Justice

The Women's March on Washington Will Offer a Blueprint for Progressives

January 14th 2017

Donald Trump will be inaugurated next week as the 45th president of the United State after achieving the distinction of being the most unpopular president-elect in modern history.

And the day after Trump takes the oath of office, a massive movement will descend upon Washington.

The Women’s March on Washington will send a message that there are a lot of people who won't stand for his rhetoric or policies.

Organizers expect nearly 200,000 to show up, according to the march's Facebook page. Hundreds of thousands more have expressed interest in participating.

And nearly 600,000 will take part in 281 sister marches across the globe, according to the march’s website.

The march will champion long-standing feminist principles and policies:

  • Pass the Equal Rights Amendment
  • End institutional sexism and the pay gap
  • Support reproductive rights for all people, regardless of income, sex, and race.

The organizers also want to make sure the march honors the work of diverse women who have fought for social justice and incorporates intersectional principles.

These broad beliefs were recently laid out in the march's platform.

Slate's Christina Cauterucci wrote:

"The platform supports increased accountability for perpetrators of police brutality and racial profiling, demanding the demilitarization of American law enforcement and an end to mass incarceration. It calls for comprehensive anti-discrimination protections, health care, and gender-affirming identity documents for LGBTQ people. It calls unions 'critical to a healthy and thriving economy' and aligns the march with movements for the rights of sex workers, farmworkers, and domestic workers."

The march advocates an "unapologetically radical, progressive vision for justice in America, placing the march in the context of other past and ongoing movements for equality," Cauterucci said.

Marchers will support the struggles of women of color and the issues that affect them, including opposing calls for mass deportations.

This race-conscious approach has garnered a fair share of controversy, even among those who initially seemed to want to participate in the march.

Some white women have expressed their discomfort at the march's race-focused platform, which is compelling them to avoid the event.

Still, the march is being seen as a galvanizing moment for the nascent resistance against the incoming administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, which has threatened to strip funding from Planned Parenthood.

The march and its platform stand as a progressive checklist of what its proponents will be fighting for in years to come.

You can read the full platform for the Women’s March on Washington here.

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