What is ELLA?
"ELLA (which means "she" in Spanish) began in 2014 as a meeting of women from 8 countries in Bello Horizonte, Brazil. By 2018, ELLA had connected more than 23 countries in Ibero-America in a great feminist movement, through projects and permanent campaigns developed in a collaborative and collective way" - @planetaella (Instagram)
In September 2020 Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice was invited to join in ELLA to broaden this important Trans Inclusive feminist movement to the United States, Canada & Puerto Rico.
Pre-ELLA North America
On September 26,
2020 the Fire This
Time Movement
for Social Justice
co-organized
the Pre-ELLA
North America
virtual meeting.
This meeting
brought together
women from many
different walk of
life to discuss the
realities facing
women today and
building a more
united and stronger feminist movement across borders! The
meeting was co-chaired by Alison Bodine, from the Fire This
Time Editorial Board and Edda Lopez of the Puerto Rican
Independence Party.
“The coronavirus pandemic has just intensified
the pre-existing crisis in the patriarchal/
capitalist system, and women face the
brunt of impact of the crisis. The capitalist
mismanagement of covid-19 has deepened
the conditions of exploitation and injustice
which have developed in society, exposing great
inequalities…A look at this situation which is
present in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico
serves to undo many myths about capitalist
countries, about the realities of the most
oppressed people, women, migrants, Black,
Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ people, and youth
amongst others.” - Excerpt by Alison Bodine, Fire
This Time Movement for Social Justice,at the opening of
the Pre-ELLA North America
A Global Feminist Emergency
Starting on November 7, 2020 women from across the
Americas organized a range of actions fighting for the
eradication of gender violence. Fire This Time Movement
for Social Justice joined in the ELLA Feminist Emergency
webinar. Together with other women, Tamara Hansen from
the Fire This Time Editorial Board spoke about violence
against women and the impact of sexism, racism, transphobia
and homophobia against women in Canada. Tamara
presented statistics exposing the government of Canada's
failure to protect and advance women's rights - with a special
focus on the racism and violence facing Indigenous women
including how:
• With Covid-19 the situation has become more dangerous.
Canada is not collecting data about race and gender in many
health authorities. While reports from the U.S. show that
Black and Indigenous folks are contracting Covid-19 at
higher rates and dying at higher rates. This data is not even
being collected in many parts of Canada.
• During Covid-19 women and trans folks across Canada are
suffering more violence in the home.
• Within Indigenous communities women are calling for a
stronger plan to confront violence against women, especially
in light of the findings of the National Inquiry into Murdered
and Missing Indigenous Women.
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