GREENFIELD — Of the marchers gathered on the Town Common Wednesday afternoon, Cosette Grout was among the littlest.
The toddler wore her red Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, pink pants and her pink cowgirl boots because her grandmother, Amy Connelly, told her she should wear pink.
Connelly, a Turners Falls resident, took Cosette and her other granddaughter, Lilly, to the demonstration for International Women’s Day. She took her own daughters to protest marches when they were little and wanted to do the same thing for the next generation. Attached to the stroller was a sign Connelly made saying “Girl power, we’re growing up fierce!”
“I want my granddaughters to know that they’re strong, and to grow up to be strong,” Connelly said.
Jessie Groneman, a Turners Falls resident, said to the group of about 100 people gathered that while there are a few women at the rally with their children, most can’t be because of child care costs. She said she was able to be at the march today because she could afford child care. She called on the group to remember “invisible” populations of women, who could not take off work or join protests.
Eve Brown-Waite, the event’s organizer, agreed with that message.
“We should be thinking about our sisters who are not here today because they cannot take off work,” she said.
She spoke from a megaphone for about 15 minutes and discussed several major issues the broader women’s movement is tackling right now. She and other speakers at the event contrasted the celebration of women with concerns about President Donald Trump’s administration.
“In 2017, we are still fighting the same battles as our mothers and grandmothers fought,” Brown-Waite said.
The crowd listened to speakers and later began chanting and singing while marching around the common. The protesters were there for about an hour, with motorists honking and cheering for the marchers.
The marchers were all ages and genders and came from different areas of the county.
Regan Hall of Greenfield also brought her 4-year-old daughter, who was wearing different shades of pink and red and made her own sign to hold.
Hall said she came to the march for several reasons, including concerns about Trump’s treatment of women, the possibility of a repeal of the federal Affordable Care Act, and the loss of LGBTQ civil rights. But she also wanted to share the day with her daughter.
“I want her to grow up knowing that she has a right to have her voice heard just as much as anybody else,” she said.
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