20.01.2017
Por
On January 21st, one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as 45th president of the United States of America, thousands of women will get out to Washington’s streets to march for their rights. The initiative, which will be replicated in several cities of the US and around the world, is as much about gender as about race, religion, immigration and health. Donald won’t be happy. They don’t care: “women’s rights are human rights” they say. And will not allow any recoil.
Washington D.C. is used to witnessing historical manifestations. It did so in 1917, when women from all over the country gathered to fight and win the right to vote. In 1963 more than 200.000 people watched civil rights leader Martín Luther King delivering his famous speech «I Have a Dream» that became engraved in the head of millions around the world. During the 70’s, the city staged many of the protests against the Vietnam War. And more recently it hosted the “Black Lives Matter” movement, that stands up against any kind of violence or hate towards the African American community.
This 21st of January, the very next day after Trump takes office, thousands of women will march the streets of D.C. to defend their rights. The march, despite being dismissed as an Anti-Trump protest, seeks to pass a message to the incoming administration: any kind of offences against women will cost Trump dearly. While being endorsed by hundreds of nonprofit organisations and other social groups, they seek to become a movement.
The idea for the march came about a few days after the election. It started as something rather small and similar to other demonstrations against the president elect. A Facebook group was created with a clear purpose: thousands of women would gather to protest against Trump whose election campaign was interspersed with misogynist and sexist rhetoric. But the group quickly became viral and the initiative spread all over the country. Finally there will be more than 80 “sister marches” in several cities of the US and around the globe – such as Sidney, Barcelona, Mexico City, Paris and London, among others.
The march’s objective had to change. It should no longer be a demonstration against Trump but rather about the possibility to create a proactive community to defend women’s rights at times during which they might be in danger. The march pretends to “send a bold message to our new government during its first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights”, the official webpage indicates. Anyone who supports women’s rights is invited to participate.
The initiative gained the adhesion of important NGO’s and social organisations. Planned Parenthood, the non-profit organisation that promotes reproductive health services for millions of women, mentioned by Trump during the campaign, is a major sponsor. So is NARAL, an organisation advocating for access to abortion throughout the country. Feminist leaders, civil rights advocates and personalities from diverse backgrounds joined the movement. The march will be accompanied by the creation of an agenda and steps to follow after January. In exchange for the help received, organisers of the march are committed to accompany demonstrations against Congress in case the Trump administration decides to cut the budget of those organisations – as the president-elect already threatened to do.
After a couple of weeks, with the movement almost failing due to logistical problems, the organisation finally obtained an official permit from the Washington authorities. Over 200.000 people are expected to gather at the Congress although the route of the march hasn’t been defined yet. While the main organisation is responsible for D.C., dozens of local organisations will be in charge of the demonstrations across the country.
The coordination efforts extend to transportation services so as to make sure that people from all states can join the Washington march. According to Booking, 80% of the city’s hotels are already booked for the night before. Airbnb rates have gone up, and local residents have started to offer accommodation on Facebook’s private groups.
Mary Magdalene Serra is a film producer who lives in New York. For more than 30 years she has sought, through her movies, to contribute to gender awareness and make visible the role of women in her country. Of course, she couldn’t fail to be present in Washington: along with a friend she rented a bus for 50 people, enough capacity to invite several of her acquaintances. “I fight for women’s equality. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), proposed in 1923, never passed Congress and even though Obama tried to pass it again in 2015, it was rejected once more. I march for justice, freedom and democracy for all women”. With a camera at hand, she will try to document anything that happens at the march, during which she fears for reprisals by the police forces. “I fear loss of free speech and Trump is a nightmare that we need to resist. As a woman named Mary Magdalene, I must express my thoughts, feelings and fight for women’s rights” she expressed during the interview with Pucheronews.
While the central message is to protect women’s rights, the march also seeks to protect civil rights and oppose any type of deportation or religious-inspired violence, as well as defend access to health services. Apart from thousands of women, also a large number of Muslims and minority protesters are expected to participate.
The message is directed towards the Trump administration as well as the rest of the world. For Mark Street, one of the many men who will attend the march in New York, this is a chance to show the world that most Americans do not support Trump’s xenophobic, misogynist and racist rhetoric. «It is dangerous for my country and the rest of the world». Mark, unlike other demonstrators, won’t question the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency and the role of the electoral college, although he remarked that the popular vote was won by Hillary. «I raise my voice to protect women. Unfortunately, I believe that they are at risk with Trump’s administration: the right to safe and legal abortion (ongoing demand) will be infringed; access to contraception will be complicated and cases of sexual harassment will increase. All you have to do is pay attention to the kind of speech he embraced during the campaign”.
Trump’s election campaign and his cabinet – with the appointment of only three women and several members with a history of rejection towards minorities – are enough arguments to confirm that fear is founded. Women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and Muslims, and even environmentalists have plenty of reasons to be concerned. Can anything positive emerge out of all this? Many activists say yes.
Since November 8th public demonstrations have increased exponentially. NGOs received millions of dollars in donations, according to representatives of Planned Parenthood and ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union. Young people are getting out to the streets for the first time and joining demonstrations of all kinds of communities.
Mark feels very energetic, as never before in his life. «It’s easy to be an activist when you mostly agree with the people in power. I expect to work hard like never before. I want to be alert, informed and open to unexpected ways of resistance: from helping immigrant families to campaigning for progressive candidates. Everyone I know is stunned, depressed and shaken . We must transform those feelings into actions” he exclaims.
For Mary, instead of a golden age it will be rather a “dark age for activism”. She fears violence and aggressions from the police.
Trump will take power with a Republican controlled Congress and with promises of dismantling most of Obama’s policies and implementing cuts to the social budget.
On January 21st, women will come out to the streets in a demonstration that could become the largest the country has ever seen after a presidential inauguration. The struggle has just started.
Read the Spanish version Las mujeres salen a la calle en resistencia a la era Trump
