More than 200 people will march down Main Street Saturday.
The Women’s March on the Palouse is one of the 370 sister marches taking place across the globe including Nairobi, Tokyo, Rome and many other cities. An estimated 694,408 people have joined a global movement to stand up for the rights of women everywhere.
“Initially it was going to be something really small with the usual suspects in Moscow,” said Elizabeth Stevens, organizer of the Women’s March on the Palouse. “I thought even a small gathering would be a great thing, just to join with marchers across the world. But then this event expanded into something much bigger and more powerful than we ever envisioned.”
The sister marches are solidarity events inspired by the Women’s March on Washington, a women’s rights rally in Washington D.C.
According to the organization’s website, Women’s March Global is a proactive international movement that “invites individuals and organizations committed to equality, diversity and inclusion” to join their local coalitions of marchers in “representing the rights and voices of progressive people around the world.”
Unable to make it to the nearest march in Spokane, Stevens organized the local sister march with fellow activist Mary Jo Hamilton, a former member of the Latah County Human Rights Task Force. Hamilton said the event has gained a large amount of local support, and it has been a humbling and inspiring process.
The march will have representation from the University of Idaho, Washington State University and a wide variety of local organizations that work to support women and women’s rights, such as the UI Women’s Center.
“I hope that people who attend will see that there is a lot of support for them in the community,” Stevens said. “Regardless of what happens in the next few months and years, we will always have each other’s backs. I really want everybody in the Palouse to see that there’s a solid community of people who will protect them and look out for them.”
Hamilton said the march will host a number of speakers in East City Park, a choir performance and an open mic time where marchers can give their thoughts. Hamilton and Stevens requested that open mic speakers should keep their comments brief, non-partisan and positive.
“We really want emphasize that we are keeping this march positive, civil, peaceful and loving,” Stevens said. “It’s really about loving ourselves and loving each other, because love is stronger than hate.”
Many of the marchers in Moscow and across the world will wear knit or crochet pink hats with cat ears, as part of the Los Angeles-based Pussyhat Project.
Hamilton said the hats are a fun way to visually represent Moscow being united, and they are an easy pattern that is fun to knit and fast to make.
“There’s just something fun about these pink hats,” Hamilton said. “It’s not so much as making a statement, but more of a uniting thing.”
Stevens said the pink hats are a great alternative to premade T-shirts, not only because of the cold weather, but because they showcase and highlight women’s handiwork.
“There’s something really special about having a symbol for the march being something handmade,” Stevens said. “If you look at history, women’s work is seen as lesser than men’s craftsmanship, where they are paid less, given less and downgraded for their work. I really appreciate that these hats are a symbol of unity, and I’ve seen so many beautiful, gorgeous hats handmade by women.”
For Stevens, the march is not only a matter of global significance, but a symbol of personal significance as well. Stevens said she had a close friend who was verbally harassed on the UI campus a few months ago. She said the march isn’t just about women’s rights, but human rights everywhere that have been threatened. She said that the implications of threats to human rights extends to communities across the world, even in the Palouse.
“I think the patriarchy is alive here on the Palouse,” Stevens said. “My hope is that we will respond to patriarchy with sisterhood, strength and clarity, and for the culture to shift and say that it’s not OK.”
For Hamilton, she said the march is a “force to be reckoned with” and a statement to ensure that human rights aren’t lost.
“There’s going to be opposition for any number of things planned for the next administration, and we stand to lose a lot of rights that were long fought for women,” Hamilton said. “It’s just the idea that we aren’t just going to sit here and let our rights be taken away again, to make sure they don’t disappear.”
Marchers have the option of meeting in the Moscow City Hall parking lot at 1 p.m. and walking to East City Park, or to meet marchers in the park at 1:30 pm. Participants can register at womensmarch.com by typing in their zip code to be part of the official tally online.
“If people don’t participate, how can we make any change?” Hamilton said. “If people are having their rights taken away, it’s your responsibility to stand up and say this isn’t the community I want to live in. If you believe in something, it’s your responsibility to make it happen.”
Taryn Hadfield can be reached at [email protected]