It Was Our Day–Women’s March 2017

Barbara Belknap, Author

The Women’s March was today. It was a success beyond what anyone expected, and will go down in history as a watershed event in the history of women’s rights. Millions of women answered the call to speak out, to shout out, and to fill the streets of the world. Pat Watt was there in DC today, as were Kristen Bomengen and Mo Hicks.

Here in Juneau, women (and several men) braved a bitterly cold day to stand in front of the Capitol building and listen to passionate speeches from a diverse group of eloquent women. Many women had small children on their shoulders, and they will tell them the story about going out on a bitterly cold Saturday to stand up for women’s rights.

Beth Kerttula gave a passionate speech, as did a Tlingit woman, a Filipina woman, and others. The applause was muffled only because we all had our gloves on! Michael Penn was there for the Juneau Empire and there is a slide show of his pictures on their website.

Everywhere I looked, I saw women I know, but there were many young women and others I didn’t know. I wasn’t able to participate in the march to the JACC from the Capitol, but I’m sure it was an impressive and inspirational sight to see.

After arriving home, I checked on TV to see what was happening around the country. I was thinking too small. There were also women’s marches outside the United States. A friend of mine in Chile sent me a picture of her and her friends with the word “junta” (together). The Women’s March was the tipping point after the 2017 election, but it became an international event today.

 

(Authored by Barbara Belknap, posted by J. Andree)