Supposedly, the election of the first female president of the United States would mobilize millions of American women to rally in unity on issues related to political, social and gender-relevant legislation.
However, it seems as if the election of Hillary Clinton’s rival — Donald Trump — has mobilized women throughout 30 countries and 200 American cities to rally in solidarity on the day after he takes the oath of office.
With 150,000 women pledged to attend a mass demonstration on day one of Trump’s presidency, they allegedly coalesced on social media immediately following the Nov. 9 election to form a Dump Trump movement.
Described as being “more about being proactive about women’s rights,” organizers claim their aim is to take “a stand on social justice and human rights issues ranging from race, ethnicity, gender, religion, immigration and healthcare.”
According to the event website the purpose of the march is to “send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.”
Shocked and disappointed by Trump’s victory via the Electoral College many agree with the viral assessment that a travesty had occurred and: “9/11 worst day in America… second worst 11/9.”
Since that memorable date, protests have been staged here and in many cities throughout the nation with coordination of the biggest inauguration protest demonstration ever in the nation’s capital.
Like-minded foreigners are also mobilized to show solidarity with the movement.
International coordinator and London organizer, Kerry Haggerty, has been overwhelmed by the growth and unity of the movement.
“Women across the world are stepping up, lending their time and their talents to be a part of this global movement, to unite and be a powerful voice in opposition to all the hate and divisiveness and to make a stand defending their rights and the rights of others,” she said.
Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration as president, women in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Auckland, New Zealand, Barcelona, Spain, Berlin, Heidelberg and Frankfurt, Germany, Brussels, Belgium, Copenhagen, Denmark, Edmonton, Toronto, St. Johns and Ottowa, Canada, Geneva, Switzerland, London, England, Malecon and Jalisco, Mexico, Oslo, Norway, Paris, France, Rome, Italy, Stockholm, Sweden, Sydney, Australia, Vienna, Austria, Wellington, New Zealand and a growing list of cities and countries are committed to stage public outrage of Trump’s presidency.
Pledged to show allegiance with the cause, Women’s March Global (WMG), the core group of global organizers announced the names of coordinators on virtually every continent
“Donald Trump’s election really felt like the last straw. The Women’s March on Washington was just starting up and within a couple of days a group of women in London had found each other to start one here,” London organizer, Emma McNally, said.
“We immediately started to contact organizations, groups, individuals across all areas of social struggle: poverty, misogyny, racism, the environment – wherever people are fighting back against inequality and injustice. We have encountered wholehearted enthusiasm and support from all quarters to unite and to form an alliance.”
Perhaps fueled by widespread political disillusionment in the UK following Brexit, women (and some men) the Women’s March on London took the lead on the global coordination effort partly because they find similarities with the conservative dominance here.
Reportedly, one of the first and largest sister marches to be planned, the European protest march rapidly gained support from writers, musicians and politicians.
The British-based London march forged partnerships with the Women’s Equality Party, Amnesty International, Unite The Union, The Equality Trust and Scientists for EU.
With only days to Trump’s inauguration feminist leader Gloria Steinem, Civil Rights activist Dolores Huerta and singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte are confirmed to serve as honorary co-chairs of the Washington D.C. march.
“Our constitution does not begin with ‘I, the President.’ It begins with, ‘We, the People.’ I am proud to be one of thousands who have come to Washington to make clear that we will keep working for a democracy in which we are linked as human beings, not ranked by race or gender or class or any other label,” Steinem said in a statement.
First announced as the Million Women’s March, the three white organizers quickly changed the name when they were criticized for co-opting the title of the 1997 Black female rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which was a follow-up to Minister Louis Farakhan’s Million Man March in Washington D.C.
Tens of thousands of women (and men) have already pledged to take part and busloads are expected to brave the usually arctic temperatures that usually prevail on the historic occasion.
“For me the march is also important because it recognizes how interconnected our world is. What happens in America impacts all of us. The rights of women and of minority populations and vulnerable and low-income people are under threat and we must do everything we can to protect these rights and fight for true equality.”
Musician Pixie Geldof, writer Stella Duffy, activist Jack Monroe and US rock musician Thurston Moore are supporting the London march, while here in the US organizers claim that actress Amy Schumer and many of the musicians who have refused to play at Trump’s inauguration will join them.
Filmmaker Michael Moore said he will attend the event. He initially called for 100 days of protests.
“It’s important that everybody go there. This will have an effect. We have to throw everything at this,” Moore said. “This man is slightly unhinged, if I can say that, and he’s a malignant narcissist. He’s going to be very upset if there’s a lot of people there.”
“I’m supporting this march because I don’t want to be a bystander to the politics of fear, division and aggression that defined crucial votes in the UK and the US in 2016,” Geldof said.
She added: “I believe that kindness, love and unity are stronger than hate. I believe that we are stronger together. Together we can show that no matter who you are, you have a voice, and it’s a voice worth being heard.”
Planned Parenthood got involved specifically because the organization and its supporters believe the march will “send a strong message to the incoming administration that millions of people across this country are prepared to fight attacks on reproductive healthcare, abortion services and access to Planned Parenthood,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America said.
Throughout his election campaign, Trump promised to defund the reproductive health organization because it performs abortions.
Planned Parenthood has helped shape the march’s policy agenda, and in return, it hopes that many of the protesters will mobilize in its defense when Trump and congressional Republicans make their attempt to strip the organization of millions in federal funding.
“It’s no secret Planned Parenthood is expecting the fight of our lives,” Kelley Robinson, deputy national organizing director for Planned Parenthood said.
“This is a movement where people are inspired to take action at numbers we’ve never seen before. We want to make sure they have a great time at this march, but also plug into local efforts. We want to make sure people are taking action not just on 21 January, but stay engaged for months and years into the future.”
The march will record the largest gathering of women to protest at an inauguration. It will begin on Independence Avenue at the southwest corner of the US Capitol building and continue along the National Mall.
More than 200 marches are planned to protest Trump’s political agenda and the inauguration of the 45th president.
The last time this many women marched on Washington was in 1913, when suffragettes gathered for the right to vote. It was the day before Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated. A parade of more than 5,000 women led the charge.
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