Hundreds march for women’s equality in Raleigh

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered at Halifax Mall near the state legislative building for the third Women’s March in Raleigh. Many attendees explained that while the past year has been historic for women, there is still a long way to go for equality to be attained.

The Raleigh Women’s March was hosted a week after the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. that was held on Jan. 19, which has received criticism because of claims of anti-Semitism against its organizers. The event was organized by Women Mobilize NC, an organization that chose to be unaffiliated with the march in D.C. because of the “rise of anti-Semitism and the pain and suffering it causes” and pledged to stand in solidarity with those who are facing interpersonal, institutional or systemic oppression and discrimination.

According to Kelsey McLain, a volunteer at the Raleigh Women’s March, the goal of the march this year was to rally individuals behind a variety of social justice issues facing communities in the U.S. and appreciate the women leading the work to achieve change in a variety of movements.

“We are not only just having a rally where people can show up and feel good and go home and have nothing to do with that energy,” McLain said. “We are giving lots of people opportunities to plug in. Depending on what your issue area is and what interests you as a person you can just walk around and find a way to directly plug into that work and your community.”

Various speakers, hailing from educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, such as Lillian’s List Action Fund and Public Schools First-NC, to members of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, gathered to speak about women’s progress, as well as areas to advocate for and issues to bring awareness to.

Ashley Popio, co-emcee for the Raleigh Women’s March, mentioned that the movement and march will continue until problems have been resolved and progress has been made.

“In this country, there are many arenas in which we are considered less than full citizens, and that is unacceptable,” Popio said. “We will continue to march until that situation has been revised.”

Emma Ilaria, volunteer at Raleigh Women’s March, emphasized that the wave of feminism is not new. Rather, it has continued to evolve, beginning with the work of previous generations.

“The new wave of feminism is that we are inspired by our great-grandmothers and great-great grandmothers that did this before us,” Ilaria said. “I think it is a new generation that is finding their voice, and we are seeing younger women in Congress. We are seeing the effects of our loudness. I think it is only going to continue, and it’s only going to get stronger, and the new wave of feminism is just starting and it’s here to come.”

At the event, there were 16 scheduled speakers, seven live performances and additional people who got onstage to voice their opinions, all with the purpose of bringing awareness to different issues individuals are facing and to empower women to stand up for justice.

Christian Okoth, a second-year studying English and economics, ran a program to go to the Women’s March for the Honors and Scholars Village to get students more involved and more active in their community. Okoth said that continuing to march is a necessity until the issues that they are advocating for are addressed and fixed.

“I think that people should keep marching until we actually solve any of the problems that we’re marching for,” Okoth said. “It’s just a really great expression of your First Amendment rights to be able to say ‘Hey, something’s wrong here’ and see a lot of people that really agree with you and really put that to work.”

Grace Watson, a first-year studying business, explained that this is the second NC Women’s March she has participated in and said that marching is a good starting place to become involved in activism.

“As I’ve been growing up and being exposed to the news more, I keep seeing a lot of issues with women and gay and lesbian issues, and you definitely feel powerless against it because you just don’t know what you can do,” Watson said. “So I feel like marching is a good first step to activism for a lot of people. Especially going with your friends and having common interests and a lot of people banding together to invoke a change in society.”

Emma Kalish, a second-year studying industrial design, said that the Women’s March has motivated her to take action within her own community to advocate for women’s rights.

“I was talking to my friends, and I was saying we should have Feminist Fridays and we should go to the library and make little buttons, because I have these buttons on my jacket and for introverts,” Kalish said. “It’s stuff like that I think I could get people that don’t want to be loud. I think I can do just little things with my friends, my school and my community and just start there.”

Jared McDaniel lead his group of friends at the march, members of a minority of male allies that came to support the cause. McDaniel, wearing a feminist button to showcase his support, explained why he left his law studies at UNC-Chapel Hill for the day to be present for the movement.

“I came because there are a lot of women that I care about and who I support,” McDaniel said. “It is disgraceful what men have done to them over the past 2,000 years. It is an opportunity to come and show support for the people I love.”

Program speakers Jessica Holmes, Wake County 3rd District chair, and Manju Karkare, chair of the Lillian’s List Action Fund, discussed the progress of women’s issues that has been made and the further work they need to do.

Karkare mentioned women’s increasing involvement in government, citing the historical record of women in Congress.

“2018 was a historic year for women,” Karkare said. “We have nine new progressive, pro-choice women entering the General Assembly this year and over 100 women in Congress.”

According to Holmes, there is still a long way to go for the feminist movement.

“We have glass ceilings that are yet to be broken,” Holmes said. “There is but one way to reach the top of that mountain and that is together.”