This story was produced and edited by WIUX News Journalist Sophie Lahey.
Community members gathered Saturday to have their voices heard and advocate for others in the Bloomington Resistance March. The courthouse lawn was filled with women, men, and children carrying signs and of course wearing pink hats.
Rachel Guglielmo, a co-organizer of the march, explains why she wanted to organize a march locally.
GUGLIELMO: And we decided it was time to bring the march local, because that’s part of the message this year. It’s that it’s sort of think globally, act locally. And we were excited that 11 marches: women’s marches, or satellite marches, were organized all over Indiana.
Kelly Hanson, a participant in the March, explained why she chose to march today in Bloomington:
HANSON: I wanted to show up, and I wanted to make sure that the momentum that we started last year with the Women’s March in D.C. and throughout the U.S. continued, because continuing to show up and continuing to stand for positive change, for what we believe is really important. For me, that has to do with making sure women have equal access to health care. That we stand up to promote equality and equity for all people. That we stand up against injustice when we see it.
Hanson explained that the issues presented today encompass more than women’s rights:
HANSON: This is an intersectional march. It’s women showing up and making their voices heard but these issues affect everybody. Women’s rights are humans rights. And when we talk about issues that impact women, we’re also talking about issue that impact men and that impact people of all races, all religions. This is far beyond just affecting women.
Emily Nehus, the other co-organizer of the march, explained her motivation for creating a more local march.
NEHUS: We needed more local, more local visibility of these things. That at this point, after a year of the struggle, that the action that we’re taking needs to start at home.
Though there was a lot of energy brought today, Nehus wants this energy and action to continue after the march, and even beyond Bloomington.
NEHUS: I feel that we need to have a lot of conversations that reach beyond our own little safe, amazing bubble of Bloomington. I had friends who were candidates in the last election who lost that I felt could have won if we had started this conversation sooner, and I’m going to be a part of that effort.
