Women's March 2018 Calls on White Women to Give Black Women a Seat at the Table

Black women have been organizers; trailblazers; and supporters and leaders of everything from community nonprofits and counseling services to free health clinics and advocacy for children, disabled people, and students. Still, modern feminist activism and discussion often focuses on white women, sometimes to the exclusion of women of color. This year, the Women's March focused on the importance of making true progress for all women—and both celebrating and fighting for the rights of black women. Read on to learn how this movement is working to become more inclusive.

By Marie Solis

LAS VEGAS—Black women are the next powerhouse force in American politics—and the Women's March wants to help them be front and center in 2018 and beyond.

Speakers at this year's "Power to the Polls" event on Sunday in Las Vegas gave special attention to women of color and black women especially, whose contributions to the feminist movement they said have been ignored and pushed to the side for too long.

"This march is being led by women of color," Nina Turner, the president of Our Revolution, a Democratic political action organization, told a roaring crowd. "But...let me put a special message out to black women: Don't let anyone make you feel marginalized. If you feel you aren't getting the respect you deserve, do what [Congresswoman] Shirley Chisholm did—don't just bring your own seat, kick down the door."

Women's March co-chair Carmen Perez put out a similar call to action, focusing on white women's responsibility to create space for people of color within the movement and in the political arena.

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After the Women's March: six mass US demonstrations to join this spring

theguardian.com - Hope your feet aren’t sore yet, because come spring, thereare major nationwide marches planned for nearly every weekend. After the success of the Women’s March on Washington, activists are preparing for mass mobilizations throughout the year.

Here are some major upcoming ones:

Since Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns during the campaign, thousands are marching on Tax Day to protest “the absolute unfairness of a man who is a billionaire president who might be not paying taxes while working folks are paying their fair share”, said Gwen Snyder, a community organizer and national organizer of Tax March.

At least 30 Tax Marches have been planned in solidarity around the country with several hundred thousand people expected. The Los Angeles event page shows 66,000 people who have expressed interest or attending. The New York march event page has nearly 40,000 interested or attending, and 37,000 people said they are interested in the DC march, with over 7,000 clicking attend.

Snyder, who has spent 10 years as an organizer around economic justice, declared: “I haven’t seen this kind of energy on the ground since Occupy.”

Proud Feminist Padma Lakshmi on Taking Her Daughter to the Women’s March

The examples we set for the next generation are so important—which is why we were heartened and inspired to read this story about actress, author and enthusiastic feminist Padma Lakshmi attending the Women's March on January 21 with her daughter, Krishna.  With examples like Lakshmi's, the next generation is even more likely to grow into the fierce, intelligent, compassionate, determined young women we already know them to be. 

yahoo.com - Padma Lakshmi doesn’t understand why so many women are loath to identify themselves as feminists.

“It’s a real problem. There was a trend among young women in the public eye to say: ‘Oh no, I believe in equal rights but I wouldn’t call myself a feminist,’” she says. “Feminism as a term got misaligned. Feminism just means: you believe in equal rights for everybody. It has nothing to do with body politics. I am a proud, flag-bearing feminist. You would have to be unhinged not to call yourself a feminist.”

As you might have noticed, Lakshmi has impressive knife skills, but she doesn’t mince words either. She’s the host of Bravo’s Top Chef and the author of the aromatic bible The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs. Lakshmi is also politically active, having campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It’s what compelled her to take her daughter, Krishna, to the Women’s March in Washington.

“I’d never been to a protest. I thought it was important for us to go together. She was on the floor of the convention center with me when Hillary lost. It would give her some way to do something. We’d been discussing, ‘What does this mean?’” Lakshmi tells Yahoo Style of the election.

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To capitalize on the momentum of the Women's March, feminism must be much more inclusive

qz.com - America, as characterized by some of the first words Donald Trump spoke as president of the US, is a dark place of misery, ridden by poverty, crime, and lack of opportunity—a theater of “American carnage.” Yet Saturday (Jan. 21), in Washington, DC, and all around the country, America was quite the opposite: colorful, energetic, and determined. Women of all ages and ethnicities took to the streets to march, chant, and laugh. They came out by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions, by bus, by train, and by plane; some even ran to the march. And they made it clear that they’re not going to quietly tolerate the new administration’s threats.

A large part of Saturday’s massive turnout was, surely, motivated by the election of Trump, a man who bragged about assaulting women, and ran a presidential campaign rife with sexism and general intolerance. But it also seemed to represent a new wave of feminism that’s been building for the past few years but has yet to find a suitable outlet.

The last large women’s protest in DC took place in 2004, when over a million people showed up to contest the curtailing of abortion rights. Despite the prominent role gender equality has claimed in the public discourse over the past few years, there has been little public celebration of it.

Three Lessons to Make the Women’s March Worthwhile

taketheleadwomen.com - I’ve marched in and organized many marches. So I supported but wasn’t planning on going to DC for the January 21 Women’s March, feeling good that younger women were rightly leading this time around. As the time grew nearer, Take The Lead’s Leadership Ambassadors created an Action Party event that grew just as the Women’s March itself was growing beyond all expectations. I had to be there—for our event and in solidarity with the millions of other marching women and men around the world. A delayed train back to New York after the march gave me a few moments for power shopping. I spotted a red raincoat I couldn’t’t resist. Nor could I resist asking the cheery salesperson, who by appearance and accent seemed to be from India, whether she had attended the march. “Oh yes,” she said. “It was very important. I got permission from my boss to close the shop for four hours, and I took the other two employees and my daughters.” Her words touched me profoundly as a microcosm of stories that brought so many people out onto the streets.