40,000 JOIN WOMEN’S MARCH IN SAN DIEGO, MILLIONS MORE NATIONWIDE

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By Miriam Raftery

Photo, right:  Cathy and Kayla Lechien at La Mesa trolley stop

Photo, left:  Women's marchers at the embarcadero in San Diego 

January 21, 2017 (San  Diego) – At the Spring Street trolley station in La Mesa, hundreds of East County residents converged to ride downtown and join this morning’s  Women’s March.

Major media outlets estimate some 40,000 marchers in San Diego joined millions more across the U.S. in what CBS reports was the largest protest in U.S. history.  Some participants estimate there were over 100,000 marching in San Diego; another 10,000 marched in North County. Other cities around the globe also drew huge crowds.

 Women and men,  young and old, straight and gay, white, black and Latino –and all shared one common goal:  forging a resistance coalition opposed to policies of President Donald Trump that would weaken rights and freedoms for  women, minorities, and many other American.

Marilyn Riley of  El Cajon told East County Magazine that she turned out “to show my resistance against the unstable, narcissistic, corrupt and dangerous person who took office yesterday and his despicable family that is a danger to our country and everyone else on the planet.” 

Her husband, Bob Grand, quipped “I’m with her,” then elaborated, “I think the president has to be deemed the most unpopular president in modern history, if not in all time.” (Photo, right: Marilyn Riley and Bob Grand)

Ana Hubbell of Jamul came with her 7-year-old daughter. “Mostly I want my children to be in a world that is not divisive.  I’m a school counselor, and I see a lot of my students with anxiety and panic since this election.” 

Cathy Lechien a;sp  brought her daughter, Kayla.  “I’m marching for my Mom, my grandmother, my aunt, and mostly for my daughter,” she explained, holding a rainbow flag. “I want her to have access to affordable healthcare. I want her to grow up in a society where nobody judges the color of her skin and who she loves, but most of all, I’m here taking a stand against hate, because love is love.”

“I think women’s rights are human rights,” said Bonnie Price of El Cajon,  carrying a Hillary Clinton sign.  “I’m sick and tired of males not allowing females to be elected president when they can do the job; qualifications matter!”(Photo, left: Bonnie Price and other East County march participants, by Miriam Raftery)

Maya Gabby from San Diego wore a hot pink T-shirt that reads “I stand with Planned Parenthood.”   She says, “We refuse to be complacent to the new government. The first step is to get people into the streets protesting and to prevent Donald Trump from taking away things we’ve worked so hard to get.” She came with her parents and other family members.  Her mother,  Lauren Gabby, chimed in, “Like healthcare, support for Planned Parenthood, and decency.” (Photo, right:  Maya Gabby and family, by Miriam Raftery)

Linda Armacost of La Mesa, president of the La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club and long-time party activist, found it “exciting” that of the hundreds amassed at the trolley station, “I only know a couple of them.”  

Many of the activists marching were young women, following in the footsteps of  their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers who have marched for women’s rights in the past. For others, this was a first foray into activism.

A large number of the marchers wore pink knitted caps with pussy cat ears, symbolic reminders of Trump’s crude boast caught on tape about grabbing women “by the pussy.” 

Trolleys filled up and MTS added extra trolley cars. The marchers kept coming.  They lined both sides of the station platform, carrying signs and in some cases, toting babies on their backs. (Photo, left, by Miriam Raftery)

Downtown, they marched from the Civic Center Plaza down the Embarcadero to the County Administration Center. One photographer and participant told ECM an organizer of the rally told a police officer they estimated as many as 135,000 may have turned out, though  NBC and KPBS estimated the crowd at around 40,000.  About 22,000 had RVSP’d  that they would participate. (Photo, right: Civic Center Plaza marchers; photo by Gene Carpenter.)

By San Diego standards, any of those numbers would be huge, to use a Trumpian term. At the height of the first Gulf War when President George W. Bush came to town, about 2,000 protesters showed up. (Photo, below left:  Huge crowd of marchers outside the San Diego Convention Center.)

In other cities, the numbers were staggering:  750,000 in Los Angeles,  half a million in Washington D.C., 200,000 in Denver, and in Chicago, the crowd grew so large that the march was shut to prevent overcrowding downtown.  Hundreds of thousands marched in in cities across Europe and in Australia, with substantial crowds in numerous cities across the U.S.  Marches took place in 673 cities worldwide, the Los Angeles Times reports.

CNN called it a “remarkable” protest against Donald Trump on his first full day as president.

Donald Trump ignored the Women's March with uncharacteristic silence about the uprising even on his Twitter Feed.

His opponent, Hillary Clinton, a long-time supporter of women's rights, however, voiced support for the marchers in a Tweet which states:  "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together."

 

 


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Comments

The Anti Trump march

Just a suggestion folks, next time you want the other side to take you seriously, find better spokespeople than Ashley Judd and Madonna to support your cause. Don't think they helped you much.

CNN

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/01/cnn-analyst-accidentally-says-womens-march-isnt-women-liberalism-video/

Hi throw the bums out

Your comments are like the acts of a sniper, take a shot then run and hide. If you have strong beliefs or feelings please submit a lengthy post that conveys your ideas.