Clio Jensen
Clio Jensen is an Environmental Educator at Nature Vision. In a relationship with Zane Smith.
Education
- Studied at Bryn Mawr College
- Went to Shorecrest High School
Seattle rallies to celebrate International Women’s Day
On Wednesday, March 8 2023, 40 people rallied in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle to celebrate International Women’s Day and to defend women’s and reproductive rights. The event was called by Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Seattle.
Opening and emceeing the event, FRSO organizer Clio Jensen spoke about the history of International Women’s Day.
“We will build a labor movement strong enough to smash this system and break the chains of oppression, including women’s oppression,” said FRSO member and Teamster Rose Guigler. She ended her speech by calling on listeners to stand in solidarity with Teamsters at UPS as they enter their fight for a new contract with the company this summer.
Lucia Yvette Moline-Gonzolez, a postal worker and labor leader at USPS, said, “I’m glad to celebrate working women’s day because I believe that women should lead the labor movement. It is so nice to see other women fighting for change at their workplaces.”
Organizers with Seattle Greenwave and the University of Washington Progressive Student Union gave moving speeches condemning the attack on abortion rights in the U.S. It has been almost a year since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, criminalizing abortion in many parts of the country. Sophia van Beek, an organizer with the Progressive Students Union, also spoke about the group’s campaign to force the 3W medical center on UW Seattle’s campus to be transparent about the fact that it does not provide abortion services.
To finish off the night, several organizers with the International Women’s Alliance and Gabriela Seattle spoke out against U.S. imperialism, militarism and exploitation. Speakers had just returned from the IWA and Gabriela national conference in Washington DC, where they marched to the White House and led the call to place women over profit.
“Women must be part of the overall struggle for their liberation, confronting directly our oppressors and working together with all concerned people to create meaningful change. The International Women’s Alliance calls on all our members to unite for national and social liberation of all women, and recognizes the revolutionary role that the working class plays in those struggles,” said Selena Goodwin, an organizer with the International Women’s Alliance.[1]
Justice for Tyre Nichols
According to Dylan Pruitt, protesters and community members rallied at Dexter Avenue N and Thomas Street in the late afternoon of January 29, 2023 to call for justice for Tyre Nichols, Jaahnavi Kandula and all victims of police violence.
Eighty people gathered at the rally organized by the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and held at the intersection where Jaahnavi Kandula was killed by a speeding police vehicle.
“We hate that we have to be out here again and again, but we still don’t have justice for those killed by police terror,” said Clio Jensen, an organizer with SAARPR.
“The end goal is abolition. We just need a tool to get us there,” says Mantak Singh from the University of Washington Progressive Student Union. “Community control of the police, through a civilian police accountability council, is the best way to achieve that.”
“Enough is enough, we need to take back control for the people,” said Mantak Singh.[2]
Abortion protest
According to Mantak Singh, sixty people gathered on the University of Washington campus, October 16, to rally for reproductive rights. Called by University of Washington Progressive Student Union (PSU), this protest was in response to the national call to action by New Students for a Democratic Society.
“While it’s important to get educated on these issues, it is also important to take action!” declared Anjali Sinha of Progressive Student Union. Local labor organizers, activists and students at the University of Washington echoed this call and gave ways to get involved.
“Police budgets increasing while our rights are rolled back is a disturbing trend, even here in Washington where reproductive rights seem safer,” said Vicki Amole of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
“Reproductive rights are worker’s rights. Unions build power so that workers can have autonomy over their lives - from improving wages and closing the gender wage gap to having access to healthcare,” Unite Here Local 8 organizer Sydney Lankford asserted.
Toward the end, Clio Jensen of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization explained, “Queer liberation, trans liberation and women’s liberation necessitate an end to capitalism - only a revolution that puts working people in power can do that.”[3]
FRSO ML School
Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! ML School public FB group, April 2 2021 members included Clio Jensen.