By Chris Finnie
Last year, The Santa Cruz Women’s March attracted an estimated 18,000 people to advocate for women’s rights and equality in everything from healthcare to education through a peaceful and family-friendly protest.
While it inspired a wave of women to run for office, some of the issues it tried to address have actually gotten worse. So, this year, organizers say, “We march again to reaffirm our commitment to work together for women’s rights, social justice, and to protect the rights of all our neighbors and friends.” They add that they’ve made some changes, “We’re learning from what we did, we’re trying to focus the energy toward resistance that’s effective.”
This year, the march will include new collaborations with artists, musicians, and dancers. The event’s local theme is “Be the Change” and will feature black, rather than pink, “pussyhats.” The march’s original leadership group has expanded to a 20-woman steering committee as a way to include fellow activist groups from the Indivisible groups, People’s Democratic Committee, artist collectives, and more.
Art installations will be placed along the march route. Artists also will have interactive pop-up resistance-themed art around Locust and Cooper streets during the event. No pre-march speech is planned for City Hall this year.
Long-time local activist Nancy Abbey, a member of the People’s Democratic Committee, said she hopes to help younger-generation activists navigate the system.
“I think we want to move from resistance to pro-activism,” Abbey said. “There was a time to just vent our feelings, but there’s now a time we have to come up with solutions and work on those.”
Join the March
The march will begin at Pacific Ave. and Water St. and will culminate in an activist fair at Louden Nelson Community Center featuring community heroes such as Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Diversity Center, and 30 other community groups. Art, music, speakers, food, and fun will be staged during the event at Louden Nelson.
WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 2018 @ 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Pacific Ave & Water St., Santa Cruz 95060,
then march to Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St, Santa Cruz 95060
Pre-Parade Banner Displays
In order to support and advertise the Santa Cruz Woman’s March, Indivisible will have people on three different overpasses holding large banners as well as flags on January 19, 2018 from 3:00 to 5:00pm, at:
- Branciforte Ave. Overpass: With the banner, “Santa Cruz Woman’s March”
- Morrissey Blvd. Overpass: With the banner, “1/20/18 12-5:30pm DWTN SC”
- La Fonda Ave. Overpass: With the banner, “We are Indivisible”
