A Board Without A Woman? Activists Aim To Fix That

Some people are marking International Women's Day, and the accompanying "day without a woman" strike, by wearing red, or not showing up to work.

Some are doing more.

They're getting organized and aiming for political power. At lunchtime today, several dozen women gathered at Holocene, grouping themselves by state legislative district, making introductions, and learning how to run for elected office, at an event hosted by Portland Women Against Hate and the Portland Democratic Socialists of America chapter.

A flyer for the session, led by the Oregon Labor Candidate School, shows would-be candidates how to run for everything from statewide executive appointments to Portland Public Schools advisory committees to the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Workshops like this coincide with a nationwide leftist and activist effort to shake up the Democratic Party after the contentious 2016 presidential primary campaign and the party's subsequent thrashing in the November general elections.

That particular workshop is over, but there's a full program through the afternoon:

Holocene is at 1001 Southeast Morrison Street.

Update 3.53 pm: According to an organizer, 112 people turned up by the end of the program.