Opening Rally

Hello and welcome everyone – we wish you an empowering 8th of March!

You have just heard the feminist choir Chorage with the song “Der Tag wird kommen” (“The Day Will Come”). The song comes from the film “Anna und Edith” from 1975, which at the time was one of the few films telling a happy lesbian love story.

Before we begin, we will first read out the demonstration guidelines. There is an Awareness Team – you can recognize them by the yellow wests.

We are here today because we have had enough!

For more than 100 years, March 8 has symbolized the feminist struggle. It was originally introduced to fight for women’s suffrage, for social equality, and for the emancipation of working women. From the very beginning, March 8 has been a day of resistance against exploitation, inequality, and patriarchal power structures.

And even though we have been fighting for equality for more than 100 years, it has still not been achieved everywhere! People are still discriminated, exploited, and subjected to violence because of their gender, their heritage, or their health.

With the rise of right-wing forces worldwide, we are actually seeing setbacks rather than progress. Femicides are increasing, attacks on trans* people have risen significantly just in the past year, and queer people are increasingly becoming victims of physical violence.

At the same time, “protecting women” and queer people are often played off against each other, and trans* people are instrumentalized as an enemy image. Everywhere there are attempts to isolate us and divide us.

At the same time, we see that racism in Germany is increasing drastically. Refugees in particular receive a lot of hatred, while the conditions for being in Germany are getting worse and worse. For example, one month ago the Federal Ministry of the Interior cut funding for integration courses. This makes it harder for 130,000 people to learn German – what complete nonsense!

But we will not let ourselves be divided! We are here today to stand up for a good life for everyone!

That is why our motto is: WE FIGHT – WE STRIKE – WE LIVE!

Today we want to bring our anger, our pain, and our strength into the streets. We want to start conversations, show solidarity, connect with each other, and stand together.

This morning two brunches and several workshops already took place – spaces were claimed throughout the city! During the rally and throughout the demonstration we will hear short reports from these spaces about what was discussed this morning.

Next we will hear “Wisely and Slow” by the Staves – a song that describes the moment when the strength for resistance and anger has not yet arrived.

Choir

Behind us you can see one of the brunches that took place this morning, organized by Omas Gegen Rechts and Sisterhood Jena.

What happened here this morning? Why are you here today? [Interview]

During the brunch, a workshop for children took place where the book “The Day the Women Went on Strike” was read aloud.

Short interview – workshop description:

We want to read the children’s book “The Day the Women Went on Strike” by Linda Ólafsdóttir with you and talk about your experiences and discuss your questions.

The book is about the women’s strike in Iceland in 1975, about inequalities between genders then and now, and about why it is important to take to the streets for equality. It also explains what a strike actually is. Have you ever been on strike?

That was in 1975. Fifty years later the CDU complains about our work ethic – even though we are already working our asses off!

At their last party convention, the CDU decided the following:

The CDU says: Part-time work is a problem – we need more full-time work! As if care work, health, or children were simply a “lifestyle choice.”

The CDU thinks: If you’re sick, you should go to a doctor – abolish sick leave by phone! As if people were sick just for fun. Distrust instead of health.

The CDU wants exceptions to the minimum wage for seasonal agricultural workers. In other words: some work should simply be worth even less.

The CDU wants to make naturalization more difficult and constantly talks about too much migration. Instead of talking about exploitation in the labor market, they kick downward.

And their basic idea is always the same: if something isn’t working, workers should simply work more, be sick less, and have fewer rights.

We will not accept that!

Tomorrow there will also be strikes and demonstrations across the country in various cities: in Thüringen, for example, in Erfurt and in Gera. The Omas gegen Rechts from Gera are also here today to support us. They are currently organizing demonstrations against the far right every Monday – amazing! So of course we call on everyone here to go to Gera tomorrow!

Our motto today is: We fight, we strike, we live.

Short interview – workshop description:

What would a city look like where care work is at the center – fairly distributed, well paid, and not organized around profit? The feminist strike stands for this vision of a caring society. Around the world, people are fighting against the overload of paid and unpaid care work, especially women, queer people, and migrants.

But what does it actually mean to strike in a feminist way? Why is care work so difficult to strike – and what forms of solidarity-based care strikes are possible?

In an open workshop space we want to discuss together, share experiences, and learn from feminist strike movements.

Looking ahead to Jena, we ask what must concretely change, what we need for a good life, and what we want to take to the streets for together on March 8, 2027.

In our society, care work is largely carried out by women and queer people. Today we also have childcare provided by the solidarity structure.

Short interview: What exactly is the solidarity structure, and why are you here today?

Next we will hear a song of resistance that names those responsible for femicides:
“Canción sin Miedo” by Vivir Quintana.

And the last song we will hear is by the Roving Bottles and describes the long and difficult road out of patriarchy. All songs were arranged by our choir director Johanna Bergk.

So far we have heard a lot about women, but there are of course other oppressed genders as well. This morning there was also an “ANTI” exchange space: a space for trans, inter, non-binary, and agender people.

Short interview – workshop description:

What experiences do we have as trans, inter, non-binary, agender, and genderqueer people in Jena and in Thüringen? What are our everyday struggles? Where do we experience solidarity and support? What do we wish for from (queer) feminist spaces? What gives us strength?

This workshop creates space for exchange and for sharing personal experiences. We want to talk about how we can support each other and strengthen networks of solidarity.

We also want to discuss which demands and messages we as TINA people want to bring into March 8 and into feminist spaces.