Dozens of people showed up in Roberts Creek on Jan. 20 for the first anniversary of the Women’s March, a global demonstration to protest the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
Grace Hann organized the event last year with Leah Collison. “I needed to have a voice, I was angry about the U.S. election and some of the awful things I heard,” said Hann. “This year, we decided to do it again because we feel we have a long way to go.”
Hann said turnout was lower than last year, citing inclement weather as a factor. She estimates between 150 and 200 people were present at the peak of the march.
The protest kicked off with Gerry Hills singing a women’s warrior song outside the Gumboot Café, followed by speeches by the organizers, politicians and members of the public, including Mark Lebbell, Sunshine Coast Regional District director for Roberts Creek, performer David Roche and first-time speaker Lizzie Rolls.
“I’d been mulling over it for a week, I didn’t want to come sounding angry,” said Rolls of her decision to participate. “I’m raising a black son, I’m a single mom, so there’s a lot of variables that affect me, but I don’t believe in anger, I really believe in conversation and dialogue.”
Local student Flora Box also volunteered to speak, voicing her desire to “make things better” for her generation. “I wanted to show that even children can speak for what they feel is right,” said the seventh grader from Roberts Creek Elementary.
After speeches, the crowd made its way to the blustery Roberts Creek Pier and on its return circled around the community mandala to sing renditions of Amazing Grace and This Little Light of Mine, with adapted lyrics for the occasion.
Decked out in bright yellow raingear and brandishing a neon pink protest sign, Cavin Crawford was one of several men who attended the Women’s March. “I’m dead set against all these people like Trump and all these big shots taking advantage of women and getting away with it,” he said.
Kim Darwin of the Green Party and Sechelt councillor Alice Lutes took part in the sing-along. “It is my hope that this reawakening of old issues continues to grow and build. As one of the few women in local government on the Coast, I want very much to encourage other women to join me in this work,” wrote Lutes in an email after the event.
While last year’s march was a direct response to Trump’s inauguration, Hann said this year was more reflective. “I’m much more observant, I’m watching what is happening in the world. I need to be aware so that we don’t let our guard down.”
That reflective approach was echoed in the themes rising out of the speeches and the crowd. When Hann asked protesters to give their reasons for marching, responses were diverse: equal pay, Black Lives Matter, child care, affordable housing, body positivity, equal representation and seniors rights were among the replies.
“If you took each one of those pieces of people talking today, I think we had a common denominator in true equality for all, fairness for all, stop the injustices, provide a safe space for all,” said Hann.
This year, the #MeToo movement brought attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, and came to a head with an investigation into sexual harassment accusations against Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein.
“We know we have to have a voice, nobody else will fix it for us,” said Hann.
Marches were held in cities in Canada, the U.S. and around the world, with 200,000 people marching in New York and 600,000 in Los Angeles.
