By Sahana Shastry
For the ninth straight year, women gathered at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn to advocate for reproductive freedom, housing, immigrant justice and feminist rights under a new slogan. “When Immigrant Women Stop, the World Stops with Us.”
Several organizations attended to show their support. The event featured political speeches, art and music.
Brenda Llamas, a volunteer with the Manhattan-based National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, came to rally for reproductive rights. As an organization, she said, “We started the efforts for reproductive freedom and legalized abortion over 30 years ago, and we’ve been working with cities around the United States, and now we have a national base.
“We want to support the community,” she continued. “In particular today, what we are doing is offering information about Opill, which is an over-the-counter contraceptive for women who don’t have access. This is an option for them.”
Several volunteer tables offered activities such as button- and collage-making and painting to engage the audience and build connections with people of different backgrounds. One volunteer, Mariam Rahyab, an artist and social worker, led the “Wellness Watercolor” table, using art to connect with attendees.
“I think creativity and play is the antithesis to trauma,” Rahyab said. “There are so many therapeutic elements to art, which we learn in art therapy. But just in general, having a space where you can communicate and express yourself during a time when you’re being stressed is so powerful.”
An audience member, Maria Lopez, attended the rally to show her support for the New York State leadership group that co-sponsored the event. “They are more focused on undocumented youth,” Lopez said. “Just knowing that most of the organizations are women-led and a lot of the work is done by women getting together, the world really wouldn’t run without all our work and efforts.”
A call to action
Kelly Gonzalez, a member of the Undocumented Women’s Fund in Manhattan, shared her story at the rally and raised awareness about the closing of migrant shelters under New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. Hall Street in Brooklyn, one of the city’s largest facilities currently housing roughly 3,500 migrants, is slated to close in June.
“Mayor Eric Adams follows the footsteps of the new administration [of President Trump] — turning their back on us and putting us on the corner, denying our right to shelter, housing and education, Gonzalez said. “We’re still waiting for economic support for our families. We ask that the immigrant community stop being looked at as a criminal community.”
In July 2023, Mayor Adams implemented the “60-day rule,” which limits the duration a migrant family can stay in a city-run homeless shelter. After 60 days, families must reapply for shelter placement. Initially applied to adult migrants without children, the rule extended to families with children soon after. Gonzalez highlighted the disruptions to stability and her safety concerns.
“When Mayor Adams notified us of the 60-day rule, he made us believe that he was in favor of immigrant families,” Gonzalez said. “But he never gave guarantees that the shelters would be safeguarded. Disregarding families who have children between six and 14 years old — they are more vulnerable— they have to move every 60 days.”
As more shelters close, anxiety grows within migrant families, Gonzalez said, noting the impact on children “I have a 7-year-old daughter who suffers from anxiety and nervousness,” she said. “This is due to all the things that we had to go through while we were crossing the border. When she hears the word ‘immigration,’ she suffers an anxiety attack and panic.”
At the end of Gonzalez’s speech, she sought to empower the audience with her words, adding to the energy on International Women’s Day, March 8. “Women, remember that the measure of our strength is not measured by supporting and holding the entire world on our shoulders,” she said, “but through strength, heart and determination. We’re stronger than we believe, and we can attain goals that are even unimagined. So, we encourage you to fight together.”
The power of a slogan
This year’s slogan is significant in light of recent anxieties over the new presidency and potential changes in immigration and women’s rights. “I think it’s very emblematic of the fight that we need to pursue right now with everything that’s happening with Trump and ICE and also Mayor Adams,” said Hannah Plumb, an audience member. “The fact is the city wouldn’t run without hard working women of color.”
