Gabriela celebrates ’ten years of serving the people’

The New York Chapter of Gabriela (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action) — formerly known as Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment — held its 10th anniversary celebration on April 29 in Manhattan with talks, videos, spoken word, music and dance. The room was decorated with beautiful banners and placards highlighting Gabriela campaigns since 2007.

This mass women’s group, founded in the Philippines in 1984, has chapters all over the world, including in U.S. cities from New York to Los Angeles. Its name is in honor of Gabriela Silang, a revolutionary Filipina leader who fought against Spain’s brutal colonial rule in the Philippines in the mid-1700s.

A keynote address was given by Monica Moorehead, a co-coordinator of the International Working Women’s Day Coalition in New York City, which was honored with a Modern Day Gabriela Award, along with our groups.

Moorehead stated, “Wherever ­Gabriela has a presence, they never hesitate to express solidarity with the struggles on a local and national level, be it Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, Fight for $15 and, of course, the plight of migrants. Gabriela has a clear understanding of the global role of the class struggle inside the belly of the beast, especially the struggle against white supremacy and its connection to worldwide struggles, including in the Philippines, where the struggle for worker and peasant liberation from U.S. imperialism is at such a high level.”