardboard military tank, which spilled out colorful paper flowers, origami cranes, and vegetable and wildflower seeds in packets that read, “resistance will bloom.” The small demonstration was followed by a march to the Lake Merritt Amphitheater, as marchers chanted, “El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido” (The people united, will never be defeated).
Once the march ended, attendees watched performances and painted a community mural. El Tímpano captured the event in photos and spoke with participants about what motivated them to show up.
My six daughters motivate me to keep going. They are my support in continuing the fight for the rights of Latina immigrant women. And I want them to remember me as a fighter for immigrant rights, a fighter for human rights, for civil rights.
Guillermina Castellanos, 65, San Francisco resident
Each year I come to the International Working Women’s Day march because as a domestic worker I like to be active, and also because this is a way of continuing to support my rights as a woman, as an immigrant, as a domestic worker, and as a childcare provider.
Jenny Barragan, San Francisco resident
We didn’t have an event like this where I live, but this is a place where people speak to me because there’s so much revolutionary spirit here. I am a member of the Tuolumne Band of Miwok, I am from one of the original tribes here in California…so for me, looking at how women continue to be exploited, extractive and disposable, we need to stand strong for each other.
Kim Decampo, 56, Vallejo resident
I’m really thankful to be a part of the march because, even though I’m Q’anjob’al and those people do come from Guatemala, there’s no denying that our struggles are very interconnected, especially as people who live here in the belly of the beast. It’s our responsibility in the diaspora to really advocate for our rights.
Sharon Marcos, 28, Oakland resident
