In a show of solidarity demonstrating that women’s rights are human rights, Cordovans will join thousands of marchers in the United States, and worldwide this Saturday for the Women’s March on Washington.
Local participants are to meet at the old library parking lot on Main Street, at 10 a.m.
Erica Thompson-Clark, a lifelong Alaskan, mother, and activist, is the local event’s coordinator.
“We will walk up the sidewalk on the old library side of Main Street to the Masonic, cross the street, continue marching down the sidewalk, and peacefully assemble in the area between Wells Fargo and Copper Valley, overlooking the harbor. We’ll share space there for 10-15 minutes,” Thompson-Clark said.
Invitations to the event began circulating via Facebook beginning Jan. 13.
“Friends here asked if I was traveling to one of the marches in the larger cities,” she said. “An acquaintance from Kodiak, my hometown, sent me a Facebook invitation to the march there that she was helping to coordinate. It made me think of all the small communities where a handful of people will be assembling. Yes, it would be an incredible experience to march in D.C., however, seeing hundreds of marches taking place in rural communities across the country speaks volumes.”
Responses to the Cordova Women’s March on Washington have been overwhelmingly positive, she said.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have at least 25 people. I’ll be ecstatic if 50 Cordovans come, as with everything here, I think it will be largely weather dependent,” she said.
“I’ve made it clear that this is NOT an anti-Trump rally.
“We shun divisiveness. It’s about principles, not politics. I hope this march will create visibility for people to share their voices and their concerns with their fellow Alaskans, and that it will empower people to act at a local level for causes which they feel passionate about. We cannot and should not be silent about the things that are important to us,” she said.
Thompson-Clark feels a march at a grassroots level in Cordova is significant.
“There was continuous rhetoric during the election about ‘the silent majority.’ Then people kept pointing out that a large portion of rural America voted for the Republican candidate, and that’s now assumed to be what was meant by ‘silent majority.’ In Cordova, the epitome of what is considered rural America, the vote was almost evenly split,” she said.
Thompson-Clark said Cordovans are making their presence as ‘rural America,’ known.
“Our voices in this march will say that violence, any violence, or perpetuation of violence, against women, against people of color, against certain religious denominations, against law enforcement officials, and anyone else, will not be tolerated or ignored on our watch. Some of us are marching for continued reproductive freedom, refusing to accept any rollbacks on the federal, state, or local levels. Some of us are marching in support of the Affordable Healthcare Act, demanding that our country increase accessibility to quality, affordable healthcare for all its people,” she said.
And, some people will march because they’re unhappy with the incoming administration of Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, Jan. 20.
“Some of us are peacefully opposing the nominees of the incoming administration for various positions of power, such as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and ExxonMobil’s chief executive officer Rex Tillerson, as Secretary of State. Some of us are marching for immigrant rights, some for LGBTQIA rights, some are marching for those in the disabled community, who cannot march themselves, but who have been systematically marginalized by the incoming administration,” said Thompson-Clark.
LGBTQIA is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual communities.
The official mission statement for the national Women’s March on Washington states, in part, “We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.
“In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will 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. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us,” the website states.
Marches are also planned in Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak, Fairbanks, Palmer, Homer Soldotna, Bethel, Ketchikan and Sitka.
For information on the Cordova Women’s March on Washington call Thompson-Clark for more information at 424-7629.
The official website for the Alaska March is www.womensmarchonalaska.org; and the official website for the National March in Washington, D.C. is www.womensmarch.com.
