BY ELLEN BERMAN AND LYN DUFF
SAN FRANCISCO - "Young people have to stand up and show that we're not going to take this any more," a 15-year-old student from Redwood High School said at a recent demonstration against ultrarightist politician Patrick Buchanan in San Jose, California, referring to the demands of the upcoming "March to Fight the Right."
"We're tired of being harassed on the street by cops. San Jose has a youth curfew and uses it as an excuse to mess with anyone who's poor or a person of color. I have a friend who went to get an abortion and was terrorized by the Right-to- Lifers, who tried to physically prevent her from going in."
San Jose has been the target of numerous attempts to shut down abortion clinics. Abortion rights activists there have maintained a constant defense of the clinics. They are planning to send several buses to San Francisco for the April 14 demonstration, called by the National Organization for Women (NOW).
The Bay Area Young Feminist Coalition is calling on all young feminists from across the country - female and male - to march as a united "Young Feminist Delegation" in the April 14 action.
High school youth are also being urged to attend a "Young Feminist Sleepover" on Saturday, April 13. Billed as a night of "pizza, politics, and pajamas," this event is an effort to make it easier for young people to have an inexpensive place to stay the night before the march, as well as a chance to meet each other and talk politics in a series of workshops on a variety of topics.
Several high school students from the Gay-Straight Alliance in Salt Lake City, who recently made national news in their struggle to defend their democratic right to have a school club, are arranging to come and participate in the demonstration.
Organizers of the Bay Area Young Feminist Coalition sent the following message to a March 29 Militant Labor Forum here on the fight in Salt Lake City: "The Bay Area Young Feminist Coalition is very impressed by the student organizing in Utah. We are thrilled that some students will be attending the Fight the Right March in San Francisco in April. We hope students from Utah and any other interested young people will join us for an overnight gathering of young activists the evening before the march. We think it will be a great event and we are excited about meeting the dynamic leaders."
Building the March to Fight the Right was a central focus of an all-day educational conference on March 10 titled "Affirming Equality: Women and Affirmative Action." About 200 people attended the event, where NOW president Patricia Ireland was the keynote speaker.
Because of the severe attacks against affirmative action in California, and a November ballot referendum that would end all public sector affirmative action programs in this state - the so-called California Civil Rights Initiative - activists for affirmative action are among the over 600 endorsers of this demonstration.
Joining the growing list of sponsors are labor organizations like the United Farm Workers, National Education Association, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Coalition of Labor Union Women, the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, as well as several state AFL-CIO councils and locals of the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Members of United Auto Workers Local 2244, which organizes workers at the New United Motor Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, California, voted to distribute flyers about the demonstration at their plant.
On Friday and Saturday nights, young people meet at the NOW march office to pick up leaflets to distribute at the various bars around the city. On Saturdays, activists set up tables in different neighborhoods to leaflet and solicit volunteers for the day of the action. Leafleting is organized at mass transit stations every morning and evening during rush hour. March supporters are also targeting political events for distribution of flyers.
People from as far away as New Hampshire who are planning to attend are calling in for more information. The 600 free alternative housing spaces offered by volunteers have all been filled. NOW organizers who have been touring college campuses in California, Washington, and Oregon report they are getting a good response from students.