WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Eight years since its historic first march, the Women's March is returning Saturday to the nation's capital just before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
Rebranded and reorganized, the rally has a new name 鈥� 鈥� as a means to broaden support, especially during a reflective moment for progressive organizing after Trump's decisive win in November. The Republican takes the oath of office Monday.
Women outraged over Trump's 2016 presidential win and organized large rallies in cities throughout the country, building the base of a grassroots movement that became known as the Women's March. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 marchers, and millions more participated in local marches around the country, marking one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history.
This year, the march is expected to be about one-tenth the size of the first one and comes amid a restrained moment of reflection as many progressive voters navigate feelings of exhaustion, disappointment and despair after Vice President Kamala Harris鈥� loss. The comparative quiet contrasts sharply with the white-knuckled fury of the inaugural rally as massive crowds shouted demands over megaphones and marched in pink pussyhats in response to Trump's first election win.
鈥淭he reality is that it鈥檚 just hard to capture lightning in a bottle," said Tamika Middleton, managing director at the Women鈥檚 March. 鈥淚t was a really particular moment. In 2017, we had not seen a Trump presidency and the kind of vitriol that that represented.鈥�
The movement fractured after that hugely successful day of protests over accusations that it was not diverse enough. This year's rebrand as a People's March is the result of an overhaul intended to broaden the group's appeal. Saturday's demonstration will promote themes related to feminism, racial justice, anti-militarization and other issues and will end with discussions hosted by various social justice organizations.
The People鈥檚 March is unusual in the 鈥渧ast array of issues brought together under one umbrella,鈥� said Jo Reger, a sociology professor who researches social movements at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Women鈥檚 suffrage marches, for example, were focused on a specific goal of voting rights.
For a broad-based social justice movement such as the march, conflicting visions are impossible to avoid and there is 鈥渋mmense pressure鈥� for organizers to meet everyone鈥檚 needs, Reger said. But she also said some discord isn鈥檛 necessarily a bad thing.
鈥淥ften what it does is bring change and bring in new perspectives, especially of underrepresented voices,鈥� Reger said.
Middleton, of the Women's March, said a massive demonstration like the one in 2017 is not the goal of Saturday's event. Instead, it鈥檚 to focus attention on a broader set of issues 鈥� women鈥檚 and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate and democracy 鈥� rather than centering it more narrowly around Trump.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not thinking about the march as the endgame,鈥� Middleton said. 鈥淗ow do we get those folks who show up into organizations and into their political homes so they can keep fighting in their communities long term?鈥�
The Associated Press
