Women’s March anniversary events try to be more inclusive
Some minorities, trans people say concerns were overlooked last year
This weekend is an important horizon on the U. S. landscape of women’s history: People across the nation will mark the anniversary of the historic Women’s March on Washington. But for some women, the anniversary is a reminder of the shortcomings of last year’s event.
Critics said the march centered on whitewomen at the expense of women of color and trans women, both groups who many said had more to lose under a new administration they saw as hostile to human rights. At the start, organizers of the Women’s March were almost all white, though they moved quickly to address that.
Some said they felt their issues— such as racism, discrimination, po-
lice brutality, LGBTQ inclusivity and immigration— ranked behind issues that matter most to straight, white, middle- class women.
“We have to decide: Do we want equality and justice for a select group, or do we want it for everyone, andwe knowall these issues are tied together?” said Ruth Hopkins, a Native American writer and activist. “Gender justice is related to economic justice and racial justice, and we have to think about all these things.”
As the Women’s March and sister marches take place Saturday and Sunday across the country, many women ask: Has anything changed?
Tamika Mallory, co- chair of last year’s protest and co- president of the Women’s March board, said something had to change. “We’re looking at all the communities thatwe seek to engage and work with, and we’re trying to figure out howto deepen those relationships and ensure all the stakeholders are at the table,” she said. Mallory said transgender inclusion is a priority, as is increasing visibility for women of color.
“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,” she said. “We’re looking through our organization and figuring out where diversity is a problem even within the network, where we have chapters that are mainly led by white women, and there needs to be an intentional effort to bring women of color into those particular networks.”
Reeling from Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, some black women said they felt betrayed that 53% of white women voted for Trump, while 94% of black women voted for Clinton, according to exit poll data from
The New York Times.
“I’ve never felt anything remotely resembling sisterhood with white women. Friendship, affinity, fondness, love — sure. Sisterhood? Nah. That sense of loyalty, interconnectedness, accountability and shared struggle simply isn’t there,” cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux wrote on why she was skipping the march in 2017.
This year’s march has mostly avoided any backlash for lacking diversity. The Power to the Polls campaign focuses on getting women registered to vote and electing liberal women into office. The kickoff event Sunday in Las Vegas, a location chosen because Nevada is a 2018 election battleground state, features social critic Melissa Harris- Perry; Alicia Garza, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D- Nev.; and U. S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D- Texas.