Hundreads of women filled the streets for the first Women’s March in 2017. The marchers hope to raise awareness of women’s issues and gain support for their solutions
The Women’s March is coming back to Memphis to host both the Memphis Women’s March on Jan. 19 and the Legislative Action Rally on Jan. 26 to advocate for reform on a variety of issues in society.
The march is hosted and organized by Women’s March and the Tennessee Young Democrats Women’s Caucus, but the national organization had various sponsors, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, withdraw support due to controversy over racial remarks by a chairwoman.
“While the SPLC is not a national sponsor, we will be supporting local efforts,†said Jeff Migliozzi, a communications assistant at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “We believe supporting the local communities around us with their marches is of greater priority.â€
Tricia Dewey, a spokesperson for the Women’s March, said the march is important because it allows women to talk about social issues face-to-face and encourages everyone to attend, no matter who they are.
“One issue is that we embrace women of all backgrounds, of all colors, of all genders,†Dewey said. â€Everyone is welcome as long as we’re respectful, even people you may not agree with. The whole point is getting people to talk about women’s issues and having a positive impact based on our force together.â€
The goal of the Women’s March is to create a transformative social change by getting people to talk about women’s issues and make a positive impact towards equality.
The controversy surrounds the Women’s March national movement regarding what some critics call anti-Semitic statements the organization had made recently. Individual movements previously associated with the national organization across the country have disassociated themselves from it.
Hundreads of women filled the streets for the first Women’s March in 2017. The marchers hope to raise awareness of women’s issues and gain support for their solutions.
“In Memphis, we’re inclusive of every person of color, every religion, and certainly there is room for all women,†Dewey said.
The Memphis Women’s March movement has gone so far as to change their logo to distance themselves from the national movement. The march will be hosted on the same day as the national march day, but the rally will be held at a later date.
The local movement is trying to move forward with their pieces and events happening in the upcoming week.
“We have things going on in Memphis,†said Dewey. “We’re running our march with people located here in Memphis.â€Â
The local movement has not weighed in on the controversy surrounding the national movement.
Amid the controversy, the local march has had a buildup of support in recent years, giving the Memphis Women’s March the chance to focus on remaining progressive issues.
Many advocacy groups that work on women’s issues will be attending the march, giving young women the opportunity to make professional connections.
“I think that a new piece of history will be happening with positive, reasonable, and really thoughtful issues being addressed,†said Dewey. “It’s going to be positive and progressive moving forward for women’s issues. It’s become a movement rather than a one-time deal and done. It’s great we’ve been able to keep this going forward in Memphis.â€
The Memphis Women’s March will begin by City Hall on Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. and end at the Judge D’Army Bailey courthouse. The Legislative Action rally will take place on Jan. 26 at the Clayborn Temple.
