Over 20,000 March in St. Louis Women’s March on Jan. 21

The Women’s March in Saint Louis, correlating with the Women’s March in Washington D.C., took place on Jan. 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. downtown. The march aimed to send President Donald Trump a message on his first day in office that women and other marginalized groups will not be ignored or disrespected and that the previous events and rhetoric used during the election will not be tolerated.

Valerie Brinkman, one of the lead directors for the women’s march in Saint Louis, was very pleased with the outcome at the march. “I think it went really well considering none of us had ever done anything like this before,” said Brinkman.

She and her friends decided to bring the march to Saint Louis so that people could experience and support the cause no matter where they live.

An estimated 20,000 people attended the march, which met at Union Station and walked to Luther Ely Smith Park at Memorial Drive by the Arch.

Librarian Eve Diel, who attended the march, said, “I noticed that not only women were there, but also men and family showing their support.”

The march was about a mile long and took one hour, due to the number of people who attended.

One of the women in attendance, Marilyn Ridings, a mother of six, was marching because she has been advocating since the 60’s. “As a women growing up in a time where women were definitely not respected, I was protesting for feminism rights back then, and I find it very hard to still have to protest now, I’m an old women, I shouldn’t have to any more,” said Ridings.

Brinkman also had many reasons to march, she believes that discrimination of women needs to be addressed not just for her, but for her daughters too. “I am marching to show I will stand and fight for people’s’ rights and freedoms. I am marching to show my children that we should stand up for others and what’s right. I am marching for education, for the environment and for reproductive rights,” said Brinkman.  

The march remained peaceful throughout the day. While police officers and medics were present for safety, there was no violent incidents or need for the police to intervene.

After the march, there was a rally in the park with many guest speakers including Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Dr. Ghazala Hayat, Margaret Flowing Johnson, and a Planned Parenthood representative. They each talked about different aspects of women in the community and how women can take action for the things that matter most to them.

Diel said, “During the rally, there were a couple speakers that asked the question ‘Now What?’ They also talked about how we can help the younger generations and inform them,” said Diel.

After the rally, there was a final event called Act. In this portion of the event, the attendees visited different booths to learn more about various groups that people could join and what specifically they could do to take action. Some of the booths that were represented at the  event included Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice, American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters, National Women’s Political Caucus-St. Louis, YWCA, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

by Natasha Provinse, side dish czar