…. and those that marched

On Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America; this, following a very polarizing and divisive election season that has widened the gap between the left and the right – leaving cause for celebration for Trump supporters, and fear for those on the left who believe their progressive path forward is now moving backwards in time. 

Just one day after the inaugural ceremonies in Washington, D.C., women’s marches took place around the country, with area residents participating in Binghamton, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Boston, Mass., Seneca Falls, N.Y. and Ithaca, N.Y. According to a USA Today report published on Jan. 21, 2017, close to three million participated in marches, globally.

The Jan. 21, 2017 marches represented the various causes of those participating, and also held significance, historically. The year 2017 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in New York State; a movement that is being celebrated this year locally. Jan. 21, 2017 also marked the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States. 

But despite the marches that were held, worldwide, President Donald Trump signed an executive action on his first day in office that reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which bans international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions from receiving U.S. government funding. 

And although a large focus of the Women’s March was on reproductive rights, the reasons for individual participation varied. We reached out this week to some who participated in the marches to find out what issues they were standing up for in their protest.

Locally, according to Karen Holm of Owego, N.Y., who participated in the Binghamton march, there were over a dozen women from the area that she is aware of that participated in various locations.

Among those, according to Holm, were Ashley Aumock, who attended the Binghamton march with Holm; Chris Knickerbocker, Emily Pellicano, Rebecca Maffei and Natalie Thompson, who marched in Seneca Falls, N.Y.; Julie Nucci, Jim Overhiser and Lisa Coniglio, who attended the march in Ithaca, N.Y.; and Kim Trahan, Karen Liberatore, Gail Liberatore, Lisa McQueeney, Abbey Hendrickson, Laura Spencer Eberly, Suzie Pough and Alice Mischke, who marched in Washington, D.C. 

We also reached out to Catherine Van Hall, who attended the march in Boston, Mass. Van Hall spoke out extensively regarding the reasons she chose to march last Saturday, stating the main reason as being concern about the direction that Trump’s administration is taking. 

Van Hall lives in Cambridge, Mass., and stated that this area is probably one of the more liberal cities in the country. Van Hall stated that after the election she was made aware of a number of people who were harassed for the color of their skin or for their sexual orientation.

Van Hall stated, “I worry that harassment and bigotry are being normalized and made to seem acceptable. I also marched because I am a special education teacher, and Trump’s bullying of Serge Kovaleski was ableist and incredibly offensive. In addition, I marched against Betsy DeVos’s nomination because she promotes the schools that have a track record of treating students with disabilities horribly, or denying them access at all.”

Van Hall described the march in Boston as impressive, stating that even when the march started, it took hours to get everyone out of the Common and into the streets. 

Van Hall continued, “It was overall a very positive experience, in that people were very peaceful, happy to be doing something to say that Trump’s values are not our values, and that most people were there to help each other. Elizabeth Warren spoke at the rally and she spoke about fighting for our rights and our need to fight for what we believe in now more than ever.”

Holm herself attended the march in Binghamton, N.Y. with Ashley Aumock, both of Owego. 

Holm chimed in about the reason she marched, stating, “My son is a U.S. Marine with four combat tours in the Middle East and he is deserving of a Commander-in-Chief who is sincere in his support of our troops. Trump received five military deferments when drafted for the Vietnam War. Trump also falsely claimed to have supported a number of veteran’s organizations.”

Holm herself is a veteran, and feels that the president will put his personal business interests ahead of our country’s security. “My fear is that he will risk American lives to do so,” Holm added.

Women were not the only participants in the marches that took place last Saturday. Ed Nizalowski, of Newark Valley, N.Y., headed to Washington, D.C. to participate, and shared the following.

“I think I have made it to Washington every other year for some cause or another for the last ten years,” said Nizalowski, stating, “The women’s march on January 21 was certainly one of the most satisfying and memorable. The 54 of us that came from the Binghamton area were dropped off in Bethesda, Md., and had a ‘close encounter’ ride on the Metro that dropped us off at Judiciary Square. The experience at the Mall was feeling like you were a sardine in a sea of humanity.”

Nizalowski went on to describe his experience, stating that the pink hats were a great badge of solidarity, and that there were thousands of them, with a large number of men wearing them as well.

Nizalowski did note that there were a number that were not in good taste, with some saying [expletive removed] Trump. He added that some were intended to provoke, like a couple that had Trump groping Lady Liberty. He also explained that Trump’s connections with Russia got plenty of sign space, several of which were in Russian; but the general theme was “Love Trumps Hate”.

Nizalowki stated, from his experience, “One hugely encouraging aspect of the gathering was that all ages were represented from infants to the elderly, many of whom were pushing their bodies to be part of the experience and to make a statement that would be as powerful as possible. Many people came with their canes or their wheel chairs. Having been to too many demonstrations where the median age was around 60, it was wonderful to see so many younger people taking on a significant role with plenty of energy and enthusiasm.”

And Nizalowski also talked about the change, if any, that the marches around the globe would bring. “Will something concrete come of this,” Nizalowski questioned, explaining, “That is always the hard part. Shouting slogans until your voice is a whisper and walking until you start to limp can be a good start, but there are powerful forces that have been strategically aligning themselves and plotting for decades. I give the Republicans and their enablers credit: they have succeeded in capturing the White House, both Houses of Congress, 33 state governments and are poised to gain control of the Supreme Court. It is easy to shout out progressive values and slogans in a ‘sea of liberals’, but back home there are often majorities of people whose values fall on the other side of the divider line.”

As a continued action, Nizalowski made recommendations, stating, “You need to do your homework, develop a thick skin, stick to your guns and if you can’t convince the other side at least start putting some doubts in their minds. Look for common ground wherever you can find it. This strategy was very helpful in the anti-fracking campaign.”

Nizalowski further opined, stating, “The Occupy Movement came along a few years ago and seemed to be the nucleus for a major paradigm shift in our politics and culture. It is now archived with the other resistance movements that began to flower but did not bloom. I do feel hopeful for what took place on January 21.” 

In conclusion, and best stated, Nizalowski added, “Thousands of people came together for a common cause without one arrest, and to my knowledge no arrests at the other ‘sister’ marches. It was like a Woodstock experience with a political edge to it. I’m hoping that the theme that people will take away from their time in the street is similar to one of the more inspiring signs that I saw – ‘They tried to bury us but didn’t realize that we were seeds.’”