Engaged and Enraged: Women Hit the Ground Running in LA … the Resistance Continues

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RESISTANCE WATCH--A New York Times column dated March 8 questioned whether Wednesday’s A Day Without A Woman protests would “test the movement’s staying power.” The answer seems to have been voiced by thousands of red-clad activists who participated in rallies, protests, and strikes in over 400 cities and over 50 countries worldwide.

In New York on Wednesday, four organizers of A Day Without A Woman were among over a dozen arrested for civil disobedience after blocking traffic near Trump International Hotel & Tower at Columbus Circle. Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland – who were also the lead organizers of the Women’s March on Washington – were released by the end of the day. 

Closer to home, the day kicked off with close to 200 women in red standing behind Nury Martinez, the sole female member of Los Angeles City Council (photo above). At midday, protestors gathered at Grand Park at First and Spring, a considerably smaller crowd than had gathered on January 21 but still significant. Satellite protests were held throughout the city, including one at the intersection of Ventura Blvd. and Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills where a vocal red-clad group marched and shouted to the honking horns of commuters and passers-by. 

Organizers stated on the March for Women on Washington site, “On International Women’s Day, March 8, women and our allies will act together for equity, justice, and the human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity.” The group recognizes “the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system – while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerabilities to discrimination, sexual harassment, job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression, and political targeting. We believe in gender justice.” 

Women were encouraged to show support in one or more of three ways – to take the day off of paid or unpaid labor, to avoid shopping for one day (with the exception of small women- and minority-owned businesses, and/or to wear red in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman. 

Regardless of how women and others showed support for A Day Without A Woman, the movement seems likely to thrive for as long as it is needed. As part of The Feminist Majority’s rallies and fundraising walks to support women’s equality – and the ERA – the group is organizing the 1^st Annual Los Angeles Rally and Walk for Equality to be held Sunday, March 26 in Pan Pacific Park, details forthcoming. 

For more information on Los Angeles-area events, visit Women’s March Los Angeles Foundation. 

(Beth Cone Kramer is a Los Angeles writer and a columnist for CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.