Women and minorities are not happy with the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Since the results rolled in, large protests have spread from coast to coast, with everyday citizens utilizing their freedom of speech to speak out against the bigotry, racism, and sexism that currently shadows the nation.
Women and Allies Nationwide Protest, a multifaceted, grassroots-organized event on Facebook, is giving women and allies a chance to protest the incoming Donald Trump administration, strike in solidarity, and boycott companies associated with the president-elect. The protest itself will take place in New York at Union Square, and the organization encourages anyone who feels threatened by a Trump presidency, without discrimination of gender or race, to band together nationwide.
“There needs to be women’s voices on the street, across the country to protest and put as much pressure on that electoral college vote as we can,” said Ann Massaro, co-organizer of the protest.
Massaro has been talking to women all over the country who are not able to attend the march in New York, helping to organize protests in their own cities. No matter where the protest is held, the message remains the same.
“Women are powerful. We are not going to stand for a policy of hate that attacks our fight for equal pay, that attacks Roe vs. Wade,” said Massaro. “[A policy] that allows this country to think it’s OK to sexually assault women.”
The event page on Facebook offers an inspiring and motivational description. It reads:
We demand the crusade against Roe vs Wade and Planned Parenthood cease. Instead, Congress and the President should focus on providing free or affordable birth control options for ALL Americans.
We demand Donald Trump take a firm stance on sexual assault and rape. They are to provide funding enough to each state to process the backlog of rape kits.
We will not tolerate being paid less or otherwise discriminated against because of our gender, our religion, or our identity.
We will not tolerate intolerance nor hate.
We will not remain silent.
We will be heard.We are powerful.
We WILL be heard.
The Women and Allies Nationwide Protest is one of the many protests coming up that stand for women’s rights. The Women’s March On Washington will occur the day after Trump’s inauguration next year, starting at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and marching throughout the city to support the cause.
According to the Facebook page, 102,000 women and men have pledged their commitment to attend the march for women’s safety, health and families. The coordinators have organized individual state pages for people who aren’t able to attend, with movements expanding abroad. Demonstrations are confirmed in Mexico and England, making women’s rights not only a national issue but a global one.