Chaos, Confusion, Disunity and Girl Power
at Los Angeles Women's March
January 21, 2017. Los Angeles, CA. In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of women and men attended the women's rally and march in support of women's rights. Estimates ranged from tens of thousands to the police estimate of 100,000 to an official announcement of 200,000 to claims of 750,000. The women's march and rally were not anti-Trump events. The event planning started long before Donald Trump was elected.Some of the participants were optimistic about Trump's Presidency while others said they planned to give him a chance while a minority held expensive pre-printed signs attacking him.
Many Bernie Sanders supporters expressed concerns that sore-losing Hillary Clinton supporters had hijacked the rally that wasn't supposed to be about the election. A lot of marchers commented that Hillary Clinton was never a women's rights candidate.
A number of powerful people spoke but most attendees did not hear the speeches and did not even know where to go to listen to the speeches. A great many didn't even know there were speeches taking place. Three stages were set up but the sound systems were so poor that maybe a couple hundred participants were within listening distance of the speakers at any particular location. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Former Secretary of Labor (currently an L.A. County Supervisor) Hilda Solis, L.A. Supervisor (former Congresswoman) Janice Hahn, Congresswoman Judy Chu and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feurer were among the speakers at the stage at Broadway and First. Also, Natalie Portman and Jane Fonda were among the celebrities at the rally.
Many Bernie Sanders supporters expressed concerns that sore-losing Hillary Clinton supporters had hijacked the rally that wasn't supposed to be about the election. A lot of marchers commented that Hillary Clinton was never a women's rights candidate.
A number of powerful people spoke but most attendees did not hear the speeches and did not even know where to go to listen to the speeches. A great many didn't even know there were speeches taking place. Three stages were set up but the sound systems were so poor that maybe a couple hundred participants were within listening distance of the speakers at any particular location. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Former Secretary of Labor (currently an L.A. County Supervisor) Hilda Solis, L.A. Supervisor (former Congresswoman) Janice Hahn, Congresswoman Judy Chu and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feurer were among the speakers at the stage at Broadway and First. Also, Natalie Portman and Jane Fonda were among the celebrities at the rally.
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The issues represented by the marchers ranged from opposition to Los Angeles's police violence against minorities to support for ending child sex trafficking, to calling for an end to discrimination against women in family court proceedings to promoting universal single-payer health care to standing up for reproductive rights and for protecting the planet. Many women attending said they felt they have fewer rights as women in 2016 than they did a century ago before women got the vote and now they wanted back the rights of womanhood and motherhood, along with equal rights in other areas.
After her speech, Supervisor Janice Hahn said that protecting women's rights in family law proceedings was the next big frontier. Mayor Garcetti answered questions about police violence, saying that they were having trainings on the issue and special recognition for officers who used non-violence in their work. Similar programs have taken place before in the various departments and it is yet to be seen whether the extensive number of Los Angeles police killings of unarmed Blacks will decrease as a result of any current efforts.
Though the large number of participants showed that women have power, the lack of any effective organizational planning or providing of information as to what was happening where resulted in a lot of participants feeling they had missed the event as they returned home. Most blamed the chaos on Hillary Clinton's former campaign workers taking advantage of the disorganization and grabbing control of the event.
While a minority of participants were anti-Trump, most of the participants interviewed planned to put politics aside and hoped to encourage Donald Trump to increase the rights of women in America. One person pointed out that the mainstream media, which is still reeling from the loss of its candidate, is trying to portray an event that has nothing to do with the 2016 election, as a political statement against a Commander in Chief who hadn't been in office long enough to do much of anything, positive or negative. Many of those present felt that Donald Trump was women's best hope for stopping the misguided legislation put forth by the GOP. The majority of participants interviewed had a much more negative about the GOP-controlled Congress and about the "Establishment" Democrats than about Trump.
Some of the Berniecrats who attended the event asked that this article include a statement that the nastiness some Hillary supporters have directed towards Donald Trump and his family is not representative of how most on the left feels. Most progressives the Justice Gazette writers has spoken to since the election are ready to give Trump a fair chance to prove that he will actually represent the people as opposed to the interests of the few. One teenager named Angie, who worked on Bernie's campaign, spoke for a lot of Bernie activists in saying that she felt the media's mischaracterization of the new President and his family was reprehensible and cruel and that , unlike Hillary's nomination, Trump won the Presidency fair and square.
The comments most heard at the rally were that Americans have woken up from their eight year sleep and will be watching all the actions of Congress and the new President and that anyone who does not follow the will of the people will be voted out of office at their next election.
After her speech, Supervisor Janice Hahn said that protecting women's rights in family law proceedings was the next big frontier. Mayor Garcetti answered questions about police violence, saying that they were having trainings on the issue and special recognition for officers who used non-violence in their work. Similar programs have taken place before in the various departments and it is yet to be seen whether the extensive number of Los Angeles police killings of unarmed Blacks will decrease as a result of any current efforts.
Though the large number of participants showed that women have power, the lack of any effective organizational planning or providing of information as to what was happening where resulted in a lot of participants feeling they had missed the event as they returned home. Most blamed the chaos on Hillary Clinton's former campaign workers taking advantage of the disorganization and grabbing control of the event.
While a minority of participants were anti-Trump, most of the participants interviewed planned to put politics aside and hoped to encourage Donald Trump to increase the rights of women in America. One person pointed out that the mainstream media, which is still reeling from the loss of its candidate, is trying to portray an event that has nothing to do with the 2016 election, as a political statement against a Commander in Chief who hadn't been in office long enough to do much of anything, positive or negative. Many of those present felt that Donald Trump was women's best hope for stopping the misguided legislation put forth by the GOP. The majority of participants interviewed had a much more negative about the GOP-controlled Congress and about the "Establishment" Democrats than about Trump.
Some of the Berniecrats who attended the event asked that this article include a statement that the nastiness some Hillary supporters have directed towards Donald Trump and his family is not representative of how most on the left feels. Most progressives the Justice Gazette writers has spoken to since the election are ready to give Trump a fair chance to prove that he will actually represent the people as opposed to the interests of the few. One teenager named Angie, who worked on Bernie's campaign, spoke for a lot of Bernie activists in saying that she felt the media's mischaracterization of the new President and his family was reprehensible and cruel and that , unlike Hillary's nomination, Trump won the Presidency fair and square.
The comments most heard at the rally were that Americans have woken up from their eight year sleep and will be watching all the actions of Congress and the new President and that anyone who does not follow the will of the people will be voted out of office at their next election.
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