Thousands Expected For Massive Women's March On Chicago After Trump Inauguration
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 10, 2017 2:55PM
Update, January 16:
The location of the Women's March on Chicago has slightly shifted, to Jackson and Columbus, just south of the Petrillo Music Shell, in order to keep the grass area at the original location from muddying.
Original:
The day after Donald Trump is sworn into office as the 45th President of the United States, nearly 300 Women’s Marches, inspired by the Washington D.C. originator, will take the streets in cities all across the globe. One of those cities will of course be Chicago, and it’s shaping up to be massive.
Some 20,000 respondents have either RSVP’ed to or registered interest to the Women’s March on Chicago event page; and supporters have contributed over $24,000 to fund logistical needs—with leftover donations earmarked for a local non-profit.
The march happens on Saturday, Jan. 21, beginning at 10 a.m. with a rally at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park that will include roughly 20 speakers, including author Sara Paretsky and three members of the cast of Hamilton (Karen Olivo, Ari Afsar, and Samantha Marie Ware). The panel will speak to “12 hot-button issues that diverse groups of women deal with every day,” co-organizer Liz Radford told Chicagoist. “This is a Chicago women’s march and we want to deal with Chicago women’s issues.”
Trump’s campaign and its aftermath raised issues of sexual violence and abortions rights, Radford noted. And although reproductive rights is the centerpiece of the march and rally, “it’s also immigration, it’s gun violence, it’s LGBTQ rights, civil liberties, racial equality, respect for different faiths,” Radford said. Male allies are also welcome to attend and march.
As ambitious as it is, organizers envision the rally as a bridge to broader activism. “It’s meant to be a stepping-off point: if you’re not active, you can get active," Radford said, noting that even she is "completely new" to Chicago's "wonderful" tradition of activism.
Organizers are still seeking volunteers to serve as day-of marshals. Training will be provided to them by members of the SEIU Local 73.
Speakers include:
Ari Afsar: From the cast of Hamilton (Speaker and Performer during Rally)
Jean Albright: Master Sergeant (retired) U.S. Air Force
Eman Hassaballa Aly: Community Activist
Faith Arnold: SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Fight for $15
Eloise Diaz Bahrmasel: RISE Movement
Rabbi Shoshanah Conover: Temple Sholom of Chicago
Tamar Manasseh: Mothers Against Senseless Killings
Fawzia Mirza: Actor/Producer
Karen Olivo: from the cast of Hamilton (Speaker and Performer during Rally)
Sara Paretsky: Author, Sisters in Crime Creator
Channyn Lynne Parker: Transgender activist, TransLife Project Manager
Rahnee Patrick: Independent Living at Access Living
Maria Pesqueria: President, Mujeres Latinas en Accion
Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley: Hadiya Pendleton Foundation
Tiffany Pryor: Executive Director, Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
Liz Radford & Ann Scholhamer: Co-Chairs of the Women’s March on Chicago
Samantha Marie Ware: From the cast of Hamilton (Speaker and Performer during Rally)
Reyna Wences: Organized Communities Against Deportations
Rev. Dr. Janette C. Wilson, Esq.: National RainbowPUSH Coalition