Editorial: The importance of the Women’s Marches
On Jan. 21, 2017, millions of people gathered in locations around the world for the one of the largest demonstrations in political history. The occasion? The Women’s March: people fighting for women’s rights and equality.
Signs filled the sky and everyone was silent as powerful speakers guided the peaceful protest. Hundreds of men and women, young and old, ready to change the world.
This energy from 2017 carried into the following years.
The Third Annual Sioux Falls Women’s March took place this last Saturday, Jan. 19.
Due to cold weather, the march turned into a rally inside the Falls East conference room at the downtown Holiday Inn. Protesters filled the room, sharing posters and socializing with other activists.
The most prominent message of Saturday’s rally was intersectionality. Intersectionality is the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class and gender.
Marissa Cummings, USD’s Native American Student Services director said at the rally, “We can’t be intersectional if the only one that you’re advocating for is yourself.”
The Women’s March has united many demographics and shown us the power we have when we all stand together. Women, especially, have become connected during these past months, taking to every social media platform to encourage others and to spread awareness.
The Women’s March’s mission is to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.”
Now, more than ever, women are acknowledging their role in society and standing up for the rights women before us fought so hard for.
The marches also foster solidarity. The Women’s March’s inclusivity brought together those who cared about a wide spectrum of causes: ending violence, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, workers’ rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights and environmental justice.
America Ferrera said at the Sioux Falls rally, “If we do not stand together, for the next four years, then we will lose together…But if we commit to what aligns us, if we stand together, we stand the chance of saving the soul of our country.”
Women’s rights were not given, they were fought for, and that makes them all the more valuable.
Following this past midterm election, women have grown more and more concerned about their access to contraceptives, abortions and equal pay.
As elected officials who have conflicting backgrounds with women’s rights, many women are fearful of what is to come in 2019.
Specifically in Tennessee, with the election of Marsha Blackburn to the U.S. Senate, people feel very uneasy about her ability to represent women while in Washington.
Blackburn voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which would prevent unequal compensation based on sex.
The Women’s March is such a powerful platform and a much-needed response to the injustices that women face.
No, marching for one day will not yield immediate social change, but the march does raise the energy of those who are participating or those who see others participating, which creates a greater potential for action.
