March or not, activists’ efforts evolve
If you don’t know how to go to your local town council meeting, see who’s running for election or even run for public office yourself, Sarah Ferraro wants to help.
Ferraro, of Crown Point, cofounded Rise NWI in 2017, the year of the first Women’s March, to help “demystify things” as people sought to get more educated and involved in their government in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election and inauguration.
Now, two years later, with the third annual Women’s March, Ferraro thinks the momentum will continue.
“Every year I think it’s more and more important that people get educated on what’s actually happening,” Ferraro said.
She and others from Northwest Indiana said they had planned to go to Women’s March events Saturday in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., but those plans were contingent on the weather. With the expected snow, the women decided to stay home.
Even if a person can’t attend the annual march, whether it’s due to weather or for personal reasons, there are other ways to be involved and keep up the efforts that kicked off in 2017, Julie Storbeck, president of NWI NOW, the local chapter of the National Organization for Women, said.
“I don’t see this dying off anytime soon,” said Storbeck, of Valparaiso.
After the first year, when thousands of people turned out to hundreds of Women’s Marches across the country and world, people wondered if the spark would continue.
“That first year was amazing,” said Betsy Hunt, of Schererville. “I would love to see that every year. It would be phenomenal.”
Those efforts will continue, Ferraro said, but the way those issues are supported and advocated for “will evolve.”
“I think it’s going to probably ebb and flow, where you’ll have new people come in, old people go out, people take a break,” Storbeck said.
People will get fired up when there is a particular issue they think matters or that they think they can address, according to Storbeck.
“Because what we’re looking at is generational,” Storbeck said.
Hunt said “there’s so much going on” and “only 24 hours in a day.” Even if someone is passionate about many topics, they may have to be selective to make the
biggest difference.
“That’s why I focus on Planned Parenthood,” said Hunt, who is a patient escort organizer for the Merrillville Planned Parenthood office.
Ferraro and Hunt were excited about an event planned to take place prior to Indianapolis’ march this year hosted by All-Options and Planned Parenthood to address “the state of reproductive freedom in Indiana” and how people can organize and act on it.
Hunt has her eye on some bills proposed this session at the Indiana statehouse. One would not require health providers to provide an abortion procedure if the provider objected on “ethical, moral or religious grounds.” Another “repeals the statutes authorizing and regulating abortion” and states “human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm.”
“We’ve got to figure out a way to get people more educated and to just stand up and take notice,” Hunt said.
Storbeck is personally concerned about environmental issues and climate change. She is also focused on the Violence Against Women Act, which expired in December amid the government shutdown.
“I think that it’s unconscionable that Congress did that,” Storbeck said.
Ferraro, a former firstgrade teacher, was politically active before the first Women’s March, and she’s continued her activism work since. She went to work on campaigns in Wisconsin and Indiana, including Valparaiso attorney Jim Harper’s bid for secretary of state last year.
Ferraro posts on local advocacy Facebook pages practically every day with links and information for people to stay aware with what’s going on with their local leaders.
State Rep. Chris Chyung, D-Dyer, was in the midst of his campaign when he rode on a bus with dozens of other people from Northwest Indiana last year to Indianapolis for the second annual Women’s March.
This year, Chyung was sworn in to his first session representing the 15th District and was selected as one of the speakers for Indianapolis’ third march on Saturday.
“It feels really great,”
Chyung said.
He said that he and Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute, another one of the announced speakers who’s also a newcomer to the statehouse, “really want to just show everyone absolutely can run for office and win.”
“We both decided to run for office because we thought we could do a good job,” Chyung said. “We’re both newcomers to politics.”
By sharing their experiences, Chyung said he hopes they can excite people about running for office themselves or to get behind others who want to try.
Going forward, Storbeck, Ferraro and Hunt all hope the movements and activism continue, including the annual marches.
“I think it’s important to keep the momentum going,” Ferraro said.