By Maria Jimenez, Co-Director of Personal and Community Empowerment and founding member of MUA
I want to share with you a little bit of the story of the connection that Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) was fortunate to live and learn alongside Reverend Jesse Jackson.
In 1996, when MUA was still part of the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights, an organization in which MUA was born in the early 90s as a great blessing to our community, we began to define our path as an organization more clearly.
With the support of the Coalition's then-director, Rene Saucedo, we began to reflect on the next steps for MUA. We had already worked extensively on strengthening our self-esteem and leadership as immigrant women, and we knew it was time to build alliances and form coalitions with other organizations and communities.
In that context, we planned a large march to show solidarity with other workers who were also facing labor abuse and dangerous working conditions. Farmworkers in Watsonville needed support to launch a major strike and a boycott of strawberry purchases. It was then that Reverend Jesse Jackson joined us at the Women's Building. He gave us a warm welcome and reminded us of the importance of solidarity among all workers and communities in struggle.
That day we traveled by truck to Watsonville and participated in a march in solidarity with farmworkers and in support of the United Farm Workers union. Many of the things that happened afterward grew from the seeds the reverend helped to sow that day.
From that moment on we strengthened our alliances with organizations such as the Filipino Workers Center and Asian Immigrant Women Advocates, working together to demand our rights no matter where we come from or what sector we work in.
Our movement continued to grow and strengthen. Years later, we formed new coalitions such as the State Coalition of Domestic Workers and the National Alliance of Domestic Workers.
I want to close with a deep gratitude to Reverend Jesse Jackson for his teachings, his leadership, and his constant support of our communities.
The workers live, they live.
The fight continues, it continues.