In
2017 on the day after Donald Trump’s
inauguration when progressives,
liberals, and social justice
advocates seem both befuddled by
the outcome of the 2016 elections and
were said to be demoralized and in disarray, The Women’s March in Washington
and sister marches across the globe
drew more than 5 million people into the streets including an astonishing 1.5%
the U.S. population. It
was the largest single day protest
in American history and helped usher
in a broader movement of resistance that
has been marked by mass protests on
issues including gun violence, climate
change, immigration rights, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, income
inequality, and Medicare for All.
Now
in 2020 with another national election looming and the nation embroiled in
seemingly permanent crisis and hard
fought for rights and protections being attacked and dismantled before
our eyes—women’s reproductive freedom, environmental
and labor regulations and protections, basic voting rights, and the whole social
safety net—women and their allies are ready to take to the streets again
this Saturday, January 18.
The Women's March Washington in 2017
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The
original Women’s March was unique in
several important ways. It was initiated
not by any existing organization or coalition and without a charismatic leader. Instead it blossomed from on-line chats of ordinary women, many of them with no protest experience or connections to past activism in the days following the election. It was hastily put together by volunteers who had never met each other
on an ad hoc basis—women who said “I can do that!” and they did. It had no budget beyond the personal purses of the organizers and then a sea
of small individual donations raised
on social media. While the march in Washington was coming
together, women in major cities—New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los
Angeles—and smaller cities, towns,
and suburbs spontaneously got
together to plan local events for those who could not go to Washington—the so-called
sister marches.
There
were tensions between feminists who had dreamed of seeing Hillary Clinton inaugurated as the
first woman president, and progressive who had supported Bernie Sanders in the primaries and had been at best tepid in support of Clinton. Despite some back and forth blaming and name
calling, both sides agreed to come together and ended up marching
side-by-side.
Minority women were put off by
the largely white middle class original
organizers who they feared would overlook
or marginalize their specific
needs and demands. But like the little poem for which this is named they “cast
a circle that drew them in.” Pains were
taken to include Black, Latino, LGBTQ, immigrant, youth, Muslim, and Jewish voices in the emerging leadership and to feature them prominently
in the rallies. Although far from perfect the Women’s
March modeled the new era of Intersectionality.
Many
thought the movement would wither
after the first protest, that the relentless
assaults of Trumpism or simple burn out would dissipate their energy
much as the Occupy movement faded
after a year or so intensive action. But as in the popular slogan of Hillary supporters said, “She [they] persisted.” If some grew tired or discouraged, there were
more to step to the plate. A Marches were
held again in January 2018 and 2019.
There
were, of course, controversies and
even splits. One of the four National Co-chairs of the first march, Linda Sarsour, the Executive
Director of the Arab American
Association of New York, was accused of anti-Semitism for her remarks criticizing Israel and in support of Palestinian
rights. Some Jewish organizations, donors,
sponsors, and politicians demanded that she be removed as a co-chair and that her
views be explicitly denounced. When the other co-chairs refused some
withdrew support of the Women’s March and publicly attacked it. In the aftermath many of the Sister March
organizations cut what ties they had to the Washington March or issued disclaimers. Inviting anti-abortion
feminist groups to participate or co-sponsor was criticized by Planned Parenthood and others and the
anti-abortion groups were quietly expunged from sponsorship listings on web
sites.
On
the other hand some of the national Women’s March leadership and more radical
supporters have criticized some of the local Sister Marches with becoming captive to the Democratic Party and candidates
to the exclusion of alternative voices.
Three years of
marching, training, organizing, and building power – it’s all been leading up
to this. In 2020, we have the chance to strengthen the movement we started
three years, and to unite together in the face of continued attacks on our
bodies, our rights, our immigrant communities, and our planet.
This year, we
aren’t just marching. We’re putting our bodies on the line hand in hand with
other mass movements.
With your help,
we can make this the largest day of action the country has ever seen, and
demand that our leaders be held accountable, protect our planet, and fight for
our rights.
The
march has announced a week of actions
leading up to Saturday’s March highlighting four key issues—climate change, reproductive rights and health care
availability, immigration justice, and “No
War in Iran—Remove Trump.”
For
more information on the Washington March or to locate a local action visit http://womensmarch.com/2020-march.
In
Illinois there will be a major march
in Chicago forming at 11 am Saturday
in Grant Park. Last year the Chicago March skipped a
January event after hosting a March to
the Polls event in October 2016 before the mid-term elections citing the short turn-around to another January
march. This year they will also host
another March to the polls next fall.
There
will also be several local marches throughout the state and metropolitan area. Many of the members of Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist
Congregation in McHenry will be
participating for the second year in the Women’s March McHenry
County-Women Rising 2020 on Woodstock
Square starting at 12:30 pm co-hosted
by McHenry County NOW with
support from the Democratic Party of
McHenry County, McHenry County
Progressives, and Indivisible. Last year hundreds turned out on the Square
despite a major over-night snow storm
and frigid temperatures. Tree of Life marchers will gather at the entrance
to the Square on Johnson Street across
from the Old Court House. We will be marching behind our yellow TOL
Side of Love banner. Bring signs, warm clothing,
and a passion for justice!
Lisa Messinger and the Old Man with a Tree of Life UU congregation banner at the Woodstock Women's March in the bitter cold last January. Photo by Trish Schaffer.
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