Chicago Women's March tomorrow (Jan. 20)

[Dee*Jay]

Just an FYI for my Chicago peeps:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-women-march-chicago-2018-details-htmlstory.html

In January 2017, an estimated 250,000 demonstrators filled downtown during last year's Women's March on Chicago that shut down parts of the Loop one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Saturday's March to the Polls shifts the focus from resistance against a new administration to influencing future local, state and midterm elections.

When: Saturday, Jan. 20

Where: Attendees can enter the rally area at the intersection of Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway. An accessible entrance is available at Columbus and Monroe Street.

Schedule:

• 9 a.m.: Videos and music play as the rally area opens.
• 11 a.m.: Rally begins (seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis). An accessible viewing area will be located near the stage.
• 12:30 p.m.: March begins, wrapping up at Federal Plaza on Dearborn Street. Those unable to march can remain in the rally area. Columbus and Jackson drives will remain closed until 2 p.m.

Public transit: Metra and Chicago Transit Authority are planning additional service for this event. Checkmetrarail.com and transitchicago.com for details.

Metra will be adding trains Saturday on the BNSF and Union Pacific North, Nothwest and West lines.

CTA will operate longer trains on the Blue, Brown, Green, Orange and Purple lines from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Multiple bus routes are available to Grant Park and extra service will be provided on the No. 147 Outer Drive Express bus from 8-10 a.m.

Cars: Organizers recommend the Millennium Garages for the closest, most convenient parking options. Spaces can be purchased in advanced on this website.

Buses: Coach bus dropoff is at Balbo and Columbus drives.

Speaker lineup

• Tahera Ahmad, associate chaplain and director of Interfaith Engagement, Northwestern University
• Bridget Gainer, Cook County commissioner
• Lisa Madigan, Illinois attorney general
• Quiana McKenzie, regional campaign finance adviser, Emily's List
• Channyn Lynne Parker, project manager, Chicago House's TransLife Project
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky, U.S. House of Representatives
• Chakena Sims, board of directors,* Chicago Votes
• Tom Steyer, founder and president, NextGen America
• K. Sujata, president and CEO, Chicago Foundation of Women
• Celina Villanueva, New Americans Democracy Project, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
• Suzette Wright, former Chicago Ford Assembly Plant employee

Performers

• Bryant Jones Choir, featuring Deborah Lane
• "Hamilton" cast members, featuring Ari Asfar
• Bridget Marie, ZaZaZa Disco
• Second City's "She the People" comics
• So Chi Voices
• Faces for Radio

Accessibility

Organizers have detailed plans to accommodate people with disabilities at the rally and during the march, which are available on the group's website.

Organizers suggest:

• Hand-held signs (leave poles or sticks to hold them at home)
• Small, clear bags (larger backpacks and bags are allowed, but not recommended)
• Snacks and drinks (no vendors will be at the rally area)

Weather forecast

Saturday will be partly cloudy but mild with highs in the low- to mid-40s and a 20-percent chance of precipitation, according to WGN-TV.

 

[missy]

Yesssss!!!!! Thanks for going on our behalf Dee!!!!! Good luck and you go girl! We are with you in spirit!!!!

 

[KaeKae]

I love that you are going, Dee. I was at the LA march last year. What an experience!
Now that I'm in NJ, I don't have a posse to go with. While I'm within easy driving distance to Morristown, NJ, which is holding a local march, I don't know the area well enough to brave the driving/parking on my own, so I'll be watching what I can on line or on CNN.

 

[AGBF]

Yesssss!!!!! Thanks for going on our behalf Dee!!!!! Good luck and you go girl! We are with you in spirit!!!!

I am too lazy, but my my godson's mother (with whom I just got off the phone) is going to the one in New York City tomorrow. She also went to the one in New York City last year. She has to take a train into New York in order to march, but she is doing it. And she is meeting another of our friends there. I hate to admit that they are both older than me, too (albeit only by a few months). They are both grandmothers. I will be there in spirit.

 

[nala]

Going to mine!

 

[missy]

I am too lazy, but my my godson's mother (with whom I just got off the phone) is going to the one in New York City tomorrow. She also went to the one in New York City last year. She has to take a train into New York in order to march, but she is doing it. And she is meeting another of our friends there. I hate to admit that they are both older than me, too (albeit only by a few months). They are both grandmothers. I will be there in spirit.

Hi Deb! I would have been there for sure if I didn't already have plans and tickets to a performance I am very much looking forward to...maybe we can meet and walk together in the next march? I am so glad that it is a lovely day weather wise for the March! Hope your friend has a good experience.

You go ladies!!!! We are there in spirit with you. Not just sisters in bling but sisters in solidarity.

 

[FinleysMom]

I will be marching.......to the grocery store, to the library, to Walmart, to my craft room, etc. why not march to a non-profit to help feed the hungry, clothe the needy, to donate to a good cause.

FM

 

[AGBF]

Hi Deb! I would have been there for sure if I didn't already have plans and tickets to a performance I am very much looking forward to...maybe we can meet and walk together in the next march?

Now that is something I might bother to do, missy. Although I am sure there are better conditions under which we could meet. I was supposed to meet PintoBean and StephanieLynn at Mystic a year ago!

Deb

 

[missy]

Now that is something I might bother to do, missy. Although I am sure there are better conditions under which we could meet. I was supposed to meet PintoBean and StephanieLynn at Mystic a year ago!

Deb

How about this? We go to the next March and then bling shopping and Tea at the Pierre?



A good cause, good bling and good food...what more can one ask for in an afternoon?

 

[AGBF]

I will be marching.......to the grocery store, to the library, to Walmart, to my craft room, etc. why not march to a non-profit to help feed the hungry, clothe the needy, to donate to a good cause.

I am not sure why you would want to disparage women who are taking part in this march. You seem to be implying that the marchers are not productive members of the community. Believe me, the women marching are not people who need to be encouraged to help others. My two friends both happen to be professional social workers who have dedicated their lives to helping others as well as being nurturing mothers and grandmothers who did their fair share of volunteer work! Why would shirkers go on a march?

AGBF

 

[FinleysMom]

I just shared my day......what is accomplished at these marches? Just asking...enjoy the day. MARCH away!

FM

 

[missy]

I just shared my day......what is accomplished at these marches? Just asking...enjoy the day. MARCH away!

FM

Wow what do they achieve? How about as a start:

Here’s 10 things that marches and protests accomplish:

1. Marching raises the energy of those who participate in the march. Raising energy means creating the emotional and psychological potential for action. That’s one thing rallies and protests and marches do: they rouse us, they move us to action, literally. We physically move. There is something powerful — magical — about, in Gloria Steinam’s words, “putting our bodies where our beliefs are.” Marching is empowering — especially when wearing a pink “pussy hat”!

2. Marching focuses our energy. If the organizers of a march have done their job, they will direct the energy they raise. The organizers of the Women’s March on Washington, for example, have planned 10 actions over the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency. The first action is sending a post card to your Senator. They’ve even provided pre-printed postcards and a tool for identifying your Senator. This is just one way people are transforming the energy raised at the Women’s March into action. For example, yesterday and today, many of the marchers gathered at the offices of their elected representatives to protest again.

Documentary maker, Michael Moore, gave perhaps the most practical speech of the day, urging people to call Congress every day, to make it a part of our routine. He even gave a phone number:

“The phone number is (202) 225-3121. You call that number any time of the day or night, a human being answers it. There’s an actual 24/7 switchboard. Call that number. If you don’t know who your congressperson is, that’s OK. Just give them your ZIP code. ... Each of you have one representative and two senators. They only work three days out of the week, Tuesday to Thursday. If you can’t do it all five days, on those three days, call your rep one day, call your senator the next day, and call your other senator the next day.”

3. Marching fosters solidarity. The Women’s March brought together those who cared about a wide spectrum of causes: ending violence, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, and environmental justice. All of these causes are interrelated, just as patriarchy, misogyny, white supremacy, racism, xenophobia, capitalism, imperialism, and desecration of the earth are interrelated. So it makes sense to stand together. As America Ferrera said at the rally:

“If we do not stand together, march together, for the next four years, then we will lose together. If we, the millions of Americans who believe in decency, in the greater good, that justice is for all, if we fall into the trap of the separating ourselves by our causes and labels it will weaken our fight and we will lose. But, if we commit to what aligns us, if we stand together, we stand the chance of saving the soul of our country.

4. Marching sends a message to those in power. It is a way of speaking truth to power. At the rally, Michael Moore said that, when a reporter asked him what he hoped the Women’s March would accomplish, “If you just look that way [pointing out to the crowd], we’ve already accomplished it. ... The majority of Americans did not want Donald J. Trump in the White House, and we are here today as their representatives.” The Women’s March was a vote of no confidence for the President and his administration.

America Ferrera, herself a first generation child of immigrants, opened the rally with a powerful declaration:

“We are gathered here and across the country and around the world today to key, Mr. Trump, we refuse! We reject the demonization of our Muslim brothers and sisters! We condemn the systemic murder and incarceration of our black brothers and sisters! We will not ask our LGBT families to go backwards! We will not go from being a nation of immigrants to a nation of ignorance! We won’t build walls and we won’t see the worst in each other.”

5. Marching sends a message to the people at home. This requires media coverage or use of social media to reach those who did not attend. And the Women’s March certainly accomplished that!

6. Marching provides a container for direct action. Last May, I participated in a rally and march which culminated in a direct action. Forty-one people, including myself, blocked the entrance to the BP Whiting refinery, the largest tar sands refinery in the country, and were arrested. As we approached the entrance to BP, crossed the property line, were ordered to leave, and waited to be arrested, having a thousand people at our back singing and chanting made all the difference. There were no arrests at the Women’s March on Saturday, but there was some direct action. My daughter joined many of the marchers in her first act of civil disobedience, when she tossed our protest sign over the fence erected in front of the White House.

7. Marching heightens the tension in order to foster change. Some people see marching as a catharsis, a way of blowing off steam. But marching is about raising energy, increasing tension. As Martin Luther King, Jr. explained in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail:

“‘Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? ... Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.”

8. Marching changes the narrative. Many people criticize the Occupy Movement for not accomplishing anything. Any yet, you will hear those some people referring to “the 99%” and “the 1%”. The Occupy Movement generated a national conversation about income inequality, which has now been taken up by people on both sides of the political spectrum. And the Women’s Movement will do the same.

9. Marching is an exercise of our rights to assembly and free speech. This is why we chant, “This is what democracy looks like!” If nothing else, marching is an exercise. Sometimes our rights need to be exercised for the sake of exercising them, so that we don’t forget that we have them and so that those in power don’t forget who is really in charge.

10. Marching is a challenge to people who are doing nothing. Marches piss people off, especially those sitting at home. Progressive marches piss off conservatives, obviously, but they also pisses off apathetic moderates and cynical liberals. Why? Because it hits them where they live — literally. Marching stands as a critique of their inaction.

And one more ...

11. Marching is a provocation. Under the Presidency of a megalomaniac, marching takes on a new meaning. It is a way of baiting Trump. And, predictably, he took the bait “bigly”:

President Trump. We did vote! We are the popular vote — which you lost. And now we are voting with our feet!

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-halstead/10-things-the-womens-marc_b_14380660.html


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-protests-history-suffragettes-iceland-poland

 

[AGBF]

what is accomplished at these marches?

Protest at intolerable violations of the US Constitution by Donald Trump; protest at rising racism in the United States; protest at increasing religious bigotry; protest against rampant sexism; protest against incompetence in the handling of foreign affairs that makes the entire world in jeopardy because nuclear war is now more likely; protest at the easing of all environmental controls and attempts to stop global warming as well as any protection of nature; and I could go on and on....

 

[AGBF]

You were a lot quicker than I was, missy, but you cheated. Why didn't I think of looking up reasons why we march?

Deb

 

[missy]

You were a lot quicker than I was, missy, but you cheated. Why didn't I think of looking up reasons why we march?

Deb

Haha I just had to respond when I saw that question (I saw red not my favorite color) and knew I could find a link where others said it better than I ever could. I was a science major in school and while I always loved English writing is not my forte. My dh always says to me (when I butcher the English language or cannot think of the words) is English my second language lol.

Of course I forgot to add we march to piss those off who would never think of marching and who support the current administration.

 

[mary poppins]

Have fun and thanks for representing, Dee!

I will be marching.......to the grocery store, to the library, to Walmart, to my craft room, etc. why not march to a non-profit to help feed the hungry, clothe the needy, to donate to a good cause.

FM

Who says you can't do both? There are 365 days in a year. Also, some events include coat and/or food drives. Who'da thunk it possible to do two things at once?!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Good morning ladies (and gents!) -- i'ts a beautiful day for a march! Then again, I think it's always a beautiful day for a march!

Nala, thank you for joinng!

KaeKae, Mary Poppens, Missy and Deb, thank you for being out there in spirit!

Finleysmom, I believe we all get to march to our own drummer. Whatever your march today--and every day-well, I hope you enjoy it.

Off to peruse my wardrobe of T-shirts to find one appropriate for today's activities.

 

[FinleysMom]

Thanks Dee Jay! Enjoy your day too!

FM

 

[Dee*Jay]

Headed out! I've got the phone # of the ACLU written on my arm in sharpie marker, but someone please have bail money handy if I need it!

 

[redwood66]

I am all for people being able to march for what they believe in without reprisal. Including these people:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ch/?tid=pm_local_pop_b&utm_term=.794901aa2170

You have a good time @Dee*Jay!

 

[AGBF]

I am all for people being able to march for what they believe in without reprisal. Including these people:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ch/?tid=pm_local_pop_b&utm_term=.794901aa2170

You have a good time @Dee*Jay!

I belong to the ACLU. I would definitely defend their right to march. The ACLU defended the right of Nazis to march (peacefully) in Skokie. I do not defend the the right of their supporters to kill abortion providers, though, and that is-unfortunately-a part of the history of the US anti-abortion movement, too. I won't tar peaceful protesters with the same brush as intimidaters, but I won't deny that there are people intimidating women who attempt to get abortions, either. And that is not OK.

Deb

 

[redwood66]

I belong to the ACLU. I would definitely defend their right to march. The ACLU defended the right of Nazis to march (peacefully) in Skokie. I do not defend the the right of their supporters to kill abortion providers, though, and that is-unfortunately-a part of the history of the US anti-abortion movement, too. I won't tar peaceful protesters with the same brush as intimidaters, but I won't deny that there are people intimidating women who attempt to get abortions, either. And that is not OK.

Deb

I don't defend anyone who intimidates others or kills anyone regardless of their political affiliation. There is plenty of intimidation to go around though and not just about abortion. None of it is OK.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy to report I am home, unscathed and unarrested!

March was GREAT! According to the numbers (if any of them are to be believed) last years's march had 250,000 partcipants and this year exceeded that to 300,000.

The weather held up nicely, although it was pretty chilly walking through the streets in the shadows of the buildings when we marched out of the park and into Federal Plaza.

Tons of pics to post!

Nala, and anyone else marching today, can't want to hear how your day went!!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]

 

[Dee*Jay]