THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS
Activists, allies in U.S. flood streets to make voices heard
Dusting off pink knit hats and brandishing colorful signs, marchers gathered Saturday in the shadow of the capital’s Lincoln Memorial, in midtown Manhattan and in scores of other cities across the country , including above in Los Angeles. They were not aiming to re-create the record-shattering crowds of the Women’s March a year ago this weekend, but seeking to send a message of female empowerment and solidarity in the face of the divisive Trump presidency.
WASHINGTON — Dusting off pink knit hats and brandishing colorful signs, marchers gathered Saturday in the shadow of the capital’s Lincoln Memorial, in midtown Manhattan and in scores of other cities across the country — not aiming to re-create the record-shattering crowds of the Women’s March a year ago this weekend, but vowing to make a mark at the ballot box.
Seeking to send a message of female empowerment and solidarity in the face of a divisive presidency that began a year ago Saturday, activists staged protest marches and voterregistration drives, with the #MeToo movement of recent months serving as an inflection point.
In Los Angeles, crowds gathered in Pershing Square for a rally before marching to Grand Park in front of City Hall.
The lineup was celebrityheavy: Among those taking the stage were Scarlett Johansson, Megan Mullally, Olivia Munn, Olivia Wilde and Alfre Woodard.
Scarlett CunninghamYoung, 11, stood next to eight of her friends and their families, holding a sign with a quote by Malala Yousafzai. It was her second year attending the women’s march and she said she felt inspired being around the thousands of other marchers.
In New York, crowds were backed up for dozens of blocks leading to the rally site on the edge of Central Park. Marchers in sashes with the words #MeToo and #TimesUp were at a standstill on side streets where pink “No Parking” police signs on barricades blocked sidewalks.
One marcher had a sign that read, “I’m with her,” with arrows pointing in every direction.
Allies also took to social media to show support.
“Last year was the reckoning — this year is the battle,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo posted on Twitter.
In Washington, groups gathered under a crystalclear sky, with the National Mall as a backdrop. Brazilian drummers warmed up the crowd to cheers.
Nearly within shouting distance, President Donald Trump was still in Washington, having delayed a planned trip to his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, as a government shutdown took hold.
Trump tweeted it was a “perfect day” for women to march to celebrate the “economic success and wealth creation” that’s happened during his first year in office — while women across the nation rallied against him and his policies.
“Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months,” he wrote Saturday afternoon. “Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!”
More than 4,500 people marched through downtown Dallas. Many said they felt the need to demonstrate that Texas, a historically red state, is rapidly diversifying, especially in its largest cities.
Attorney Marita Covarrubias, 54, brought her 17year-old daughter and friend. “Living here in Texas, you don’t see a lot of social activism,” said Covarrubias, who grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. “Unfortunately, things have not improved over the past year.”
In Atlanta, thousands gathered at a brightly painted warehouse in a poor but gentrifying neighborhood southwest of downtown as organizers set up booths on voting, women’s health care and civil rights.
Rather than march again, organizers of Power to the Polls planned the event to inspire more progressive candidates to run for office, register voters and educate activists on how they can effectively mobilize people to vote.
The point is to go beyond another feel-good moment, said Janel Green, one of the organizers of the Atlanta Women’s March last year. “We’ve already mobilized,” she said. “It’s time now to translate that momentum into impacting elections.”
The march was smaller but equally exuberant in Park City, Utah, where hundreds of women turned out in 23-degree weather — and snow — for a lineup that was to include Jane Fonda, Common, Gloria Allred and Lena Waithe.
All across the country, organizers said electoral politics are increasingly taking precedence over street activism. There are said to be 390 potential women candidates for the U.S. House, compared with 202 women running two years ago.
Forty-nine women are likely to run for the Senate, compared with 21 in early 2016. The majority are running as Democrats.
Some organizers said they see the marches as galvanized by concern about a broad range of issues that disproportionately affect women. In New York, Xochitl Oseguera, the campaign director of the advocacy group Moms Rising, cited immigration, gender-based pay gaps and health care.
“Now we can share our stories and be heard a lot more than before,” she said. Laura King reported from Washington and Nina Agrawal reported from New York. Andrea Castillo in Los Angeles, Molly HennessyFiske in Dallas, Colleen Shalby in Park City, Utah, and special correspondent Jenny Jarvie in Atlanta contributed. Associated Press also contributed.