Five
years ago, on the eve of the instillation of a slimy fraud,
serial rapist and abuser, and would-be fascist strongman when
much of the country was paralyzed by dread and despair the
Women’s March on Washington filled the National Mall in defiance. Their numbers dwarfed the inauguration
crowds of the Orange Menace the next day. It was the opening shot of an energized
and spreading Resistance that four years later would oust the Resident. What made it even more remarkable is
that it was organized on-line in just a few weeks not by charismatic
leaders or media celebrities but by ordinary women, many of them
entirely new to activism. It
represented a genuine from the bottom up peoples movement
that spread across the country sparking hundreds of sister marches.
From
the beginning the March was characterized by devotion to what would
become known as intersectionality defined by the Oxford English Dictionary
as the “interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race,
class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as
creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or
disadvantage.” Representatives of
other oppressed and threatened groups and movements including Black
Lives Matter; immigrants facing deportation, detention,
and family separation; Muslims and other endangered religious
minorities; Native American Water Protectors; the LGBTQ community;
youth; the differently abled; and others were recognized as essential
mutual allies, represented at the rally; and included in leadership.
The
March was defiantly feminist but not separatist. Men were welcome to attend
and lend support to the agenda laid out by women. In some of the Sister Marches as many as 25%
of participants were male, some even wearing the knit pink
pussy caps that became a symbol of the March.
In
the years since the Women’s March has endured despite enormous
challenges and no little controversy and internal dissent. Major marches were staged again January of 2018
and 19. Special March on the Vote
events were held in the fall of 2018 before the mid-term elections that recaptured
the House of Representatives.
In 2021 and again this year the March faced the challenges of the raging
Coronavirus pandemic that disrupted and discouraged mass street
events.
Besides
the pandemic challenges have included controversy over electoral
politics particularly how closely to identify with Democrats,
generational strains between older second wave feminists and younger
women, leadership turmoil over allegations of antisemitism
by Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and Tamika
Mallory, an African-American gun control activist who had voiced
support for Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; a split
between National leadership and organizers of many sister marches;
and how much and what kind of corporate sponsorship to accept.
Despite
it all today kicks off Women’s March Global 2022 events and activities which
will run through March 8. They
write:
This January 21st,
let’s unite again in solidarity to begin a new phase of activism. January
21st’s march will show our solidarity and strength once again. Even though we
come from different places and we have different struggles, we all have the
same overarching goal for equality and justice. As Audre Lorde said, “I am not
free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from
my own” and so, this January 21st, show up and fight, not only for yourself but
also for your sisters. Follow us and be
one of the first to know how you can take part – either on the streets or in
the comfort of your home on Twitter at #WeWontBackDown or at https://fb.me/e/1OFzPllFV.
The March
also outlined an ambitious agenda for 2022 in an email to supporters
yesterday. It includes:
·
Growing
our Women2Women Circles so we can wield our feminist power at the local level
and drive change in our communities.
·
Recruiting
volunteers to text & make phone calls to voters leading up to the 2022
midterm elections.
·
Providing
trainings through our Feminist Fundamentals Short Course so that Women’s
Marchers can gain the basic foundation you need to organize, activate and
mobilize your community.
·
Scaling
our Digital Defenders program so we can continue combating misinformation
online and make sure everyone has access to the information they need to
survive this pandemic.
·
Resisting
against every attack the anti-abortion movement has planned this year and
building pressure on Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.
·
Putting
pressure on our politicians to support the feminist policies we need passed in
Congress to survive the current crises we face.
·
Holding
corporations accountable for the political campaigns they’ve financially
supported and calling for corporate social responsibility.
· Planning safe and Covid-conscious mass mobilizations so we can demonstrate our collective power as we resist attacks on our feminist values.
