Above Photo: Facebook/Women’s March on Washington- National Page
On January 21st, one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, thousands of women and their allies from around the country are expected to march on Washington, D.C.
Here’s why, plus details for those interested in participating.
Originally dubbed the “Million Women March on D.C.”, the “Women’s March On Washington” is taking shape as we speak.
Bob Bland, one of the event organizers, said that the march is in its early planning stages and that organizers are still recruiting a diverse leadership committee that represents females from all populations.
So far, in less than a week, over 100k people have clicked to join the national Facebook event, with many more joining local marches.
These ‘sister marches’ as they are being referred to—will take place on the same day in various cities throughout the country.
The main march will center around the Lincoln Memorial and officially take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The march will feature a not-yet-announced lineup of speakers, and, if it’s anything like that historic 1963 gathering, also a laundry list of celebrities and performers.
Is this march an anti-Trump protest?
You be the judge. Here’s the official statement from the national organizers:
“The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us–women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.”
“In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.”
The march organizers, from a variety of stakeholder groups, see it as “the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up.”
Here’s how the Washington Post put it:
“While Trump’s remarks served as an impetus for the protest, Bland said it won’t be an anti-Trump rally. Instead, she said, the march will be forward-looking and will serve to amplify the voices of women and minorities and to let the country know that those voices are united and strong.”
Is this march just for women?
Certainly not. It is being billed as “an INCLUSIVE march, and EVERYONE who supports women’s rights are welcome.”
“We welcome our male allies,” Bland was quoted in the Washington Post. “We want this to be as inclusive as possible while acknowledging that it’s okay to have a women-centered march.”
For those interested in attending, there are info-filled individual state pages for almost every state in the union. Links to those pages are listed on the national event page here.
There’s also a Rally (“crowd-powered travel”) page set up to help with transportation to and from the event. (They don’t call it organizing for nothing.)
Hopefully this march will stand as the antithesis to the uptick in hates crimes since Trump was elected.
When you think back to that hard to un-hear, repulsive conversation about women Donald Trump was recorded having, it will be interesting to hear what Mr. Trump has to say after thousands of women and their allies show up in his new back yard on his first day in office.