03/08/18 03/08/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: on international women's day, this is democracy now! where protesting for equality, for the rights of women, to show we are not inferior. we want to work, live in peace, to have the same rises any man because we are people will stop as people, we're the same right to protest, to go on strike. amy: women in spain launch a one-day feminist strike to mark international women's day: for gender equality, the end of

sexual violence, a better working conditions. it is the first international women's day since the #metoo movement galvanized women arouod the world. then we will speak with award-winning playwright eve ensler about the 20th anniversary of v-day to end viviolence agagainst women and s as well as her new p play, "in e body of the world." tothe sun is jujust beginning comeme out. the women are there and they are strong. i have made a promise. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today is international women's day. and across spain, women are on strike.

amy: "here we are, the feminists" they're chanting, banging pots and pans and refusing to work for 24 hours. organizers say it is the first nationwide women strike in spain's history. their motto -- "if we stop, the world stops." this is concha gonzalez, a psychoanalyst who is not practicing today because she's on strike. and alsores society many women when they realize how strong we can be, especially when we are together. that is why i will strike and that is why i am here. amy: the historic women's strike in spain comes as women across the world -- from afghanistan to the philippines to mexico -- are marking g internatioional wome's day, demanding eququality and justice, and an end to patriarchy and violence against women. we'll have more on their strikes, marches, and protests after headlines. in the united states, the

confrontation between the trump administration and c californina escacalated on wednesdayay, as attorney general jeff sessions traveled to sacramento and attacked california for its so-called sanctutuary laws a day after the administration s sued the state over its policies limiting local law enforcement coopoperation with f federal immigration agents. >> so california absosolutely appears to me is using every popower it has, the power it dos not have, to frustrate federal law enforcement. so youou can be e sure i'm goino use every power i have to stop that. amy: attorney general jeff sessions also attacked oakland mayor libby schaaf, who issued a warning to the community ahead ofof ice raids in oakland last month. on wednesday, california governor jerry brown accused the trump administration of declaring war on californinia ad calllled attorney generaral jeff sessions a liar.

in the trumpny administration, this attorney general has no regard for the truth. what he said earlier today is not true. it is a lie. but what can i say? we have seen in the trump administration, with the investigations going on, the pleas of guilty t to lying by callous individuals, so there it is. amy: in washington, d.c., at least eight students were arrested at a sit-in at senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's office on wednesday, demanding federal lawmakers pass gun control measures in the wake of the mass school shooting in parkland, florida, that left 17 people dead -- 14 students and 3 faculty. lawmakers in washington have so far failed to pass any gun control measures since the mass shooting. the florida legegislature has papassed a package of f moderatn

controll meaeasures in the wakef the valentine's day massacre at marjy stononeman douglglas high school. the measures raise the age for purchasing firearms statewide, from 18 to 2121, and ban the purchase of possession of bump stocks, and impose a three-day waiting period to buy guns. but the measures do not include a ban on the sale of assault rifles or limits on high-capacity magazines, as the survivors of the s school shootg had demanded. the measures also allow local school districts to arm certain school workers, including tetehers. the legislation n now heads to florida governor rick scott's desk. on wednesday, , the confessed parkland shooter, 19-year-olold former student nikolas cruz, was arraigned on 17 counts of murder. there was another school shooting wednesday in birmingham, alabama. one student was killed and another is in critical condition. authorities say the shooting appeared to be an accident.

"the new york times" reports last week presesident trump's persononal lawyer secretly obtained a temporary restraining order to silence adult film star stormy daniels from speaking out about her alleged affair with donald trump in 2006 and 2007. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders claimed wednesday, trump won the arbitration proceeding aimed at silencing daniels. >> the president has addressed these directly and made very well clear that none of these allegations are true. this case has already been won in arbitration. anything be on that, i would refer you to the presence outside counsel. >> went to the president address specifically the cash payment that was made in october 2016? >> the president has denied the allegations against him. this case has already been won in arbitration. anything beyond that, i would refer you to outside counsel. amy: stormy daniels disputes

this claim, saying trump never signed a non-disclosure agreement, making it null and void. throughout this agreement, drafted by trump' is lawyer, trump is referred to as "david denison." his personal lawyer said he paid $130,000 of his own personal money to daniels to keep her quiet. the payment was less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election and it could amount to a violation of federal election law. french president emmanuel macron has blasted president trump for his controversial decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and move the u.s. embassy there. >> when he announced unilaterally the recognition us the capital, it did not help resolve t the conflict and the situation. i do not do get helped in terms of security. amy: control of jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues between israelis and palestinians. this comes as water mullah has announced it will also move its embassy from tel aviv to

jerusalem in may, two days after the e u.s. moves its embassy. madeuatemalan president the announcement after a visit by u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley. white house trade advisor peter navarro now says the trump administration will and initially exclude mexico and canada from trump's new steel and aluminum tariffs,s, as longs they sign a new version of nafta. this is a reversal from sunday when peter navarro said that would be no exceptions. the announcement comes as president trump's son-in-law and white hohouse senior advisor jad kushner travel to mexico to meet with the mexican president. meanwhile, trump's proposed steel and aluminum tariffs are causing major tensions with anotother key u.s.s. ally, souoh korea which is a major exporter of steel to the united states. the tariffs threat to

deteriorate relationship further between the u.s. and south korea at a time of increased nuclear threat on the korean peninsula. and in more trade news, officials from 11 nations have gathered in santiago, chile, where they are slated to sign the sweeping trade agreement formerly known as the trans pacific partnership, or the tpp. president trump pulled the u.s. out of the sweeping trade deal shortly after taking office after years of global public resistance by those who say free trade deals benefit corporations at the expense of health and environmental regulations. but the rest of the nations involved in the pact have gone forward with the deal, now called the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-pacific partnership, which will represent about 1/7 of the world's economy. in san francisco, an appeals court has ruled that a group of people suing the trump administration over climate

change can take their lawsuit to trial. the 21 youth are arguing the government has failed to take necessary action to curtail fossil fuel emissions, violating their constitutional rights. they first launched their lawsuit under the obama administration. to see our interviews with the group, you can go to democracynow.org. in pennsylvania, regulators have ordered an emergency shut down of a major gas pipeline wednesday after massive sinkholes began opening up around the pipeline in suburban philadelphia, forcing some residents to evacuate. the state's public utility commission ordered the temporary shutdown of sunoco pipeline's mariner east 1 system, warning its continued operation and the construction of the adjoining mariner east 2 pipeline could have catastrophic results. sunoco is a subsidiary of the pipeline giant energy transferer partners, which is also behind -- t the owner of the controversial dakota access

pipelinene. in asheville, north carolina, a police officer has resigned and the city's police chief has offefered to step down, , amid mounting outrage over the release of body camera video showing a white police officer beating and tasering an african american man who was stopped for jaywalking. the video from august 25 shows police officer chris hickman choking, beating, and tasering johnnie jermaine rush, who repeatedly says "i can't breathe." and the vatican has announced salvadoran archbishop oscar romero will become a saint. archbishop romero was a champion for the poor and oppressed who was murdered by a right-wing death squad in 1980 at the beginning of the brutal, u.s.-backed dirty war in el salvador. only weeks before his assassination, romero wrote a letter to u.s. president jimmy him to notling onn

provide military aid to thee right-wing salvadoran military government. then in the archbishop's final and now-infamous sermon, he made a direct appeal to salvadoran soldiers to lay y down their weapons. >> in his name and in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much in his limits cry out to heaven, i am for you, i beg you, i order you to stop the repression. amy: only moments later, gunmen entered the church where archbishop romero w was givingg mass and assassinated him. nearly 40 years later, salvadoran archbishop oscar romero wilill now be made a sai. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. from afghanistan to the philippines to mexico to spain, women across thehe globe are tataking t to the streets todayo mark international women's day. in spain, women have launched a

test the first nationwide feminist strike in spain's history. amy: "here we are the feminists" they are chanting, banging pots and pans and refusing to work for 24 hours. organizers say supporters include ada colau, the mayor of barcelona, and manuela carmena, the mayor of madrid. organizers published a manifesto for reading -- "today we call for a society free of sexist oppression, exploitation and violence. we call for rebellion and a struggle against the alliance of the patriarchy and capitalism that wants us to be obedient, submissive and quiet. we do not accept worse working conditions, nor being paid less than men for the same work. that is why we are calling a work strike."

speaking in madrid, 21-year-old eva gutierrez explained why she joined the strike. >> we are protesting for each quality, for the rights of women, to show we are not inferior. we want to work, live in peace, to have the same rights as any man because we are people. as people, we have the same right to protest, to go on strike. ,e must not be afraid to go out say what we feel and what has happened to us in our lives, whwhat we have had to suffer jut because we were born as women. amy: in south korea, international women's day rallies were held seoul as the #metoo movement sweeps the country. earlier this week, a leading south korean politician who was seen as a possible presidential candidate ahn hee-jung resigned his post as a provincial governor after his secretary said he raped her multiple times. organizers of today's rally in seoul said the #metoo movement is inspiring more women to speak out. >> last year, although we did

not ignore this issue, it was not widely mentioned. the change this year is that people are more vocal. dare not to speak out, we should try to encourage people to speak out and take actions to make practical changes in our society. this is very different from what we encountered last year. in amy: in other international women day actions, filipino women have rallied in manila to protest the policies of philippine president rodrigo duterte. afghan women held a rare public rally in kabul. in kenya, women are meeting today. meanwhile, in england, women organized a major march on saturday to mark the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote. speakers included helen pankhurst of care international. she is the granddaughter of suffragette emmeline pankhurst. >> this opportunity for

surprisingly the issues ey were campaigning on that my grandmother and great-grandmother work and putting on 100 years ago, they are still similar today. getting the vote did not resolve everything. it is up to this generation now to do as much as we can. that is why we are out here. amy: here in the united states, rallies are scheduled to take place across the country. but we go to madrid, spain, where we are joined by maria carrion. can you describe this first ever feminist march across spain that has just t taken place? >> hi, amy. thank you so much. it is great to be with you. organizers of the strike were declaring victory even before midnight rolled around here in spaiain just because this announcement of the first feminist strike ever has thrown the debate into the forefront of the media, a politicians -- everyone is being forced to

reacact to this and talk about this enormous inequality that exists in spain between men and women. saw in the, as we images, women came out banging pots and pans. that is how the strike began. empty today. some talk shows went dark. talk shows that had women. hear women's voices on the radio if they're being interviewed. for the most part, women have walked out of their jobs if they possibly can. .hey are out in the street what is extraordinary is the amount of very young women that you see on the street claiming their rights. this is a very young movement. it is a very hopeful movement. women who have not been able to go on strike, especially those who are caring because this is not just a strike were people

are leaving their workplace, but also they are stopping the caregiving and asking the men to replace them. the idea is for spaniards to understand how critical women's work is and what happens when women don't show up at work. and women who cannot leave their caregiving duties are hanging aprons on their balconies to show support. you see the streets are full justwhere in spain posted in madrid, there are over 100 rallies, marches, gatherings. as you mentioned, to the women es uss of the largest citi they have also walked out of their jobs. they're also on strike. there is an 82% support, public support, of the strikes. so people undererstand the reass why wowomen are going on s strie thisis year. our wage gap is around 22%.

women doing exactly the same work as men, earning 22% less on average. and also heavily underrepresented in top positions, and companies and the government and the public sector. amy: as part of today strike, hundreds of women took heart inn a bike protest in madrid. this is an engineer in spain. >> we're here to claim our rights and a make visible all the inequalities of our role in society, which apparently does not count that much. we're here to make their problems physical and to give strength. this is an historic moment and we're here to support it. >> what we're lacking is for the whole society to realize there is a of the population which has more privileges than the other. when people from young children to adults get to understand this, it would be evident we don't really have the same privileges and opportunities. amy: maria, can you describe how

this movement and the #metoo movement around the world, is it affectcting the polititics of s? ,e just heard in south korea one of a possible presidential candidates had to resign after the secretary accused him of repeatedly raping her. in the united ststates right now president t trump is engulfed in yet another scandal around sexual harassment, and in this case, being involved with or denying been involved with an fightingg star and her being silenced. >> in terms of government policy and the effects on the government leadership, unfortunately, all that we have had here so far in the central government of spain i is being a push back. the government -- the governing party is not supportive of this feminist strikike. in fact, health social services

minister went so far to say that this strike is like a declaration of a war between sexes. we have also heard from the catholic church, mixed views post of a bishop said the devil has gotten into feminists. in general, the support practically for this mobilization on the parts of the government. however, i think they are being forced into a corner. they have had to walk back some of the declarations they initially made when they have seen the massive response of spanish society with this strike. we're hoping in spain for a change. however, we are not expecting it from the pp. pp has been very regressive when it comes to women's rights. we are seeing a change on a local level.

we are seeing, the fact also that the pp does not have a majority role means they cannot pass regressive laws in spain because it does not have the support. but at the same time, the real significant change, for political change to happen in spain, we're going to have to change government. we will see. there's a few years left until the general election. we have seen a #metoo movement in spain in film and the media, aggressive's have yet to fall. we have not seen the harvey weinstein effect happen in spain quite so much yet. i think that is still yet to come. amy: this is an unusual event where you have two women has of two major cities in spain, both expressing support for these rallies, being part of them. is that right? >> that is right.

they and all of their female staff have gone on strike. so there are no womenn the spanish city hall's -- i'm sorry , in barcelona and madrid. and they are significant women as leaders in this country because these are the two largest cities. this is what i'm referring to that locally, we can expect to see continued policies change in terms of equality. but on the national level, we still see the pp being extremely reluctant, for instance, to put money behind laws. we have inequality laws, it is just not enough resources to investigate and to prosecute cases of inequality. and that is for the change has to come, really. amy: maria carrion, thank you for being with us independent , freelance journalist based in madridid. when we come back, we will be

joined by the head of the international women's strike here in thunitited states, tithi bhattacharya. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: singing a song that denounces female genital mutilation. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. women across the globe are taking to the streets today to mark international women's day, and protests are also taking place across the u.s. we're joined now by tithi bhattacharya an associate , professor of south asian history at purdue university. she is one of the national organizers of today's women's strike. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you back. we spoke to you last international women's day. what is the strike in the united states and how did it begin? >> thank you, amy. it is good to be back here. it is nice to be able to evaluate what has happened last year.

popular notion, the international women's day began in the united states. it was in 1909 that the feminist socialist party member proposed a day of international working the united for states. and she was inspired by a spate of strikes by women in new york .ity in the garment industry and a lot of them, very young and immigrant women. theresaeset, -- so proposed international women's day in 1909, and then it was communists at the commonest international in copenhagen in 1910 and declared as the international working women's day. day, as a labor

struggle, it began in america but then over the years because anti-labor and anti-socialist politics and then the cold war in america, a really died out. international women's day has been celebrated in radicical circles outside of the united states always, but in the united states, it was always marked by sort of hallmark cards and flowers and things like that -- poor amy: how to the strike form that you are one of the organizers for? >> international women's strike 2016ormed in the fall of by international feminists across the globe, inspired by polish women and argentinian women who were basically in poland striking and huge massive and.es against abortion

in argentina, women protesting against the famous site and killing of girl childrenn. and these were such massive demonstrations that for the first time, i think feminists across the globe managed to have a conversation about violence against women and how balance justst women operate not upon women's bodies, but also structurally and institutionally. it was in amazing coalition that was formed in the fall of 2016 to take off as an international women's strike coalition in march of 2017. amy: interestingly, you just came from west virginia of where this major labor victory just took place, the west virginia teachers have won. they almost into their strike lasted but decided to continue in the legislature did not comply with their demands. about that strike in terms

of women. >> so lilike very's parts of the country, 75% of the teachers in west virginia are women. this large number of women in the profession, the profession itself has had become gendered in many, many ways. for instance, a lot of the schools -- west virginia is one of the poorest states in the nation. so for a vast majority of children going to public schoo, the school hotmail is perhaps one of the only hot meals they receive during the day. so teachers have to be more than public educators. they have to make sure that the children are fed. in a derogatory way, this is seen as care work and women's work. so that is a sort of sexist interpretation of it. but the core strength of it lies

in the fact that because it is vast majority women and because women play a very significant role bridging the gap between the workplace him of the home, and the community, that when the teachers went on strike, a vast portion of the community was immediately galvanized in support of the teachers. so churches came out, community members came out because women are not just teachers, they were mothers, church members, they were breadwinners in a family. so they sort of formed this astonishing bridge between the workplace and the home, making visible both kinds of labor. amy: it is interesting you had the teachers packing backpacks of food for the kids because they get both breakfast and lunch at school. the famous nickel and dime author tweets --

>> absolutely. amy: i want to turn to the pair teachers we spoke to yesterday. one from was virginia and another from oak home a were teachers are gearing up -- oklahoma where teachers are gearing up for a statewide strike. west virginia is 48th and pay an oklahoma is at the bottom, 50. this is teresa danks. >> i'm still looking at efforts to raise money to help teachers not have to pay out-of-pocket. on top of our low salaries, high insurance, and all of the other problems that are happening in the classroom, teachers are paying out-of-pocket for everything. we need our classrooooms funded properly so that teachers don't have t to do that. amy: what words of wisdom do you have for teresa danks or experience from one of the longest wildcat strikes in west virginiaamy: history?

teresa, i can say that everything you are saying, we have been saying the same thing. it feels so familiar to me to inr the situation you a are in oklahoma. one of the things we have made it very clear about in west virginia is that, yes, we were striking for us, but we wanted to inspire teachers all across the nation. the last chant we had, the first one, as soon as we found out we won was "wewe are wororthy." what i tell oklahoma teachers and educators is, you are worthy and you need -- like she was talking about, step out encourage. amy: those are the teachers from west virginia and oklahoma, tithi bhattacharya. amazing -- ist an don't to go and call it a strike

wave, but it feels like that. -- one of the things that make this so amazing is that, as you said, the legislator is decided with a also does either union.n. the union came out and asked them to accept a deal from the legislator and the teachers unanimously said no. so that was a very, very defiant act by -- amy: in oklahoma, the teachers wanted to go on strike, have an action on april 2. the unions at april 23. the teachers thought they were missing the momentum of everything that was happening, so the union has pushed it back to april 2. >> correct. the problem here is that the generating of the strike is not being understood sometimes by national media. i think we have to be clear that this is, one, it is not just numerical that women are in large numbers in these strikes,

it is also the fact that the governor of west virginia recognizes as such an called all the strikers dumb bunnies. the women decided to wear little bunny has in order to prove that they were really not very dumb bunnies. amy: international women's day is being embraced by companies as well. like mcdonald's, which is flipping his iconic "m" to bwecome a "w." this coming from a company that has a history of dealing with allegations of sexual harassment and findin fighting against payingng living wawage. do you consider this a victory or co-opting? >> co-opting. i think this is where the international women's strike, we try to propose a very clear argument about feminism for the -- this is the idea of

the lien andnd feminism that women's emancipation comes through, more petition nation and capitalism. -- more participation in cap listen. we propose it is capitalism that causes women's suppression and needs to be rejected. we do not want more ceos in corner offices will stop we want to actually dismantle the system that produces -- dynamic up significant both of the mayors of barcelona and madrid in spain, both women, are supporting and participating in this protest today, this nationwide strike in spain where the manifesto is condemning capitalism as well. >> absolutely. i would rather be in spain to watch the train stop today, but i think the united states is going to be absolutely amazing today as well. ofhink the question anticapitalism feminist is

something we have to confront right now because feminism for decades of neoliberalism has been a feminism of the hillary clintons and the sheryl sandbergs, which is breaking the glass ceiling while the majority of women are in the basement cleaning up the glass. we want to be able to say that feminism, if it is going to be successful in a eight, has to be the real emancipation of the vast majority of women, and, b, that cannot be achieved witithin capitalist structures. amy: what are people doing across the u.s. today? >> it is just one to be very, very amazing because it is literally across the nation. there is going to be marches and rallies in philadelphia, and oakland,a -- in berkeley graduate students are doing a work stoppage. there are rallies planned in

west lafayette, indiana, where i teach. come and the local paper, and amazing lesson saying the university of madison -- amy: university of wisconsin. >> was celebrating march 8 by having a police chief speak on the panel, where as international women's day should be an antiracist day for women of color, for trans women, etc. so there is a consciousness here a feminism for the 99%, which i think is amazing. in l.a., there are marches. one of the most significant things is stanford connecticut recentlyton workers that all of the housekeepers at hilton organizers the union. they unionized and most of them are immigrant workers. a woman speak at our new

york rally for. , today,ord, connecticut all of the housekeepers are coming out in support of international women's strike and are going to rally. i think that is the kind of overn we want to replicate and over again across the country. amy: tithi bhattacharya, thank you for being with us. i'm glad you were able to fly in to the nor'easter from atlanta yesterday where you were before west virginia. associate professor of south asian history at purdue university. of the national organizers of one today's women's strike. when we come back, we will be joined by ththe award-winning playwright, actor, activist eve ensler. she has a new play "in the body of the world." we will talk about that and 20 years of v-day. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue our coverage of international women'n's day in a turning now to the world-renowned playwright, activist eve ensler. author of "the vagina monologues." ,0 years ago she launched v-day

an international movement to end violence against women and girls. returned toas also the stage with a one-woman play called "in the body of the world." field, city of joy. it is right after one of those congolese downpours and the earth is green andnd field, cit. the sun is jusust beginning to come out. the e women are there and t thee strong. i have made a promise. amy: "in the body of the world" is based on eve ensler's memoir of the same name. it is an exploration of the female body, how to talk about it, how to protect it, how to value it. she shares her deeply intimate

and relationship with her own body and how it has changed throughout her life from being raped to struggling with anorexia, battling uterine cancer t to reclaim her r body t dancing with women frorom the democratic republic of congo in the city o of joy which she held establish. eve ensler, welcome to democracy now! >> have the international women's day. and go back at you. i appreciate you coming in, especially with this very rigorous schedule you have a one and to place a day. it is a true masterpiece, this play. >> thank you, so much. amy: 80 minutes, no intermission play or you take us on a journey from the land of the healthy to the land of the sick, your own personal journey dealing with cancer and then coming back and recocovering in this world of te sick and also how you and so many people are trying to make it healthily.

" think one of the things i've been realizing as i was doing a play, really profound text areas. all -- profound experience for step every night and the audience i can feel the level of trauma in this period of trump trauma and this period of racism, and we can just go to the list, but what is also really movie to me is people's understanding of the connection between what is happening to our bodies and what is happening to the earth and what is happening to women and what is happening to immigrants and what is happening to refugees and how all of this is one story. often enacted on the bodies,, particularly of women. amy: what does this international women's day mean to you? >> it is such an incredible day. i was listening to the show earlier, but i was thinking, today really means to me -- in the play there's a character named cindy who, when i was very

sick and had just got my take on operation where i got rid of my bag, this woman came and helped me learn how to fart. she was a volunteer. i was so moved by this woman who is literally getting up everyday to help people in this hospital that i started to think about all of the cindys in this world, the women workers in this world were often underpaid, unpaid, invisible, quiet yet they do the major work of the world whether it is healing the world or maintaining the world or serving the world were keeping the world alive. so i think this women's day means to me the incredible teachers striking and was virginia who are now spreading to oklahoma, the farmworkers, the ciw standing up against wendy's coworkers were fasting march 11-15 to protest wendy's. i'm thinking all of the women who have rose, for example, on one billion rising, domestic

workers in hong kong and throughout the united dates. the factory workers in bangladesh. i feel this day is really about the 99% as she was saying earlier, but also about how we honor women in the work -- how we elevate and respect it and value it. i think so often the women who are doing the work that holds the world together are invisible, unseen, unacknowledged, and unpaid for the work they are doing. amy: i want to go back to another clip from your play "in the body of the world" where you talk a about being diagnososed h cancer for the first time. >> so how did i get it? was it tofu? tofu. lot of was it failing at marriage twice? was it ring every single day for 56 years that i was not good

enough? was it talking to mumuch about vaginanas? was a long pesticides? chernobyl. it traveled far. was it my father dying slowly anand never bothering to say goodbye? was it bad reviews. good reviews? was a being reviewed? was a sleeping with men who are married? was at my good friend's living with my husband? was ittab? i drink so much when i got sober. temples shi --rley tempmples? was it drinking water r from plastic bottles? not being breast-fed? tv dinners? turquoise popsicles yucca was it that i did not cry enough or cry too much? was it too many boboundaries? did i geget this for my family? was it already decided? waited too long. i have not been a good steward to my body.

amy: eve ensler "in the body of the world" and a plate, a one-woman show here in new york until march 25. what was it? what do you think? take us through that journey. >> i think it is all of the above. i think when you get diagnosed with cancer, your first thought is, how did i get it? what did i do? i think the answer is, who knows? ido think for myself that know there is a deep connection between trauma and illness and trauma and cancer. i would not be surprised in 20 years if we are calling cancer trauma. i think what happens when you're traumatized is not only to you leave your body and disassociate frfrom your body, but you stop paying attention to your body. weakenedne system is because of it. as it is weakened and you're not treating her body as a body that -- that often is machine,

something you are powering through to get you through the next place, as your immune system drops them all kinds of things can begin to happen. cancer cells are insidious. they appear to be one of your cells and they moveve in and occupy. we have to look at trauma and all the ways, manifests, whether it is racism, sexism, poverty, whether it is direct violence, harassment, sibley not being honored for the work you do. there are all forms of trauma, particularly in capitalism and neoliberalism, which is constantly demeaning people, disposing of people, and degrading people. so how do we change that and and holdsee people people and respect people and embrace pepeople and turn that around? amy: you certainly experience this firsthand as you wantnt to the medical system. i want to go back to one more clip of "in the body of the world." >> i have not seen dr. chansons

the chemo. the cancer has been gone almost a year. male surgeonof t the to save my life. i'm sure he's going to want to share in the glory. some dumb, impulsive things. i fill great. i do. i can tell it is gone. my ca125 was a 4. ththen i invoke my doctors in nw york. they're talking about a possible cure. wayhe says, oh, eve,, it is too early to be thinking about a cure. if it cocomes back, it will come back in your vagina. have you considered radiation? we can radiate your vagina. radiate my vagina. radiate my vagina. do you have any idea who i am? [laughter] do you have any sense of irony? in the one-woman play "in the body of the world." i'm not sure where to go from that.

you go from the mayo clinic to sloan-kettering to nyu. >> it was interesting. the mayo clinic is such an amazing place and it is probably the closest we have to endicott of socialist medicine. most of the doctors have capped their cellar so they were collectively as a team for you, not competing with each other. then i got to sloan-kettering which is a nightmare experience. i not only did not feel seen or looks at, literally, but i was treated terribly. i eventually went to beth israel or the care was quite wonderful. i will say one of the things you come to realize when you are sick is that they care of nurses them a for example, is the thing that could be much keeps you alive. doctors do their bit work and then they disappear and we are grateful for the work they do. but nurses are there every single minute every single day tending to the details, tending toto the pain, tenending to your annoying this, tending to everything. i have to say that it kind of

changed -- i worship and bow down to nurses tododay. i understand how fundamental they are. it is also really funny when i was thinking a about the journey of vagina, host making about how when at a certain point summit he told me they were going to radiate my vagina, it was just a no, you're not going to radiate my vagina. that is not one to happen. i'm glad i made a decision. i think when we are going through medical processes, people tell us certain things are going to happen or offer them and they think if we listen, sometimes to our instincts, sometimes we need to be talked out of our instincts. but sometimes we know not to do things or we know not to go to this hospital or we know not to do this. sometimes we are really right. amy: h how many years has it ben from your diagnosis? eight years. amy: in the midst of this, you were very involved with the building of the city of joy in the democratic republic of congo. i was wondering if you could describe your own personal

experience of illness and then dealing with these women who so deeply inspired you who had been raped by militias, by soldiers in congo and how you put these two together. >> i have been invited to the democratic republic of congo maybe nine years ago by congolese gynecologist who is an extraordinary man who was literally amy: nominated for a nobel prize. >> like four times. he invited me after i interviewed him in new york to see if i could somehow both offer suggestions of how to get their story out my but also to see what we could do togetheher with v-day. i think when i went to the congo, i had been in many war zones and her many stories of horrible rape and systematic rape used as a tactic of war, but the congo was something else. it was this emergence of colonialism, racism, sexism, and

morbid capitalism kind of merged together. being enacted on the bodies of women through the fight of economic alleging of minerals. i think when we started to build -- christine and i and the doctor spent months talking about what women wanted. it came from their vision of having a place called city of joy, which could be a sanctuary for healing and a revolutionary center wherere they could turn their trauma and pain to power. i think as we were building that and as we were trying to be raising funds for it in defining what the problem -- program was an working with the women and deeply in the center of the kind of mess of it because building in a war zone where there is no roads, no elecectricity, whehere there is corrupt building managers, it was pretty insane. it was that exact moment that i got diagnosed with stage four cancer. i somehow was going to be dying

now in the middle of this huge thing we had begun, and they crisis building this place. i think it was this amazing thing thatat had to happen. i had made a commitment to the women of conongo and i was not going to die before the commitment was fulfilled. and they had kind of f made this commitment to themselves that they would build this place. so i often attribute the women of congo as saving my life because it was really fighting for that project and really being in solidarity with them and thinking of all they had suffered and all the ways the bodies had been desecrated by rate whether it is fistulas were severe holes or the most trauma or fragments of bullets in their schools. i cannot even compmplain about what wasas going on with me because i have been witness to in knowledge ofof what heaven happening with women in congo for so many years. as is really amazing that

finally was in the last stages of my recovery and in chemo, was bold and not looking well. i was 30 pounds lighter than now. the women looked to me there like, oh, my god, you're a freak. they were so loving. they just started to dance. they really danced. that was the moment where i really thought of one billion rising. i looked at these amazing women who have been to the worst atrocities in the planet, whose bodies, many cases, had been -- organs had been moved, rearranged to to the horrible rates. and they were dancing with every strength and intensity of their being. i i thought, my god, if the womn of congo can dance like this, what if the entire world rose up? amy: as you were performing on 14 and all ofy your friends and family were at the theater at city center, your dear international family and friends were here at democracy now! we talked to christine schuler deschryver, the head of the city

of joy in the democratic republic of f congo, about t the conflict in drc. >> the problem is really complicated because it is an economic war. it is something that we have our cell phones and computer. i feel like all of the countries and all of the western countries, they don't want this war to end because they want a mess so they can continue to forest,congo and rain so using as terror. if you look at a map and you see where rapes are committed, it is all around mines. we still have lots of guns everywhere and militias. so the goal is for people to leave their villages so they international's can continue to plunder congo. amy: that is christine schuler deschryver describing what is

the democratic republic of congo. she is the head of the city of joy. place that for us as we begin to end the show. >> she is the head of v-day and the city of joy. cavell is no killing of many dissenters. they are verging on some kind of civil war again because he will not have an election and there are many people who do not want him there any longer because he is so corrupt. the country is the most plentiful of resources of any country in africa, people are starving all around. that is alall about policies and all about selling off the congo to people outside the congo. amy: and yet you have the city run by women. >> indndeed. riright in the middle.. it is amazazing. we have now graduated 1038 women who of returned to ththeir

communities as leaders. they are transforming their communities i in so many differt ways. what is beauautiful to see is en the environment that is around the city of joy that was once a very poor -- it is still a poor environment. it is actually tent city were former soldiers wives are living. that has been changed. the energy is beginning to spreadut throughout the community and lift people's spirits and take people in and make people aware they do have power in that women can change the destinies. it is incredible to see the women rising up. they are rising. to see women rising up and taking back their rights, becoming people who could do agriculture and fight for the rights in terms of self-defense and fight for leadership, and women are becoming leaders in the congo. i think we're going to see very big changes in the next two years will some amy: eve ensler, zinke for joining us on international working women stay as you go off to work at the

theater tonight. we're going to do part two of our discussion and post it online at democracynow.org. eve ensler award-winning , playwright and author of "the vagina monologues." democracy nonow! i