San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
ORGANIZERS OF VIRTUAL WOMEN’S MARCH PUSH FOR MORE ACTIVISM
Relegated to the virtual realm, the 2021 version of the San Diegoarea women’s march may not have made the same type of visual statement as tens of thousands of people marching together for a similar cause. But organizers believe the events’ ever-present mission to inspire community activism can be equal or greater this year.
That’s because the online events, streamed Saturday morning, provided a platform to discuss in a more meaningful manner matters of human rights, social justice and police reform.
“This really was a very different event. We have not had opportunities at the live marches to get into any particular issue with any measure of depth. Because at a march you’re doing two-minute, threeminute rah-rah-rahs,” said Poppy Fitch, a founding board member with the Women’s March San Diego organization. “Today what you saw was real talk, real conversation about real issues, getting at a greater depth of understanding, which is exactly what we’ve been looking for.”
The local movement, like others across the nation, first formed in response to the election of President Donald Trump. The San Diego chapter acts as an advocacy group, promoting everything from respect for women to immigrants’ rights to race and gender equality.
The first Women’s March San Diego, held the day after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, started at San Diego Civic Center Plaza in downtown San Diego and drew an estimated crowd of between 30,000 and 40,000 people. Marches in subsequent years started at Waterfront Park and also included thousands of participants.
This year, because of the pandemic, San Diego organizers knew they would need a new approach, one that inspired marching of a different variety.
“With COVID being what it was, we had decided very early last year, no in-person events for all of 2020. Yet we could not ignore the significance of what this year means, what this past election year means ... and really how far we’ve come as a movement, as an organization,” said Sarah Bacerra, a board member with the volunteer-led group. “We are still marching even if it looks a little differently.”
The team crafted a two-and-ahalf hour, all-digital program that included pre-recorded messages from community leaders and activists, as well as live and recorded panel discussions all tailored around this year’s theme, “Breaking Barriers.”
The event was streamed on both Youtube and Facebook to a live audience of around 400 people, although organizers believe the activist-driven content will garner even more attention in the days and weeks ahead. Video messages from state Sen. Toni Atkins, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe celebrated the shattering of glass ceilings, noting the historic election of Vice President Kamala Harris, but challenged viewers to keep working for more change.
“Although there’s glass everywhere, we still have brick walls of inequity to dismantle,” Montgomery Steppe said.
Panel discussions invited speakers to expound on lessons learned during a year of upheaval.
“As a public health professional ... I experienced and witnessed the intersection between racism and health outcomes for many years, so it’s not new to me,” Leticia Cazares, a board member for the Southwestern Community College District, said during a session on maintaining social justice momentum during the pandemic. “I think now is when people are actually waking up, the general population, (with) COVID revealing the depth to which (systemic racism and policies) have impacted our communities for hundreds of years.”
Similarly, a virtual production put on by the North County San Diego Womxn’s March was dominated by expressions of hope, pain and unity. The self-described grassroots organization, which is independent from the national Women’s March group, was also focused on specific calls to action with host Venus Johnson urging guests to “make your ask.”
Sue Alderson, a North County organizer, talked about the need to “end period poverty,” referring to the difficulty that many women, especially low-income women, have in affording feminine hygiene products.
“It’s incumbent upon us that along with food, housing and diapers that we make sure that women who need hygienic products can get them,” Alderson said.
Tiffany Boyd-hodgson, a board member of the Vallecitos Water District, said, “It is a question of dignity and enables women to fully participate in society.”
Gender equity also received a lot of attention during the North County event, with organizers stating that although transgender people have received more visibility in recent years, they still face inequality and discrimination.