Anyone from Franklin County planning to take part in the national Women’s March on Saturday will have absolutely no trouble finding a place to participate — here, there and in between.
In addition to the Women’s March on Washington, D.C., which has been planned as a demonstration for women’s and human rights in counterpoint to Friday’s inauguration of Donald Trump as president, there are 615 “sister” marches planned in all 50 states and nearly 60 countries, with more than 1 million registered participants, according to the www.womensmarch.com website.
Greenfield, Northampton, Boston, Pittsfield and New York are among the venues.
More than 200,000 people have registered for the Washington march on its Facebook site.
That includes Greenfield’s 12:30 p.m. Women Standing Our Ground Rally on the Town Common planned in solidarity with the march on the nation’s capital and for “standing together for women’s and human rights,” according to organizers. “Intended as a call to action, the rally will provide information about the concrete actions participants can take to protect their rights, safety, health, and families.” A rally is also planned by Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution as a counter-inauguration Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. on the common in “defense of democracy and civil rights.”
Although described as women’s marches and rallies, the events are open to “any person, regardless of gender or gender identity, who believes women’s rights are human rights,” according to the website.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 1,000 people have expressed interest in the Greenfield Rally on Facebook, and nearly 515 say they plan to attend. A Saturday rally is also planned in front of the Northampton Unitarian Society beginning at 10 a.m.
“I’m inclined to take action locally,” said S. Lou Leelyn of Wendell, expressing the sentiment of many of those who plan to take advantage of the Greenfield rally rather than amassing at larger venues.
For anyone attending here, the Arts Block will host a “Rock Your Rights” solidarity event, with a lineup of women musical performers beginning at 2 p.m. as well as a broadcast of the march in D.C. Proceeds will be divided between Tapestry Health and Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, buses are planned from Northfield and Greenfield to the Washington, D.C., and Boston marches, and the online publication The Hill reported on Monday that all 1,200 available charter-bus parking spaces at RFK Stadium have been filled for Saturday’s march, three times as many permits as those requested for Friday’s inauguration festivities.
“I really feel strongly about standing up and saying ‘We’re not going to stand for hatred and intolerance, plus all the concerns that we feel are growing” about the Trump presidency,” said Tamara Sloan of Ashfield, who chartered a bus to the Boston rally from Shelburne Falls that she says “filled up quickly” with 56 riders, including her and three of her four children, ages 11 to 15.
Sloan said she had never chartered a bus before, but felt while carpooling her children to school immediately following the election, “I felt so sad about what’s happening to them. Their world must feel like it’s falling apart. They need to see it’s important to stand strong with the people you love and send a strong message.”
Deborah Habib of Orange said she’s planning to travel with her mother, Miriam, to the New York march Saturday morning.
“I feel at this point it’s important to gather as much energy as we can muster, and it’s incredibly exciting to be in a community where we feel a strong connection, to continue to be creative, impassioned and energized in ways to do work for love and justice.”
Although the marches are not specifically designated as anti-Trump actions, Habib said, “To me, it’s a statement that we’re better than this. We don’t need to lower ourselves to who he is and where he’s coming from. Many of us have been doing this work for years.”
Habib said she was “raised for a life of activism” and remembers marching with her parents in the nation’s capital against the Vietnam War, so there’s a special statement for her in marching again with her mother, now in her 80s.
“I’m very excited to be together on this momentous women’s march,” said Miriam Habib, who splits her time between Montague and Boston. “I’ve been a fighter for human rights all my life, starting with (opposing Sen.) Joe McCarthy … and we’re not going to put up with this sh**. We’re going to get through this, too, by mobilizing.
As of Jan. 9 on the Facebook event page, at least 150 people have said they’re coming to the Greenfield rally and at least 500 people have said they’re interested.
“I am helping create this local rally so we can show solidarity with the national march and add our voices to the call for women’s rights. I encourage all women and our allies to stand up for women’s rights and human rights on Jan. 21 and every day,” said Miriam Habib.
Sarah Ahern of Greenfield said she’s planning to take a charter bus from Northampton to take part in the Washington march, which began after a grandmother in Hawaii responded to November’s election results by asking on a Facebook events page, what if women marched on Washington around Inauguration Day en masse?
“The message we’re trying to send is ‘Women’s rights are human rights,’” said Ahern. “It’s not an anti-Trump rally. I sort of think of it as putting him on notice, ‘We are here. We are watching.’ Women’s rights are human rights. We’re standing out for all human rights.”
Ahern, who’s been offered a scholarship to attend, and plans to volunteer by preparing the march route, mediating any disputes along the way and document the action by area residents for Greenfield Community Television, added, “I feel honored that I’m able to go.”
You can reach Richie Davis at
rdavis@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 269