I just returned from the enthusiastic Women’s March in Santa Rosa. An estimated 4,000 of us were there. The PD article below will be revised. There are some excellent photos online. I was especially impressed by the large number of families who were present, with children of all ages, the creative signs, the humor, and the building of community. I would welcome hearing other people’s experiences of it and updates, since when I left the march was still winding around downtown.
Tomorrow’s NY Times and other publications will have stories about the huge turnout in Washington, D.C., which I heard was between a quarter and a half million people. KPFA broadcast from there, and the many short speeches were incredibly powerful. London reported something like 150,000 people.
I consider this to be the Third American Revolution. The first was lead by white men. The Civil War was the next revolution, led by the heroic efforts of blacks such as Sojourner Truth and Pres. Lincoln. The current revolution is being lead by women, on behalf of all the people that the new president has promised to oppress.
I want to add that I was particularly pleased to see our 5th District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins and her family at the march and to speak with her. She was interviewed in a recent cover Bohemian article as saying it is important to fight back against Trump.
Women's March draws thousands to Santa Rosa in stand against Trump
PAUL PAYNE AND J.D. MORRIS, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | January 21, 2017
The streets of downtown Santa Rosa were overtaken Saturday by a vibrant political rebellion as a crowd of thousands marched in solidarity with women, immigrants and others in a remarkable show of defiance against President Donald Trump one day after his inauguration.
Carrying signs and chanting slogans, demonstrators in the largest city on the politically liberal North Coast voiced grave concerns about the future of the nation under a leader whose stated objectives represent an assault on values they hold dear.
To them, Trump’s presidency jeopardizes the nation’s progress on a range of fronts, including the rights of women, immigrants, Muslims and same-sex couples, as well as efforts to combat climate change. Their message Saturday, shouted from jam-packed streets and scrawled on hand-made signs, added up to a vow to meet the new president head-on as he seeks to impose a strong rightward shift in government and roll back many of the hallmark achievements of the Obama era.
Former Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, told the crowd gathered in front of City Hall that Trump’s policies threaten to return America to the 1950s.
“We want our president to know we are not going back,” Woolsey said to applause. “We want to let him know we are not going to stay in our bubble in the North Bay, in Northern California, where we actually get it.”
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You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or [email protected]. On Twitter @ppayne.