Hours after hundreds of Madison residents rallied at the Capitol to observe International Women’s Day, a group of UW-Madison students and community members gathered in the Humanities Building for a “discussion on a socialist strategy to defeat [President Donald] Trump's sexism.”
The event, titled “International Women’s Day Against Trump” and sponsored by Madison Socialist Alternative and Socialist Students Madison, featured speakers from the Madison community and across the Midwest. About 140 people attended the talk, according to organizers, many of them clad in homemade “pussyhats” to advocate for women’s equality.
Despite the presence of a heckler, who yelled over one of the speakers near the end of the event and made controversial assertions during a question-and-answer session, event organizers considered the discussion a success.
Anaelia Salazar, an 18-year-old student at Waukesha West High School, spoke first. She was brought to the U.S. when she was two years old, and she said she worries about her father being deported from the country.
“I didn’t ask for this life, but here I am,” Salazar said. “My family has been talking about moving back to Mexico … They want to move back because they’re scared. They don’t know what to do.”
Heather Huber, a member of Madison chapter of the National Organization for Women, called for members of the Madison community to “defend reproductive rights through visible and direct action.” She invited attendees to travel to Milwaukee to stage a counter-protest against anti-abortion activists.
After Salazar and Huber spoke, the event pivoted toward a more overtly socialist focus. Two speakers from the Socialist Alternative argued that “Trump is the embodiment of our predatory capitalist system,” and “racism and capitalism go hand in hand.”
Although the event attracted some mainstream attention, it was largely billed as a radical discussion. The event’s Facebook page lamented that as it is celebrated today, “International Womens (sic) day has been cleansed of its radical tradition, like many holidays which have been made safe for the establishment.”
Hannah Burge, a Socialist Alternative member who traveled from Minneapolis, said it was “inspiring to see International Women’s Day return to its militant, working-class roots.”
Darletta Scruggs, a member of the Socialist Alternative in Chicago and a Black Lives Matter activist, said the women’s movement begins with “peeling back every lie that has been told to us by the capitalist class.”
Scruggs championed women’s participation in labor movements and stressed the importance of intersectionality in the feminist movement and the need to “include all women."
Near the end of the event, a heckler made himself known, repeatedly yelling at Scruggs during her speech. While Scruggs was talking about rights for transgender women, the heckler yelled “it’s about biology,” and when she spoke about rights for people of color, he screamed “it’s not a racist society.”
During the question and answer session, the man, who identified himself to The Daily Cardinal as “Lucas B.,” took the mic and asserted that “women are not oppressed in America,” as a man wearing an “I love capitalism” button cheered him on from the crowd.
Despite the detractors, Scruggs emphasized the importance of having conversations with people who do not share progressive or leftist viewpoints.
Scruggs said, “[The heckler] has legitimate grievances, but it is important that you realize it is capitalism that is oppressing you, not women.”
UPDATE March 13, 6:37 p.m.: This article was updated to include the estimated number of people at the event, according to organizers.
