ORGANIZING A MOVEMENT Teresa Shook said It was mind-boggling the day after President Donald J Trump’s reacting to the January 21 2017 protest inauguration 1 Professors Erica Chenoweth and Jeremy Pressman would later call it likely the largest single-day demonstration in recorded US history in an article for the Washington Post 2 Many say Shook started it And the tool she used was Facebook Businessman Trump had waged an unusually divisive campaign against Hillary Clinton who had served as secretary of state and was a former US senator Most pollsters thought Clinton would win ending the male-only line of presidents Before the election Clinton supporters were riding high Trump’s campaign had angered many groups He spoke of banning Muslims from entering the country and limiting women’s The Women’s March held on January 21 2017 demonstrated the power of Facebook to help activists organize and push for social change 5
rights He was also viewed as insensitive to people of color Further 19 women accused Trump of past sexual harassment and abuse The media ran recordings of Trump bragging about abuse and insulting women However when the election results rolled in Trump had won 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232 The news upset many across the nation and even beyond Among them was Hawaii resident Teresa Shook A grandmother and retired lawyer Shook had never been an activist until the night after the election Like more than two billion others worldwide Shook had a Facebook account On Pantsuit Nation a page for Clinton supporters she wrote out her distress calling for a women’s march at the inauguration With help from some online friends she set up a Facebook event page Forty people responded Comforted Shook went to bed FROM REAL TO RIDICULOUS Events posted on Facebook run the gamut from real and serious like the Women’s March to imaginary and ridiculous Dress up like a bird and run into the glass at US Bank Stadium comedian Cullen Ryan typed onto his Facebook Events page calling for people to flock to a Minneapolis Minnesota stadium Sometimes it is hard to tell a joke from a serious event Okay I ran into 40 of the building I’m going to be here all night complained one respondent Another user wondered how do we check in safe after we run into the glass Within a couple of days nearly 10,000 had commented and some 1,200 pledged to participate 3 6
By the next morning she had thousands of responses from people willing to march Meanwhile in New York a female fashion designer Bob Bland had a similar thought I think we should build a coalition of ALL marginalized allies do this she proposed on Facebook 4 She encouraged people in every state to plan marches as Shook would do in Hawaii Bland recruited three female activists to plan what became the Women’s March on Washington This is not an anti-Trump rally clarified Carmen Perez one of Bland’s picks Trump is a reflection of what the country represents right now but it’s so much larger than him We’re not marching on Trump we’re marching on Washington 5 BLAND’S TEAM OF ACTIVISTS The Women’s March was a blend of several marches with different names that began separately as Shook and Bland did As things began to take shape each state with its own leader worked toward creating one major event in the nation’s capital Bland was intent on including all parts of American society She chose three experienced New York activists Her copresident was African American woman Tamika Mallory who had assisted President Barack Obama’s staff with issues related to civil rights health care and policing abuse Carmen Perez who focuses on finding alternatives to prison sentences particularly for youth became treasurer Linda Sarsour a Muslim activist who addresses legal and diversity issues was cotreasurer Bland also made it clear that men were wanted We welcome our male allies she said We want this to be as inclusive as possible while acknowledging that it’s okay to have a women-centered march 6 7
