Vancouver Indo-Chinese Women's Conference

The Vancouver Indochinese Women's Conference (VICWC) took place in April 1971, where close to a thousand women from Canada and the United States met with Indochinese women in a protest of the Vietnam War organized by the Voice of Women.[1][2][3] There was also a sister conference in Toronto, held from April 9 to 11, 1971.[4] These women came from various backgrounds and cultures; black Chicana/Latina, white, and Indochinese women all participated.[5][6] This conference was a spinoff from an earlier and smaller Indochinese feminist conference which was held in 1967 to give voice to marginalized women.[5]

The VICWC was divided into four parts over a period of six days, where different women's groups would meet to discuss various women's and antiwar issues.[5][6] In the first part, the Indochinese women met with the Voice of Women; the second part was a session open to the public; in the third segment, the Indochinese met with Third World women; the fourth part was between Indochinese and women's liberationists, which were mostly white women.[5] The lesbian feminist group "New Morning" also met with Indochinese women during the women's liberation segment.[7]

Attendance

The North American women who attended the conference identified as either the "Old Friends," "New Friends," or "Third World Women."[1][6] Third World Women consisted of about 300 delegates and included "Black, Chicano, Asian, and [sic] Native American, and Canadian groups."[8] The Indochinese women whom they met were representatives from anti-colonial struggles in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Laos.[1][5][6] The "Old Friends" possessed politics that were Communist or "maternalists," and had a long history of friendship with the Vietnamese women.[1][5][6] The "New Friends" were younger women who were politically active and of the new left, such as women's liberationists and lesbian feminists.[5][6] "Third World Women" were of racial groups in the United States, such as Chicana/Latina women, black women, and Southeast Asian women.[4][5] The Indochinese women ranged in age from 29 to 50, and were from Cambodia, Laos, and North and South Vietnam.[1][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Memo, WILPF, WSP (Fall 1971). Impressions from the Conference of Indochinese and North American Women. Voice of Women. p. 16.
  2. ↑ "History and the Current Context". "Journeys Towards Peace: Internationalism and radical Orientalism during the U.S. war in Vietnam". Northbay MDS. August 1, 2014. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ Thomson, Becky (2002). Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism.
  4. 1 2 D.C. Conference Committee (May 27, 1971). "Indochinese Sisters: We Met in Toronto". Off Our Backs (Off Our Backs Inc.) 1 (22): 14–15. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Annonymous (1997). Garcia, Alma M., ed. Chicanas Attend Vancouver Conference. Routeledge. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9780415918015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tzu-Chun Wu, Judy (May 2, 2010). "Indochinese Women's Conference". Journeys Towards Peace: Internationalism and Radical Orientalism During the U.S. War in Vietnam. Cornell University Press. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Timeline of Lesbian Milestones in BrC". Dailyxtra.com. Quirk-E Art and Writing Group. Xtra West Vancouver. November 8, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ Gough, Kathleen (1971). Indochinese Women's Conference in Vancouver. Vancouver: SFU Archives F-166, "Women Movement Collection" (Anne Roberts collector), 1969-1975. p. 1.
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