This year's marches have been mired in controversy, and protestors will be facing freezing temperatures. Though the organizers behind the embattled Women's March, Inc reportedly submitted a permit application for up to 500,000 people, actual turnout is expected to be far lower.
The first Womens March in January 2017 drew approximately 485,000 protesters who gathered in Washington, DC days after President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Since then, Women's March Inc. has sparked serious concerns afterone of the movement's founders publicly accused the four main leaders of the national march organization of anti-Semitism in November.
The controversy
Teresa Shook leveled the accusation specifically at two of the organization's primary leaders: Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American with a long history of criticizing Israeli policy, and Tamika Mallory, who is associated with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan is known for making anti-Semitic statements.
A new policy statement released by the organization is the latest in the group's efforts to clarify its mission for this year's demonstrations. The document lists violence against women, environmental justice, and rights for LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities among its chief concerns.
The details
A winter storm expected to blanket the northeast Saturday spelled trouble in the form of snow and freezing rain for protestors in East Coast cities, but as of Saturday morning, the marches were slated to continue as planned.
Here are some of the largest marches planned for today:
- Boston: Protestors will gather at the Boston Common for the 2019 Boston Women's March organized by March Forward Massachusetts that will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m.
- Los Angeles: The downtown march will start at Pershing Square at 10 a.m. and end at City Hall at 2 p.m.
- New York City: Women's March Alliance , which is different from Women's March, Inc., is hosting their third New York City march, which will begin with a "kick-off" at 11:00 a.m. at 62nd Street and Central Park West. Protestors will march along Central Park.
- San Francisco: The Women's March San Francisco 2019 March and Rally is being put on in partnership between Planned Parenthood Northern California and Women's March, Inc. The rally will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Civic Center Plaza and continue down Market Street to the Embarcadero.
- Seattle: The Womxn's March on Seattle will include a wide range of activities, beginning with a rally at the city's Cal Anderson Park at 9 a.m. before a march that will end at Seattle Center, where the organization is holding activism panels and workshops.
- Washington, DC: Despite the waves of controversy surrounding the organization that put on the original Washington Women's March, the group's site says it is re-committed to its new mission and will begin gathering protestors downtown at Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m.
