Women’s March held in Auburn Hills
On Saturday, the Women’s March rallied across the United States to advocate for women, includingmarching inWashington D.C.
Women’s March Oakland, the Oakland County section of the organization, kicked off the marches for the day in theDetroit area in AuburnHills from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. atRiverside Park in Auburn Hills, located at 3311 Squirrel Court at Auburn and Squirrel roads.
The event was a brief launch for the Women’s March Landing Rally, the event’s main rally, at Hallwood Plaza in Flint, located at 4901 Clio Road, where women fromOakland andGenesee counties gathered to protest.
The event consisted of a drive up I-75 to Flint, for which the women decorated their cars and drove up to the main event at
Hallwood Plaza.
“The women of Oakland and Genesee Counties stand in solidarity with ALL women across our nation,” the Facebook event page said. “We fight for ourselves and each other.
“United, we will continue to fight to end violence, for environmental justice, for reproductive rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, worker rights, health care as a human right, and wage equality. We stand in solidarity with our black and brown sisters, our LGBTQIA sisters, and all others who suffer at the hands of oppression, sexism, and bigotry.”
The Oakland County and Flint events were organized by Kristin Watt, Jessica Riddle, Sherlynn Everly and Meghan Hill.
Many people came out to the kickoff rally in Auburn Hills, including Rosemary Bayer, a Democratic Michigan state senator from the state’s 12th District.
“It is important because we are doing it together really. Every time women march, coming together, the statement is made,” Bayer said.
“The movement goes forward establishing equity and building our part of the universe. To be a little bit different then theway it is today,” she said.
When asked why she thought this year’s election was important, Bayer said,
“It’s funny, it’s more important than any of us can remember. SO many people are engaged.”
“It’s important because we are feeling a little damaged I think. We have so much contention, so much partisanship and so many things that are broken right now. We are counting on this election to bring us some stability,” she said.
Participants also included Natalie Harmon, a Fenton resident, who was concerned about voter rights suppression when contacting her local school board.
“I emailed, again, and again, and again,” she said. “Finally, I get a response back from a board member and she called me rude, she accused me of being disrespectful. All at the same time I was her constitute. Easy to say, she lost my vote.”
“Our young people are being told all the time that they are not important, that their vote does not matter, that what they say is not important,” she continued.
“If they say the vote of the young people is not important, we we will nevermake a difference,” Harmon said.
For more information on the national march, visit the Women’s March website. Or, for information on the local march, visitWomen’s March Oakland’s section of the page and click on “Marches.” Or, to see the march on social media, visit @womensmarchonwash or @womensmarchoak on Facebook, or @ womensmarch on Twitter.