Human Rights & Democracy
November 20, 2024: Marching Before and After the Election
Posted on November 27, 2024 at 12:00 AM
by Jean Stewart
On the afternoon of Saturday, November 2, somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people gathered at Washington’s Freedom Plaza and surrounding streets to advocate for access to reproductive health care, for the rights of LGBTQ+ and transgender people, and for racial equality. I joined them, wearing my wonderful WNDC hat, bequeathed to me by my late friend and lifelong Club member Martha Close. In the coming year, I plan to keep marching in support of the values and principles all WNDC members share.
The November 2 march drew an impressive-sized crowd women and men of all ages and colors, some with disabilities, many with great signs, and all with high enthusiasm. We heard several excellent speakers, starting with a woman member of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, reminding us that we stood on what was once the home of the Piscataway people before colonists took it over and built Washington, DC, and its surroundings on their land. Another speaker of note was attorney Gloria Allred, a feminist attorney well-known for defending women’s and victims’ rights. There was music and chanting, and then we marched to powerful drumbeats to the Ellipse, where Kamala Harris had just held her huge and enthusiastic rally.
The election itself was of course a huge shock to us all, and now the president-elect’s rapid-fire nominations are terrifying. We have a chance, however, to demonstrate our opposition to the policies and people the new administration threatens to impose on us by building on the November 2 March. A much bigger People’s March is being planned for January 18, two days before the inauguration. This will be an opportunity for Democrats to turn out en masse to express our strong support for our rights as a constitutional democracy and for the policies we want to see expanded.
According to a November 7 article in The Washington Post, the march is being organized by leading civil rights, racial justice, and reproductive health organizations, including the Women’s March, Abortion Access Now, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the National Women’s Law Center. “Organizers said people are motivated to participate by a range of issues, including abortion rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade; climate change, equal pay and federally guaranteed paid parental leave; the restoration of the pandemic’s expanded Child Tax Credit; fair wages; gun violence prevention; a plan that welcomes immigrants to the United States and provides a path to citizenship.”
I plan to join tens of thousands of women and men from all over the United States in this expression of outrage and demand for equality and protecting the rule of law for our now-threatened democracy! Visit WomensMarch.com for more details as planning for the People’s March continues.