Women’s March ’19 (here’s where to go) has some big shoes to fill

Two years ago, anger, fear and defiance motivated millions of Americans to march in what’s been described as the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.

The Women’s March of 2019, slated for Saturday, Jan. 19, is expected to draw a huge – if smaller than 2017 –  crowd yet again, in an event that will be part rally and part “celebration,” according to OC Women’s March organizer Nichole Ramirez.

The march two years ago started as an outpouring of rage over the election of a president who, among other things, bragged about grabbing women’s genitals. It morphed into a sweeping catalyst for political and cultural change. The America that emerged following the 2017 march is a very different place than it was right after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Today, the emergence of women as civic leaders is perhaps the most important force of American politics. And a female-dominated movement – #MeToo – is challenging a culture that has allowed sexual violence to flourish.

Those statements might not be true if the first Women’s March hadn’t happened.

“The Women’s March (of 2017) was the match that just lit this explosion,” said Jenn Carson, organizer of the 2019 Women’s March Inland Empire.

But even as they look back at what’s been accomplished since that first event, organizers of this year’s Southern California marches are dealing with accusations of anti-Semitism directed at a New York City-based group, Women’s March Inc., issuing statements condemning such bigotry.

This year’s marches, they predict, will be huge and powerful. Southern California events on Saturday are set for Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and Riverside, among other cities.

In L.A., Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who has taken the title of “first partner” to Gov. Gavin Newsom, is slated to make her first public speech since her husband’s inauguration.

In Santa Ana, labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta is scheduled to speak, Ramirez said. Speakers at the Riverside march include Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona. And recently elected House members, such as Katie Porter, D-Irvine and Harley Rouda, D-Laguna Beach and Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, are expected to appear at some events in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

“An opportunity”

Between 3.2 million and 5.2 million people are estimated to have marched in 2017. In Washington, D.C., the number of marchers was projected to be triple the size of the crowd who attended Trump’s inauguration the day before.

“There were a lot of people, not necessarily avid supporters of Hillary Clinton, that were expecting to celebrate the inauguration of the first woman president in January 2017,” said Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne.

“The Women’s March gave them an opportunity to turn frustration, anger, and disappointment into tangible action and hope. The phrase ‘going viral’ is overused, but was really true for the first Women’s March.”

Others suggest the 2017 march set a tone that continues to affect American politics.

“The Women’s March has had very little impact on the Trump Administration. But (it) continues to be an outlet for people who want to channel their hopes for a different kind of politics, as well as their frustrations with the 45th president, and create momentum for political and cultural change,” said Renee Van Vechten, a political science professor at the University of Redlands.

“Participating in a march means you are engaged, and you’re listening.”

Van Vechten added that while people “of all political persuasions” could find many reasons to participate in the march, including “expressing frustration” with American politics, many Republicans misread it as merely “a big anti-Trump rally.”

In the months following that initial avalanche of pink-hatted protesters, the resistance to Trump and the Republican agenda grew into a grassroots movement. By November of 2018, that resistance merged with what polling suggested was a growing dissatisfaction with the Trump administration to help Democrats flip more House seats for their party – 40 or 41, depending on results in North Carolina – than in any midterm since Watergate.

The initial march, and its smaller but still enthusiastic 2018 follow-up, is seen by many as a big reason why female voters – and candidates – were key to the 2018 blue wave.

At the state level, a record 3,379 women won nomination for state legislatures last year, according to press reports citing figures from the Center for Women and American Politics at Rutgers University. As Congress convened earlier this month, there were 127 women in the House of Representatives and 25 women in the U.S.Senate – both all-time highs.

Also, five women were elected governor and at least three women have officially declared plans to run for president in 2020, with several others are expected to follow suit.

Another development since the 2017 Women’s March is the rise of the #MeToo movement, which brought sexual assault and harassment of women to the forefront of public debate. Many powerful men in politics, entertainment and media lost jobs and status following revelations of abhorrent if not criminal behavior – often going back decades and often swept under the rug.

Ramirez said this year’s march in Santa Ana will celebrate “the newfound strength” of Orange County, which saw its congressional delegation turn from majority Republican to all Democrat, and “remind people that (the 2020 election) is right around the corner.”

And, critically, she hopes to continue the vibe of 2017.

“We want to continue that engagement and enthusiasm.”

“Just getting started”

March organizers this year also are dealing with unwelcome publicity.

In December, the Jewish magazine Tablet reported that two co-chairs of Women’s March Inc. “asserted that Jewish people bore a special collective responsibility as exploiters of brown and black people.”

One of those co-chairs, Tamika Mallory, has been criticized for her ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a history of comments deemed anti-Semitic by groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. Mallory has refused to condemn Farrakhan.

March organizers in L.A. and Orange counties took to social media to stress that they aren’t affiliated with Women’s March Inc. “The Orange County Women’s March stands against hate in all forms,” a statement on the march website read.

Ramirez said her organization continues to face questions about the Women’s March Inc. controversy, which Godwin said “(has) already had a severe impact on speakers and participants for the (Washington, D.C.) event.”

Some marches also face questions about whether they truly represent their communities, a delicate subject for organizers who seek to include perspectives from women of color. A march in Northern California was canceled on the grounds that participants would be “overwhelmingly white.”

For the march to endure, “it needs to become recognized as a day as much as a movement,” Godwin said. “The Los Angeles organizers have set up a separate foundation, but the continued support of city leaders and key organizations is needed to sustain it” following the Women’s March Inc. allegations.

Women’s March California, a registered nonprofit, has 13 chapters, including events in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County. The Inland march is active year-round, according to organizer Carson, and this year’s event will help people to register to vote and direct people to volunteer opportunities and environmental groups.

“I think we’ve just gotten started,” Carson said.

WOMEN’S MARCHES

Here are some of the local events planned as part of the 2019 Women’s March set for Saturday, Jan. 19

Women’s March Inland Empire: 10 a.m. at the Historic Courthouse, 4050 Main St. in Riverside.

OC Women’s March: 10 a.m. at the corner of North Flower Street and West Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana.

Women’s March Los Angeles: Events start at 8:30 a.m. at Pershing Square. The march to City Hall starts at 10.

Women’s March South Bay: Participants will converge at 10 a.m. at the north end of the Ruby’s Diner parking lot, 245 N. Harbor Drive, in Redondo Beach. The marchers will then travel southeast to Veteran’s Park, by the Redondo Beach Pier, where they will rally.