On Jan. 18, the same day as the national Women’s March in Washington DC, women’s rights advocates will be gathering in Riverfront Park to rally together and advocate for pressing issues.
Spokeswoman for the local Women’s March, Murphy Sullivan, said in a press release that the Spokane march is not affiliated with the national march, but insists it is necessary for women to come together and support issues such as access to health care and reproductive justice.
“This is an important year. Roe vs. Wade is being challenged in the courts again, as are the rights of many socially vulnerable groups,”Sullivan said. “Also, 2020 marks the 100 year anniversary of when the first women won the right to vote in this country.”
The event will kick off with speakers at 12:30 p.m., followed by the 3/4 mile march through Spokane.
Rally speakers will include:
- Marleny Carmona, a Mexican-American woman raised in rural Washington, and a second year OBGYN medical student at WSU.
- Ping Ping, a sociology professor at SFCC. Ping’s experience growing up in China makes her uniquely capable of understanding why Asian people – Chinese in particular – often withhold their opinions, abstain from getting involved in politics and avoid social activism.
- Amanda Mead public school librarian and educator. Born and raised in rural Montana, Mead was asked to leave her first teaching job when school administrators learned she was queer.
- Bethany Montgomery, founder of Power 2 The Poetry. Montgomery is a Seattle-based African-American poet, rapper and performing artist.
