{"id":26315,"date":"2017-01-27T07:50:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T12:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=26315"},"modified":"2017-01-27T08:05:59","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T13:05:59","slug":"26315-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/26315-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Women United! Two Muskokans march on Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kathleen May<\/em><\/p>\n

We began to see marchers many kilometres before the designated march area. On a bus filled with 47 quietly eager Canadians, my friend Sandra Smith and I watched out the window as we passed huge swaths of women, most carrying signs and sporting pink cat-eared hats. Women seemed to spill down every street, merging at intersections only to spread out again. The combined marchers created a living, breathing entity, narrowing and swelling, cheering and chanting, all fueled by varying degrees of outrage and zeal.<\/p>\n

\"Sandra

Sandra Smith and Kathleen May in Washington<\/p><\/div>\n

Why did we, two white Canadian women, spend a combined total of thirty-one hours on multiple buses over the course of a hectic weekend, to participate in the Women\u2019s March on Washington? Although we had many reasons in common, we also \u2018marched our own march\u2019. I carried with me a personal history of sexual violence, which Trump brags about subjecting women to. So far, at least 13 women have accused Trump of sexual assault, including his ex-wife\u2014something that 1-in-3 Canadian women experience. Also, as a lesbian and a feminist, I live in a world that values female solidarity. Never one to say, \u201cI\u2019m not like other girls\u201d, I\u2019ve always been a staunch supporter of sisterhood. I\u2019ve been witness and participant to the amazing things women can do when we are actually <\/em>empowered, which is to say, when we have power over our bodies, decisions, education, and the way our lives take shape.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

Each woman who marched did so for her own reasons, but I also believe that we did so for other women\u2019s reasons, as well. Though I am unlikely to require an abortion, I support access to abortion on demand and without apology. Although I am statistically much less likely to experience intimate partner violence, I advocate for all women to live lives free of violence. And although I will not experience racism, or ableism, or many other oppressions faced by women in our community and across the planet, I still stand, linked, with the women who do, as it is all women\u2019s battle to end any woman\u2019s suffering. As Audre Lorde says, \u201cI am not free when any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

We lost our Canadian contingent almost immediately, so began to let the crowd lead us. To my dismay we missed Gloria Steinem but the roster was filled with feminist, anti-racist activists. As we made our way, we encountered many local women, mostly black Hillary supporters (a staggering 93.5 per cent of black women in Washington voted for Clinton) who cheered us on, thanked us for our presence, and spoke with us about their experiences as Americans and residents of the nation\u2019s capital. As a Canadian, I had been able to be somewhat removed from the devastation of a Trump presidency, but amidst Americans, you could almost feel the weight of urgency. The marchers were in good spirits and there was immediate camaraderie amongst us, but the underlying sense of indignation made it clear that we all wished we didn\u2019t have to march against this sh*t.<\/p>\n

\"Women's<\/p>\n

After seeing Angela Davis speak and Janelle Monae lead the rallying cry of \u201cSay Her Name!\u201d (a reference to Sandra Bland, a black woman murdered in police custody, arrested for failure to signal a lane change), we began to march. We didn\u2019t get very far before Sandra broke into dance upon hearing Madonna\u2019s distinctive voice, but we continued our march. Women weaved in and out of the major arteries, and though the march followed Pennsylvania Avenue, women streamed down every surrounding street and sidewalk. It\u2019s fascinating to be a part of a march so huge\u2014you are immersed in your immediate surroundings, you can really only see and hear the nearest few hundred people. At the time we were told to anticipate 200,000 people, but to hear later the numbers had more than doubled to 500,000, and to see the photographs of a veritable sea of pink hats and protest signs, deeply humbled us. When we later learned women had marched on all seven continents, that we had joined the largest global protest in human history, we knew that the 31 cramped, antsy, and sleep-deprived hours on the bus had been worth it.<\/p>\n

Besides, what was 31 hours when compared Gladys Radek\u2019s three-month cross-Canada trek to raise awareness and demand justice for missing and murdered indigenous women, including her 22-year-old niece? Or the U.S. average journey of 40 miles (and upwards of 250 miles in some states) to get to an abortion clinic? Or what about the six-kilometre average walk that sub-Sahara African women make daily to get water for living needs? Across 75 countries, women marched not because we all confront the exact same issues, but because the oppression all women face is cruel, stunting, and completely based in lies.<\/p>\n\n\t\t