Bonus Episode: March 8th

S1: On Friday , March 8th , Tijuana's principal avenues came to a standstill for a couple of hours. A multitude of women wearing green and purple , 4000 strong , gathered at La Sierra's monument. The echo of thousands of women marching and shouting at the top of their lungs was heard everywhere. Cries for justice for all the victims of Femicides in Mexico. For all the women that had gone missing. For the victims of sexual violence , for equal rights. The latest research by international organizations show these issues have only worsened in recent years for women in Mexico. So these marches grow bigger and bigger every year as well. This event is held every year to commemorate International Women's Day , and it is tied to marches around the whole world. San Diego holds its own women's demonstration at a different date , but March 8th is very significant worldwide , and it is specifically significant in Mexico. Stay tuned to listen to why International Women's Day is a significant date for women in Tijuana , Mexico.

UU: You're not mad , you know. None of us.

S1: From KPBS. This is Port of Entry , where we tell Crossborder stories that connect us. I'm Natalia Gonzalez , and this is a solo bonus episode. Hey , Rebecca , thank you so much for helping me out to put this episode together. Yeah.

S2: Yeah. No worries. I'm happy to be here.

S1: So I wanted to highlight the women in my team for this bonus episode. And I know you are busy working on the many other shows KPBS produces , but you also help direct and produce Port of Entry sometimes , like today.

S2: Yeah , so I'm a technical producer. I'm happy to help whenever we need anything from all our radio shows to all our podcasts.

S1:

S2:

S1:

S3: First Lady.

S1: The date has its origins in labour movements at the turn of the 19th and 20th century , in Europe and the US. March 25th , 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers in New York City , composed mostly of immigrant women , had planned to strike the horrible working conditions of the times. The doors were routinely locked by management to prevent unauthorized breaks and control theft. When a fire broke out , many of the workers were locked in. Many of the women could not exit to safety. Of the 600 workers who showed up that day , 146 died , 125 of them were women. So to commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy and other incidents around the world directly dealing with women's rights , in 1975 , the United Nations passed a resolution to establish March 8th as International Women's Day to commemorate the fight for women's rights. And every year in several countries around the world , women march to commemorate this day and raise their voices and show support by wearing purple and green.

S2:

S1: There are different stories. Some say the adoption of these colors were because those were the colors principally produced by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. But according to International Women's Day , become purple signifies justice and dignity and being loyal to the cause. And in Latin American countries specifically , the color purple is identified as the color of feminism , while green is used in favor of safe , legal , and free abortion. Well , the point is that we wore these colors to commemorate the struggle for women's rights.

S2:

S1:

S4: Hello ? Hello. Walla Walla Walla.

S1: This year , I went for the third consecutive time to the International Women's Day march in Tijuana. With you.

S4: Mas grande apenas todas las mujeres en las heras.

S1: The meeting point , just like every year was at the famous roundabout Gloria Independencia , commonly known as Gloria de la Sierra's for its shape. It is located between the cultural Center Circle and Plaza Rio. Very close to the border at the red traffic light. Groups of women were gathering to cross the street and reach the meeting point. While I was waiting to cross , I could hear women rehearsing their songs. The crowd was growing little by little , forming a sea of purple and green. The march was set to start at 2 p.m. , and it was exactly 120 in the afternoon when I got there , so I used the extra time to walk around and look at the giant and colorful posters held by many of the women there. As I was walking , I was struck by seeing so many mothers with their daughters and even grandmothers with their granddaughters. I had never seen so many women of different ages gathered at the march. When I was about to turn off the microphone to take a break , I saw a couple of familiar faces , Maricel Calderon and Nancy Bonilla. So I approached them to say hi.

S5: Call me mama en el carro con me familia. Mes hermanas Mai pareja Irene. Ya mia.

S1: Maricel mentioned she was there with her mom , her sisters , and of course , Nancy , her partner. In case you don't remember them , we did an episode about their role in the fight to legalize same sex marriage in Baja California.

S6: While ecstatic and proud that at least now they could marry in Mexico City. Nancy explains that something felt wrong to them.

S1: Marrying in Mexico City felt like a cop out for conviction.

S7: Si queremos. Si el derecho por nosotros vamos a hacer en el lugar donde vamos mas tiempo.

S6: If they were going to get married , it would be something they both wanted to do in the state that they were from Baja California. To shed a light on their own community that's been cast into the underground.

S1: Mary and Nancy have not only been at the forefront of the fight of queer rights , but also of women's rights for the last 15 years. I approached them to say hello because I was very happy to see them , and Nancy mentioned how impressive it is to see how much the march has grown in the last three years.

S7: Es algo bien sobre la verdad , por ejemplo , nosotros cuando al principio March 20th personas aqui nos vamos winter personas y luego nos vamos al palacio de Gobierno.

S1: So Nancy mentioned that when the 1st March was held in Tijuana , only about 20 women gathered to march. Now there's thousands who joined to raise awareness for women's issues , advocating for women's rights and standing against violence. And she's even happier to see the youth take part in the fight.

S7: Las mujeres , las Los ninos estan cada vez mas antes de la importancia de la igual y el alto. La violencia , cualquier tipo de violencia y la violencia estar mal.

S1: And we said our goodbyes and then turn toward the street. At that point , the march had already started. But given the size of the multitude , many women were still waiting at the roundabout for their moment to march forward.

UU: But I can't.

S1: Then the chance started. The march took on a life of its own , and everywhere you turned you could see race signs , glitter and purple and green flecks. In sickness of different feminists , contingents from the city race fists with purple handkerchiefs , faces painted in purple and green , and even girls holding signs with phrases like quiero crecer libre , Spanish for I want to grow up free. It was moving to hear the crowd chanting songs to express their grievances and call for justice.

UU: But I couldn't stand it. But I can't.

S1: But why is this March so significant ? Specifically in Mexico ? According to a research from the global newspaper El Pais , every year in Mexico , more than 3000 women , including young girls and teenagers , are murdered. But only around 24% of these cases are counted as femicides. And according to a report published by the Mexican government , Mexico recorded 827 femicides in 2023. Maria de la Luz Estrada , director of Mexico's National Citizen Femicide Observatory , said that between 10 and 11 women are murdered every day in Mexico , and only one out of every ten victims of sexual violence dares to report their aggressor out of fear and lack of trust in the authorities. It is data like this that makes the march so significant. And why the march ends at the state prosecutor's office every year to demand justice. I thought it was curious that the march this year was taking a different route to make a stop at City Hall. The traffic unexpectedly stopped to let the women pass , and many people in the traffic were honking their horns in support , while others looked very annoyed. All of a sudden , everyone began to raise their fists in the air as a sign for a moment of silence. After a long , silent pause , everyone started shouting at the same time , one of the most well known chants of the march ! La policia. No queda me quedan , mis amigos. The police doesn't take care of me. My friends do. Port of entry will be back after a short break. As I looked around and listened to the loud cries of so many women demanding justice , I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat. I closed my eyes for a moment to take it all in. When I opened them , the first thing that caught my attention again were all the colors around me. The hundreds of cardboard signs , each with a different reason to march. Every written phrase was a statement of why these women holding the signs were their statements like they tried to bury us , but they didn't know we were seeds. My life has value. My body has no price for those who are no longer here and those who remain in silence. I approached a number of them to ask them why they wrote what they wrote.

S8: In paragraphs. La mayoria de las chicas olina clases vuelve , vuelve el trans curso en el transport publico siquiera seguro.

S1: This young girl , who was wearing a purple bandana around her neck and a black jacket with feminist insignias all over it , shared with me that she was marching for all the women who commute to school and never make it back home. For those who were never able to graduate because they were victims of femicide. Some of the women couldn't help but shed some tears when sharing what they had written.

S8: Macho icon. Miss Amigas para la manana for ellas. Amigos. No no no no.

S1: This woman is saying I am marching today with my friends so that I don't have to march for them tomorrow. I am marching today with my sister and my friends so that in the future they don't go missing. In a mixture of nervousness and tears. Another demonstrator shared what she wrote.

S8: Hey , okay , this is not. La Nina no se token por messages por la Paz y por eso.

S1: The sign read for my daughters , for yours. Girls should not be touched.

S8: Libres por la violencia. No tienen porque estar en la cada tiempo. Por algo ellos.

S1: These other women is saying we marched to be able to walk freely through the streets , to leave free of violence , so that our children live free of violence for their freedom from harassment. If she decides to wear something she likes for the right to return home safe. Okay.

S8: Okay. See ya. Salio nova regresar a casa porque espera una mama e.

S1: Assim moved to a different part of the march. I asked another demonstrators about what her sign read.

S8: Uh , do you say estoy viva y no se hasta cuando.

S1: I yell because I am alive and I don't know for how long. She explained that women have an innate fear of going out every day and not returning home. The march kept going , but it was time for me to head back. I walked towards the roundabout where it all started. Everything seemed to slow down for a bit. I stopped for one last moment to look back. What ? I saw hundreds of women climbing all the way to the top of the roundabout monument , singing freely and raising their voices. Bread and butter. I stood there for a moment , thinking about my reasons to be there year after year.

S2: I had no idea. This goes on every year.

S1: And also for those who have fought for our rights in the past and for those who can no longer march because their voices were silenced. This episode of Port of Entry was written and produced by Natalie Gonzalez Rodriguez. Rebecca Chacon is radio audio operations assistant. Adrian Lobos is technical producer and sound designer. This episode was edited by Emma Gonzalez Lima Brandao and Julio Cesar Ortiz Franco. Lisa morrissette is director of audio programming and operations. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , a private corporation funded by the American people. This project was also made possible with support from California Humanities , a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit call home. Org. Soy , Natalie. Gonzalez Y nos vemos. Pronto.