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MN Abortion Access Committee (MN AAC) and Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) gathered thousands of folks for an IWD March! It included insightful speakers, creative posters, a few frogs, some Handmaids of Minnesota and a huge sense of community. We were pleased to send a speaker from Women’s March MN to the event. You can see first segment of the event below.

It happened March 8 but I’ve been busy helping to plan the No Kings Twin Cities event but I had a minute to catch up. I was honored to be asked to speak at the rally. I thought I’d share my speech (as written, spoken was briefer since I didn’t know there was a time limit. (Big thanks to Langen for the photos!)

Hello! I’m Ann Treacy. I’m on the board of Women’s March MN and ERA Minnesota. I am proud to be here with all of you to celebrate International Women’s Day!

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Did you know the federal Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1923? That means our mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers and for some our great, great grandmothers have been working on this. And for so long (too long) we were at least moving forward.

Lately, we’re moving backwards. We are losing autonomy – reproductive, bodily, financial autonomy. First with loss of Roe v Wade. Now, the SAVE act threatens to take away our right to vote. Created ostensibly to make sure only US citizens can vote; it could also impact people who have changed their name. Statistically, that means married women who took their husbands’ last names. It also means our transgender friends. There are three groups in jeopardy with one issue – immigrants and naturalized citizens, women and transgender people. They will try to pit us against each other for the scraps of that bill. We can’t fall for that – we need to stand strong together.

We can do it because we stand on the shoulders of giants. And we live in a community of heroes. Heck, we are a community of heroes. How can we help with the key topics of today?

• Standing with immigrant women and girls. How can we help – well. Hands up if you are doing mutual aid, packing or delivering groceries, patrolling local school or churches, starting gofundmes for your neighbors’ rent, contributing to gofundmes, rapid response. Give yourself a cheer. That is how we help.
• Demanding money for working families, not ICE. Again, hands up if you have gone to a march or a rally or hold a poster weekly on a street corner in your community or dress up like a frog. Or have you contacted your US reps? That is how we help.
• I’m going to combine the next two. Smash gender-based violence and work for trans liberation now. Hands up if contacted your legislator or you volunteer or work at places that supports and protects victims and/or the trans community. Hands up if you go to the capitol to attend legislative committee meetings or sessions or submit testimony on pertinent bills. That is how we help.

Looking for ideas, I maintain the events calendar for Women’s March MN – we have dozens of events happening daily. I’d like to highlight two:

• March 12: ERA Day on the Hill  – starting at 10am in the Rotunda at the State Capitol. Please join us.
• March 28: No Kings 3 Outside of the State Capitol. We are the flagship event for the country. We’re pulling out all of the stops. Official time is noon to 3.

Please join us – stand on the shoulders, be the heroes for ourselves, our community and future of the democracy!