Santa Rosa Women's March draws around 4000 people + PD article & link

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.

https://www.waccobb.net/forums/wacco...4_15-56-29.png
Women's March draws thousands to Santa Rosa in stand against Trump
PAUL PAYNE AND J.D. MORRIS, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | January 21, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvlD...EfCcGdsq5EFCzE

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.”

Continues here

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or [email protected]. On Twitter @ppayne.

I asked people I saw at the march, to send me their reflections, for an article that I am writing and plan to send out before dawn on Monday to my East Coast editors. Following is part of what Supervisor Lynda Hopkins wrote:

“I left the Women's March in Santa Rosa feeling inspired and energized. When I came home and saw the photos from the New York Times of protests around the world, and opened up Facebook to see photos from friends across the country sharing their images, I actually got teary-eyed. Women, children, and yes, men, across the country were standing up for the things I believe in. All of us were standing up peacefully in support of equality.”

She added, “For the first time, I got a glimpse that we can be part of a worldwide awakening of progressivism. I don't think we've seen mobilization like this in my lifetime. I was part of some sizeable protests against the Iraq war in college, but nothing like this.”

And. let's not forget Friday evening's march from SRJC to downtown and back, even cutting through the mall. Lots of young people who are the future, and older ones who haven't forgotten past tyrannies, sloshing through puddles, invigorated by shouting slogans, and the sounds of two drummers and three members of the Hubbub Club, with horns.
It was invigorating.

A granddaughter living in NYC went to D.C. to participate. She grew up in Oregon countryside relative isolation where pickup truck gun rack was all the voting observed. So proud and filled with hope.

The following article appears in this week's Bohemian on Santa Rosa's Women's March. At the bottom is a link to an article on the New York Women's March, by Maria de los Angeles, an artist and frequent visitor to Sonoma County.

This week's Bohemian--now online and on the stands this Thursday--also has an article entitled "Resist, Refuse, Sue." It reports on a panel at the JC with Rep. Jared Huffman, the Center for Climate Protection's Ann Hancock, and others. If you make online comments on these articles, which sometimes become letters to the editor, it keeps these issues in the news and encourages editors of various publications to cover them more.

https://www.bohemian.com/northbay/standing-up/Content?oid=3138175

Standing Up--Last Saturday's women's march made history

BY SHEPHERD BLISS
Over 5,000 women, children and men marched in Santa Rosa on Jan. 21. They joined hundreds of thousands at the Women's march in Washington, D.C., and millions at over 600 places around the world.

This resistance is being spearheaded by what the new president calls "nasty women," a term these liberators embrace. Allies include people of color, immigrants, Muslims, people of diverse sexual and gender identities, the disabled and others who object to the rise of sexism, racism, homophobia and other oppressions. Groups such as Black Lives Matter and Planned Parenthood were at the forefront of the marches.

Moveon.org describes them as "the largest set of protests in U.S. history—a gorgeous showing of resilience, strength, and solidarity."

According to the Santa Rosa police report, "The crowds were very peaceful and well-organized. No disruptive incidents were reported." Many families participated, including parents with strollers and infants in their arms and elders.

A dozen Sonoma County elected officials joined. "I left the march inspired and energized," wrote Supervisor Lynda Hopkins. "Women, children and, yes, men, stood up for what I believe in. We can be part of a worldwide awakening of progressivism. This movement wasn't just against Trump. It was for shared values."

Rep. Jared Huffman echoed Barack Obama's words in his final days as president: "Being an American is not about where you're from, or what you look like, what language you speak, how you worship, who you love."

Among the many signs were the following: "No Person Is Illegal"; "Women's Rights Are Human Rights"; "Keep the Immigrants/Deport Trump"; and "We the People Means All of Us"; and "My Pussy Is Not Up for Grabs."
"This is an extraordinary day," observed California senator Kamala Harris at the D.C. march. "We all should be treated equally. Immigrants represent the heart and soul of this country."

It remains to be seen if this was merely a well-organized, highly successful one-day event or the start of a nonviolent mass movement.

For another take on the march, go to Open Mic at Bohemian.com.

Dr. Shepherd Bliss ([email protected]) is a retired college teacher and has contributed to 24 books and farmed for the last two decades.

if you marched, or know anyone that did, please let them know the following:
because you marched on 1/21/17 Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants to hear from YOU.

She has gotten a week's delay of the Jeff Sessions confirmation vote.
This is a direct request from her Chief of Staff:

FEINSTEIN WANTS 2-4 SENTENCES FROM MARCHERS
EXPLAINING WHY YOU MARCHED AND WHAT IT MEANT.

She will be incorporating messages AND most likely the sheer NUMBER of emails she gets, in her opening statement at the Sessions hearing for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Send emails to:Sean_Elsbe[email protected] [email protected]
Subject line: WHY I MARCHED

(send to both addresses because these mailboxes are already becoming ful
And if you get a bounceback keep trying)
Please copy and paste and share widely!
#whyimarch

thank you for marching. thank you for taking action.

Quote:

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Posted in reply to the post by Icssoma:

if you marched, or know anyone that did, please let them know the following:
because you marched on 1/21/17 Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants to hear from YOU....

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Thanks, Susan, for this great idea. This morning I sent the following email to those addresses and have not yet received a bounce back. I hope others will also send their comments.

Dear Senator Dianne Feinstein, Sean Elsbernd and Caitlin Meyer,
Thanks for getting a week's delay on Jeff Sessions confirmation.

Following are links to some of the more than a dozen articles that I published on the historic Women's Marches, which quote from the over 5000 people here in Sonoma County who marched in Santa Rosa and some of those in D.C. We represent the majority opinion on this.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss, (Doctor of Ministry, University of Chicago Divinity School)

update for marchers to Feinstein's office:
Some emails are bouncing back, glad that things are busy.
please try 3 -4 times, you may try faxing (202) 228-3954
FEINSTEIN WANTS 2-4 SENTENCES FROM MARCHERS EXPLAINING WHY YOU MARCHED AND WHAT IT MEANT. She will be incorporating messages AND most likely the sheer NUMBER of emails she gets, in her opening statement at the Sessions hearing to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
thanks for marching, grateful you are taking action.