The Women’s March is back, but there’s a difference this time
Organizers plan Power to the Polls voting event on D.C. rally’s one-year anniversary
The Women’s March a year ago drew huge crowds in Washington, D.C., and other cities. Organizers of the 2018 event this weekend are mobilizing to kick off a national voter registration drive.
On Jan. 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of President Trump, the Women’s March on Washington protested an administration many Americans feared threatened their rights and contradicted their basic values.
As the anniversary of the march approaches, USA TODAY spoke with Tamika Mallory, co-chair of last year’s historic protest and co-president of the Women’s March board, about activism, feminism and where the movement goes from here.
On Sunday, organizers will again mobilize — this time, to kick off a national voter registration tour. The Power to the Polls event will take place in Las Vegas, a location choice reflecting Nevada’s status as a battleground state in the 2018 election cycle.
Mallory and her fellow organizers say they are launching the effort to help elect more women and liberal candidates in congressional, gubernatorial and local elections nationwide.
Q: How did you decide this was what you wanted to rally people around, and what are your goals?
A: We thought to just have another march in Washington, D.C., would be purely symbolic, and it would not necessarily reach the goals of turning a historic moment into a movement that would impact the communities we seek to engage and help transform. We thought Power to the Polls was an important next step that would give us the opportunity to work on a grass-roots level with partners and individuals who are committed for the long haul.
Q: The march last year was birthed, in some ways, out of anguish, fear and despair. Do you feel the mood is different this time around?
A: I think that people are still very outraged. I think some people may even be more outraged today than they were last year.
Think about it. Last year, Donald Trump had not even been the president yet. He had not been in office at that point for any amount of time that would give people the ability to really see policies coming into place . ... Over the last year, we’ve been able to see how some of the rhetoric is turning into actual policies and procedures that impact communities that have already been struggling.
Q: What did organizers learn from last year that they applied to this year?
A: Last year, we learned — and throughout the year, we learned — that there needs to be a greater focus on our relationship with the trans community, and this year, we are being very intentional about engaging the trans community and figuring out better ways to be a stronger partner.
I think also something that we learned last year is that the Women’s March is sort of a microcosm of what is happening in the world.
Q: Do you believe the Women’s March helped catalyze #MeToo?
A: The women’s march set women on fire. It really created the energy for women to step forward in a number of ways and to be more vocal on issues that matter to us as women.
The Women’s March has provided an opportunity for women to understand our collective power and to understand that the more public we are, the more we have an opportunity to bring our issues to the forefront.