Flip The Whole Government

If there is one thing that the Trump era has accomplished, it is the large number of sexual assault survivors coming forward and voicing their silenced truths.

The latest was Christine Blasey Ford who stepped forward in October to accuse now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in high school during his confirmation hearings. The revelations gave organizations an opportunity to protest what was happening in Washington D.C.

During the confirmarion battle, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) teamed up with Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD) and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) to orchestrate a protest in Downtown San Diego.

Crowds chanted about bodily autonomy, consent, judicial injustices and pro-choice abortion rights.

PSL organizer Anzy McWha has been a part of the organization for about a year. McWha urged supporters to “flip the whole government upside down” because of how the government has been portraying women and sexual assault. The crowd boo’d her when she said both parties are corrupt, and need to be shut down.

McWha encouraged other attendees to stand up against the assault.

Jordan Mills, an ANSWER organizer and Southwestern College professor, spoke and marched along with many survivors and supporters in the streets.

“It feels really good to stand up and defend women’s rights and protest his horrible confirmation to the Supreme Court,” Mills said.

Male allies were present and vocal. PSL member Jose Cortez said he wants to stand for women’s rights and end the patriarchy.

“Even though I am less directly affected cause of the power dynamic, it’s important for us to be here and standing out here with our femme comrades and the women in the struggle out here,” Cortez said.

Cortez said the Senate’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh goes against Americans’ best interests.

“[The Kavanaugh confirmation] sends a very clear message to our daughters and our sons, that this era of patriarchal violence, specifically against women and femme people, is now open season.” Cortez said.

Judy Kravitz is a survivor of date rape, but in the 70s there was no name for it. Kravitz did not come forward at the time because she could not tell her parents she was dating, let alone dating a man who was not Jewish.

“I’m a survivor and I have to stand up,” Kravitz said. “I want to be among the group of people who would be supportive of me. Revealing my truth, and that’s why I came down.”

Kravitz also said men have to step up and do their part to prevent sexual violence.

“Men have to stand up when they see abusive things happening,” Kravitz said. “They can’t just stand there or go away, they have to stand up and say ‘stop, that’s wrong’ and when that happens, it’ll stop.”

Survivor Natelina Blake wanted to walk in this protest to represent her friends and sisters who are also survivors.

“It’s a perfect representation of how our system handles sexual assault,” Blake said.

Ally Sarah Farber attended the protest with her 21-year-old son.

“I was walking the streets doing what’s he doing right now when I was his age,” Farber said. “I’m almost 50 now and I’ve seen a lot of change, not enough, not nearly enough.”

Farber’s son was even questioning why the issue seems to be split on party lines.

PSL announced that the protest will be unifying with a strike regarding better pay for hotel employees.

UNITE HERE orchestrated a strike at the Westin Hotel to coincide with the protest. This strike was nationwide for all Marriott Corporations.

“We’re demanding that Marriott pay the best wages and benefits in San Diego,” said UNITE HERE President Bridgette Browning. “We think they have plenty of money to do that, and right now this hotel when compared to the other union hotels is very low paid.”

Mills made it to the strike at the Westin Hotel and was amazed by the unity of PSL, ANSWER, WORD and Unite Here fighting for women’s rights and labor rights simultaneously.

“We believe that most people in the world work for a living, and we believe most people in the world are women and all of them are being exploited by the same groups of people,” Mills said.