Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather this Saturday in downtown for the fourth annual Women’s March LA. Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, many people have gathered nationwide to march for women’s rights and protest threats to reproductive rights.
But some critics are questioning the relevance of the Women’s March this year, especially with an impeachment trial in the Senate and a presidential election looming.
Emiliana Guereca, president of the Women’s March Foundation and an organizer of Women’s March LA, says that this year’s march is a force to be reckoned with. “Most of these activists have plugged into different work. Even if they don’t march with us, they are still plugging into being active, to make sure that their voice counts. Because I personally think we fell asleep at the wheel in 2016.”
Professor Dana R. Fisher points out that the march inspired people nationwide: “When the Women’s March was over, the people who participated, who were predominantly female (85% of the people who participated were female), they did not go back and sit on their couches and twiddle their thumbs. They got active. And they got involved.”