Revolutionary women: Melba Hernández Rodríguez del Rey

Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado and
Melba Hernández in prision

Melba Hernández (28 July 1921 – 9 March 2014) 
Special to Rebel Youth

Born in Cruces, Las Villas, Melba Hernández was the only child of conservative parents with mulatto ancestry (mixed Afro-Cuban and White heritage). She grew up in a modern third-floor apartment on Jovellar Street in Vedado district of Havana, not far from where Jose Marti Plaza is today.

Graduating from the University of Havana School of Law in 1943, Hernández worked as a Customs attorney for the Carlos Prio government and was a practising lawyer.

Like many in her generation, as a young woman she grew increasingly fed up with government corruption under dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had seized power in a 1952 coup. Together with Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado, she became one of two women involved in the famous 1953 Moncada Barracks assault. Hernández also helped obtain 100 uniforms for the attackers from a sympathetic army sergeant, sewing on military insignia and pressing the clothes in a nearby farm, hours before the attack before picking up a gun herself. She later wrote that she didn't expect to live to survive the attack, but was convinced it was necessary.

Dwayne's home fire raises huge questions

By Corinne Benson,
Peoples Voice newspaper

On February 12, there was a fire at Dwayne's Home, a hotel in Edmonton that has been converted into a transitional housing facility for 130 people, who are probably all on AISH, Alberta's "assured income for the severely handicapped" program.

These individuals are in the category of homeless and considered hard to house. I know one of them because the community of the disabled are highly ghettoized, and my daughter, also disabled, is friends with her. As I was listening to the radio, my sobbing was stilled when it was announced that all 130 had escaped the fire, and only one had been taken to the hospital.

Valentina Tereshkova

Born this day on March 6, 1937. Valentina Tereshkova, first woman astronaut and first woman in space; first and only woman to ever do a solo space mission. She entered space on June 16, 1963 in Vostok 6. While her individual views have changed on many questions, her social accomplishment is what history will remember her for. View some photos, click below.

Equality for Women is Progress for All

IWD 2014 greetings from the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League of Canada

For over a century, March 8 has been the international day to honour the women in all countries who strive to achieve full equality. On IWD 2014, the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League of Canada send our warmest greetings to all women in the fight against poverty, austerity, violence, misogyny and war. As the United Nations has declared for this year's IWD, "equality for women is progress for all."

Here, the ruling class claims that Canada is a country of equality, fairness and social justice. Yet recent years have seen huge struggles around issues such as access to education, pay equity, union rights, jobs, devastation of the environment, deportations of migrants. Women have played a leading role in the Quebec student strike, the Idle No More movement, grassroots environmental struggles, and defence of labour and social rights.

The reality of sexism -- a few examples

It is International Women's Day this week. All over the world. this event is marked by women in various ways as they celebrate victories and mark the struggles ahead. Progressive-minded women and men in the youth and student movement across Canada are also finding ways to raise the important issues marked on this day in our communities, work-places and campuses. But, we all know the story. Sooner or later some guy blurts out -- women are equal today and sexism is over. Well, here are just a few anecdotes that friends and readers of Rebel Youth have brought to our attention over the past days. 

Documentary: Status Quo, The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada

This is part of our IWD 2014 series.

Feminism has shaped the society we live in. But just how far has it brought us, and how relevant is it today?

The National Film Board presentation Status Quo? (Karen Cho, 2012, 87 min) zeroes in on key concerns such as violence against women, access to abortion, and universal childcare, asking how much progress we have truly made on these issues.

It uncovers answers that are provocative and at times shocking. Rich with archival material and startling contemporary stories, Status Quo? is crucial viewing for every Canadian. View the trailer below or visit the film's official site here.

Time for a national, public, accessible, quality, not for profit childcare system

Statement by the labour coalition Rethink Childcare.ca

Young families are squeezed on all sides. Today’s young mothers and fathers need to work harder and longer than did their parents, while erosion of Canada’s social safety net has left them struggling to survive.

Young families, including newcomers to Canada and Aboriginal families (who experience Canada’s most extreme inequality) need good family policy, but especially childcare. Child care enables parents to get the education/training they need to access good jobs and should allow mothers and fathers to work without enduring years-long child care wait lists or breaking the family budget.

Child care makes it more possible for low income or sole support parents (who are mostly women) to take advantage of opportunities for advancement. At the same time, all parents can better balance work and family if they can be confident that their children are safe, thriving and happy.