Only hours after President-elect Donald J. Trump is sworn into the highest office in the land, people from all walks of life will flood into the nation’s capital to send the new administration a message: that diversity is America’s strength.
“We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country,” an official statement from the national organizers of the Women’s March on Washington says.
The release says the rhetoric of the past election cycle has “insulted, demonized, and threatened” many communities.
The Women’s March – which was formerly billed as the Million Women March until it came to light that the name has already been used – came about after a grandmother in Hawaii shared her outrage regarding the Nov. 8 election results. In a post Teresa Shook wrote, “I think we should march,” according to published reports. The idea spread and now there are more than 175,000 people on Facebook who say they are planning on attending the Jan. 21 event in Washington, D.C. It may be the largest inauguration demonstration of all time.
And although the march is more than 400 miles away from the the southern pocket of New Hampshire, many people in the Monadnock region are still planning to attend the event. A bus scheduled to depart from Peterborough to Washington was recently canceled because the company does not have a large enough fleet to supply the nationwide demand. While the cancellation poses a roadblock for some, many have found other ways to attend the event.
Rachelle Beaudoin, who lives in Peterborough, originally planned to ride on the bus scheduled to leave from her hometown. But after it was canceled, she was able to arrange for a seat on a bus departing from Keene. Beaudoin said she knows other people who are carpooling, flying, or are attending a sister march in a city closer to home in order to show their solidarity.
“Some of it (Beaudoin’s desire to attend the Women’s March) was an initial, gut reaction and a need to respond to the rhetoric of the election,” Beaudoin said. “Not just what was said but also what wasn’t said, especially about women.”
She said attending the event isn’t necessarily a protest against Trump, but a reminder that the message of equality and diversity spread by presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders are still important and relevant.
“For me it’s important to go there and meet other people and physically be there, instead of liking or reposting something on social media,” said Beaudoin. “It’s important to stand together and be together.”
Nancy Nolan, who lives in Dublin, is planning to attend a sister march in Boston. To prepare for the march, Nolan said she and her daughter have joined a wave of others who are hand-making pink caps, a reference to a demeaning comment Trump made about women, to wear at the event.
Nolan said she is most concerned with Trump’s stance on climate change, which he has called a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese government. She said she also worries that he will rollback decades of women’s rights progress, including the right to choose.
“My kids are adults now and maybe I’ll be a grandma someday, so I care about the future of the country,” Nolan said.
Often times, she said, fighting for causes you believe in can feel hopeless, likening the feeling to being a grain of sand in a large expanse of beach. But marching can match you up with like-minded people, she said.
“That’s the good thing about a march. You meet so many people who feel the same way as you and are able to connect with them,” Nolan said, adding that she hopes the march will also draw widespread public awareness to their cause.
For those in the Monadnock region who want to march but are unable to travel to a major U.S. hub, a small cohort of women are planning to support the march in Francestown.
BJ Carbee, who is one of three organizers, said she was at a Christmas party in mid-December talking to women who agreed it would be great to organize an event closer to home. At the time, no marches had been organized within the state, although marches have since sprung up in Concord and Portsmouth.
“Many of us are gray haired, can’t march for four hours, and don’t have the time to go to Boston,” Carbee said of the reasoning behind organizing a smaller event.
She said it would be nice if younger women with families who have children could bind together with the older generation who are unable to travel.
“I’m going to be dead in 20 years,” Carbee said. “All of this stuff is going to have little effect on me. It affects the future generation, so it’s important that they are involved.”
The group intends on gathering on the town common in front of the Town Hall. She said people will read statements expressing their concern and then they will march up and down the sidewalk along Main Street. The event is slated to run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.