Julia Swezy

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Julia Swezy

International Women’s Day

On Wednesday, March 8 2023 , Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Denver hosted a rally at the Colorado State Capitol building to celebrate International Women’s Day. Two dozen people gathered to answer the call for an end to attacks on women’s and reproductive rights, including members of New Students for a Democratic Society and the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee.

FRSO and Denver residents are outraged at the outcome of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision. So-called “trigger laws” banned abortion in 13 states after the decision was made in 2022. In other states, “heartbeat bills” have become law, seriously restricting the access to many working class and oppressed women to seek safe abortions and other contraceptive services.

“John Roberts and Samuel Alito, nominated by George W. Bush, and Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by Donald Trump, whom we did not elect and were nominated by presidents who did not win the popular vote, are now making decisions for us, when the majority of the United States supports keeping abortion legal,” said Katherine Draken of FRSO.

“Many of these bills cover multiple of these categories and more are being introduced every day. Many have already passed into law. As more pass, the lives of queer women, cis and trans alike, will get harder,” said Faye Valentine of the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC).

Julia Swezy of Students for a Democratic Society - Denver ended her speech saying, “We lock horns with our oppressors and we are the bringers of a brighter future. Let’s celebrate our community. Celebrate women, solidarity, liberation efforts and the power of the people.”

Police brutality protest

On February 1, 2023 about 40 students from the Auraria campus community came out to show solidarity with the latest wave of victims of police brutality. Students for a Democratic Society - Denver , alongside the Black Student Alliance, held a vigil for Tyre Nichols, Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Terán, and Keenan Anderson - each of whom were murdered by police in January. Students had the opportunity to speak out and voice their grief and anger towards these murders that continue to happen in the United States.

Student Julia Swezy, a member of SDS, states, “Therefore, even in times of insurmountable grief, even when we collectively express our devastation surrounding even more loss of life at the hands of cops, the flame of our goal is only burning brighter. Our grief will not fuel nihilism, but action.”

Another member of Students for a Democratic Society - Denver, Paul Nelson, followed this sentiment in his speech, “We students are at a historical crossroads that many before us have arrived at, we can just go about our way and go towards the well-worn path of the status quo, or we can stand up and dare to struggle for a better way.”[1]

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