Culture / Newsy

Houston Women’s March Tackles #MeToo, Donald Trump, Oprah (and Much More): Thousands Hit the Streets — Annise Parker Knows It Must Be More Than a “Nice Walk”

BY // 01.20.18

In the last few months, women across America have been finding their voices. Between #MeToo and Time’s Up, this nation’s women have used their voices to draw attention to sexual harassment and sexual assault.

But that is not the only cause women are concerned with. Women’s causes span diversity, intersectionality, gun violence, immigration, health care, wage parity, education, the economy, the climate, reproduction rights, and so much more.

You could see these beliefs in bold lettering, splashed upon hundreds and hundreds of signs at the Houston Women’s March on Saturday. This year marked the volunteer-led organization’s second march and rally, one of 250 that played out across the United States.

Speakers from District Attorney Kim Ogg to Mayor Sylvester Turner were clear in their message. Caring about these causes isn’t enough. Put your rights where your mouth is. Vote.

Thousands of women, men, and children marched from The Water Works at Buffalo Bayou, down Allen Parkway to City Hall. At the inaugural march last year, 22,000 people walked to show the city what they believed in.

The women and men who came out today stood up for their many and varied beliefs. They shared them with their messages, both in chants and in signs.

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The chants began at The Water Works and continued through the march and rally:

Speak Up/Rise Up

Black Lives Matter

Whose Streets/Our Streets

Love Not Hate Makes America Great

My Body, My Choice/Her Body, Her Choice

Show Me What Democracy Looks Like/This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Hey Hey Ho Ho/2018 We’re Gonna Vote

The signs came in all colors, sizes, and messages:

Men of Quality Don’t Fear Equality.

Women’s Rights are Human Rights

Stop Pretending Your Racism is Patriotism

We Won’t Go Back.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…damental Rights

Stop Racism

Oprah For President

Signs for Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, a Houston Democrat running for Congress, dotted the crowd, heralding another woman pursuing a place in politics.

Houston Women’s March, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, is focused on voting. They are committed to “building progressive power for the 2018 elections.” They have concentrated their efforts on four Cs: causes, candidates, communication, cast your ballots.

“A march that does not become a movement is really just a nice walk. We don’t need a nice walk. We need a movement.”

The volunteer-led, grassroots group does not endorse candidates. They want women across Texas to know that a record number of women are running for political offices across America this year.

“Over 26,000 women have registered to run for office in this country,” Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen told the crowd gathered outside City Hall. “It’s not enough to rally and cheer.”

She urged everyone to vote and vote in groups, spurring their circle of friends to head to the polls. “You can get breakfast afterwards to celebrate. But don’t let anyone join you at breakfast who isn’t wearing an I Voted sticker,” she added.

Cohen was specific in her explanation of consequences. “When women vote, women win.”

District Attorney Kim Ogg took the stage, touting herself as a prime example of women’s voting impact. “You elected a woman by more than 108,000 more votes than anybody else had on the ballot,” she said of her campaign.

Ogg seconded Cohen in staying that you elect more women when you get out and vote. Their support is capable of making lasting changes, she said. “No more rape kits on the shelves!” she chanted.

Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker wants to use her platform to ignite a movement, not just a march. Last year, she was unable to attend the marches in Austin and San Antonio. Parker felt compelled to go to Houston’s march, thinking “there’s only maybe going to be about 20 people.”

She was in for a surprise when the turnout was 1,100 times what she’d anticipated. But no number of people matters if they don’t take initiative. “A march that does not become a movement is really just a nice walk. We don’t need a nice walk,” she said. “We need a movement.”

Women's March signs
Marchers held their signs high throughout the rally.

Dee Coleman, a Texas woman who has represented women in civil rights issues since 1970, followed Parker with a game plan for sparking a movement. “Today, I’m giving you your marching orders for voting,” she said. Coleman shared the dates for registration, early voting, Election Day, runoff elections, and general elections.

Voting in off years is just as important as voting in presidential election years, she insisted. “There’s no shortage of races,” from judicial to county and district clerks. “No vote, no voice.” Uneducated voting does not amount to much, so it’s imperative that people “study that ballot, choose who you best want to represent you.”

“I’m going to tell it like it is,” Coleman said, breaking it down plainly. “Vote as if your life depends on it — because it really does.

“Let’s change Houston. Let’s change Texas. Let’s change the country.”

Change is already underway in Houston. This week, a new Houston Independent School District school board was inaugurated. “Out of nine people on the board, eight are women,” Joanna Stevenson of Texas Organizing Project told the crowd. “And seven of them are women of color. We need more boards and commissions that look like HISD.”

The world might seem a little bleak with everything going on in Washington, but we should focus on the power “each and every one of you possesses,” she encouraged. “This week it was HISD. In 2018, it could be the governor’s mansion. It could be the White House in 2020.”

Mayor Sylvester Turner couldn’t agree more. “I hope in my lifetime I will see the first female President of The United States of America,” Turner said. In order to do that, “We’ve got to maintain that fire, that intensity. Let’s elect a whole lot of women to positions of power.”

Because “our cause is just,” we won’t stop fighting. “Next year I’ll be standing with you, and the year after that, and the year after that, until our voices are heard.”

Houston’s Women Power

Houston Women’s March is more than on board — the organization has already filed an application for next year’s march.

More women came forward, using their voices to tell the stories of the specific causes that changed their lives.

Jose Escobar was deported to El Salvador last March, leaving his wife Rose and their children. Jose “was from one of the countries Donald Trump called a shithole,” Rose Escobar said. Her husband entered the country at 15 and for his entire life in America paid his taxes and did “everything the right way,” she said.

Rose has no tolerance for people who tell her that if she loves her husband, she should just move to El Salvador. “This is my country. One day, this will be my husband’s country,” she promised. She stands with all immigrants, no matter where they come from. “He’s going to come through that door one day. I’m going to make it happen. You’re going to make it happen.

“Women’s rights equal family values.”

Rose wants everyone to band together to protect the children affected by the future of DACA. Those kids deserve a chance, she said. “No dream, no deal.”

Caldrae Simpson Kim shared her personal and devastating experience with gun violence. Her son George was shot and killed at the age 20. Simpson Kim has sworn to work for gun safety with Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America. She spoke about the prevalence of gun murders in the country, how they’re featured on the 11 ‘o clock news, the 12 o’ clock news, on and on.

“I never thought my child would be a statistic,” she said. She demands a nation free of guns, one in which women will not have to fear that their partners have bought firearms.

“When I kept saying I was a victim, I had no power,” Simpson Kim shared. “But I’m a survivor.”

This is a march for survivors — and world changers.

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