Marching to maintain momentum
Local events planned to mark anniversary of Women’s March that drew unprecedented crowd
As she was visiting with her young granddaughters in New York in December, Nancy McDonald began to wonder what the future holds for the girls, ages 5 and 7. She reflected on a year of federal policy changes that she — a longtime activist for women, minorities, the homeless and animal rights — found devastating.
“I looked at my two granddaughters, and I think, ‘I have to do something to make the world a better place when they’re older,’ ” she said. “… I have to let them know that Nana stands up.”
McDonald, who works as a mental health therapist, had participated in the January 2017 Women’s March that drew some 15,000 people from throughout Northern New Mexico to Santa Fe’s downtown streets, despite snow flurries and frigid temperatures. A mile-long parade of demonstrators — a crowd four times larger than even the event’s organizer, Lindsay Conover, had expected — marched from the Bataan Memorial Building on Galisteo Street toward the Plaza and then to the state Capitol, displaying a mix of fury, fear, hope, joy and, above all else, unity.
The local people — women, men and children — were among an estimated 5 million people who filled streets in more than 650 cities large and small across the globe Jan. 21 to send a message to newly inaugurated President Donald Trump: Civil liberties must be protected.
That unprecedented display was an inspiration to McDonald.
Last month, as the event’s anniversary was approaching and plans for follow-up events were moving forward in Washington, D.C., and dozens of other cities nationwide and abroad, she wondered: “Where’s our march?”
She searched online and asked around, and she quickly discovered no one had stepped up to ensure the movement’s momentum continued in Santa Fe.
Conover, following her successful organizing campaign last year, had become involved in local political activities and wasn’t able to devote her time to this year’s event, she told The New Mexican.
Looking back at the impact of the 2017 Women’s March, Conover said she believes it inspired countless women, like herself, to get off the sidelines and actively engage in making change.
More indirectly, she said, it had the effect of rejuvenating the #MeToo social media movement, raising awareness of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women, as well as other human-rights efforts.
McDonald, meanwhile, was determined not to let the anniversary of the historic Women’s March go by without notice in the city. She called a friend, fellow mental health therapist and activist Karen Cain, and the two Santa Fe women, along with a third partner, Margaret Romero, decided to buckle down and make the march happen with just a few weeks left for planning.
“We both had the idea that we could not not do something,” Cain said in an interview Friday, when she and McDonald offered details of the Jan. 21 march and rally that will take place in downtown Santa Fe. It’s a work still in progress a week before demonstrators are set to gather.
This year’s event, focusing on a power-to-the-polls theme aimed at getting people registered to vote in the midterm elections, will begin at the state Capitol at noon and end with a lineup of speakers and musical performances on the Plaza.
It was a daunting endeavor, the women said — one that required more time and resources than they had imagined at the outset. They estimated costs for insurance, police security, advertising and equipment to be at least $10,000.
A GoFundMe campaign to help recoup some of those costs had raised just over $900 by Saturday evening.
Complicating the process and confusing potential marchgoers, Cain said, a T-shirt company from elsewhere, apparently trying to sell its wares, had created a Facebook page that appeared to be the official site for the 2018 Santa Fe Women’s March but advertised the wrong date.
Getting the word out — accurately — has been a 24/7 effort since planning began.
“But it’s worth it,” McDonald said.
She wears her march T-shirt (the official shirt, produced and sold by Roadrunner Screen Printers on Siler Road) wherever she goes. “Yesterday I was at Whole Foods, and any woman who looked approachable, I’d go, ‘Do you know about the Women’s March?’ … Nobody said go away.”
This time last year, a Facebook page for the inaugural march showed about 2,000 people were planning to attend. A page for the upcoming event (the real one, titled “Santa Fe Women’s March 2018 Official”) on Saturday showed just 91 were “going” and 77 were “interested.”
Cain and McDonald are certain far more demonstrators will arrive by march time. They’ve already piqued the interest of prominent people in the community who have agreed to speak: U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, former CIA agent and author Valerie Plame Wilson, representatives of Planned Parenthood and WildEarth Guardians, and others. Conover also will make an appearance.
“I think now more than ever, what has occurred this past year, we should have thousands and