User:Achu320/2020 Women's March

Overview

In 2020, the annual Women's March was held on January 18th, 2020 and there is a second one planned on October 17th, 2020 due to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  The main U.S. cities that held the Women's March on January 18, 2020 were: Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. All around the world Germany, Belgium, Spain, Nigeria, India and New Zealand also held Women's Marches in January.

First Women's March of 2020 (January 18th 2020)

2020 Women's March on September 18, 2020

The first Women's March 2020 on January 18th, 2020 was held based on three themes: reproductive rights, immigration, and climate change. The first Women's March 2020 had about 10,000 attendees at the Washington DC march which was a lower turnout in comparison to marches held in previous years. The Washington DC march culminated with a moment of silence along with chanting a performance of a Chilean feminist anthem, A Rapist in your Path, which sends a message of denouncing violence against women and a patriarchal state. There were also about 180 cities that participated in the event as well by planning their own protests. In comparison to previous marches, the focus of the first march was more on grassroot campaigns and less on celebrities and prominent figure. There has been some controversy within the board members of the Women's March organization especially towards Anti-Semitism before the first march in January. This led to three of the original board members of the Women's March organization to resign which includes Tamika Mallory, Bob Bland, and Linda Sarsour. Because of these board members stepping down, this led to the appointment of a more diverse board.

Women's March Organization and Board Members

The original board members of the Women's March organization who helped create and start the Women's Marches are : Tamrika D. Mallroy, Bob Bland, Carmen Perez & Linda Sarsour. After three of the original four members stepped down, a larger and more diverse board was born. This new board now includes 15 board of directors and only Carmen Perez is remaining from the original. The new board members was originally 16 members but when one of these new members was discovered to have compared Israel to the Islamic state, she was asked to resign.

Second Women's March of 2020 (October 17th 2020)

The second Women's March 2020 is being planned for October 17th, 2020 due to the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on September 18th, 2020. Even though the Women's March organization held a vigil in Washington DC to honor the late justice, due to President Donald Trump wanting to fill the seat of Ruth Bader Ginsberg before the 2020 election with the appointment nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, the Women's March Organization in partnership with the We Demand More Coalition intention of organizing this march is to send a clear message to the Trump administration about his agenda along with the opposition towards appointing a new Supreme Court Justice before the 2020 election especially with the possibility of Roe V Wade being overturned if Amy Coney Barrett passes the senate hearings and gets officially appointed to the Supreme Court. Along with voter outreach for the 2020 election, the organizers not only want to register voters for the upcoming election, but also inform voters about the Women's rights and Feminist agenda for the 2020 election and the impacts of what is at stake with this upcoming election. There are 10,000 people planning on attending the march in Washington DC along with over 100 marches across 39 states in 30 cities being planned on that day also with an anticipated 70,000 participants.

COVID-19 Implications

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lower turnouts could be expected due to the older demographics of those who attend the Women's March and precautions are being put in place with the organizers asking everyone to social distance and wear face coverings when attending these marches. The organizers advise against people with COVID-19 symptoms from attending the march in person. The Women's March Organization will also be having virtual events on the same day as the march along with car caravans for those that can't attend the march.

Start of Women's Marches

After Donald Trump was elected President of The United States, Progressives created the Women's March to happen on January 21, 2017 because they wanted wanted to start a resistance against the Republican backsliding that could happen towards women, minorities, the LGBT, the environment and health care coverage. Although many issues were being fought for in these protests the main issue that brought all these protesters together was the Election of Donald Trump. The protestors for the Women's March were angry at his sexist language against women, and his racism: "The newly elected president boasted about grabbing women by their genitals, suggested that women who have abortions should be jailed, described Mexicans as rapists, supported the notion that all Muslims should be banned from the United States, and implored Blacks to vote for him because they “have nothing to lose.” " In The United States millions of people attended the marches throughout all American states and there were marches all across the world that happened on that 21st of January in 2017.

Mission Statement

“We believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights. We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Indigenous women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Jewish women, Muslim women, Latinx women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, lesbian, bi, queer, and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.”