On Saturday, January 18th, a sister march to the National Women's March on Washington will take place in downtown Ukiah. Women and their allies will begin at 12 p.m. at the Mendocino County Courthouse, and march to Alex Thomas Plaza, where they will gather to share music and information on a variety of issues pertaining to women’s advocacy and more.
Lynda McClure, a member of one of the organizing groups, the Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition, explained that when MWPC went to list Saturday’s march on the national website, there was already another organization from Mendocino county registered to march that day. It was a great development, according to McClure, that allowed the two organizations to synthesize and collaborate as a coalition on Saturday’s march.
Community Action Alliance, headed by Megan Miller, is the other organization that was spearheading a Ukiah march. Other sponsoring organizations include the Cloud Forest Institute and the Mendocino Gaggle of Raging Grannies. While the flyer from MWPC refers to Saturday’s march as a “women’s march”, McClure emphasized that the march is a “people’s march” that includes everyone who is concerned about the issues at hand. “Our message and the tone we hope set is a positive one, speaking truth to the issues without making the other bad and wrong without fostering hate in the other. There's so much division in our country, and we want to focus on what we have in common, which is much more than what we don't.” McClure explained.
Once participants arrive at Alex Thomas Plaza, there will be music by Wendy DeWitt, and the Women’s Inland Chorus, followed by land acknowledgement from Lois Lockhart of the Redwood Valley Rancheria. A schedule of speakers will then commence, addressing women’s reproductive issues, Black Lives Matter, climate change, the war on Gaza, LGBTIQA+ issues, and more. The list of speakers includes: Lois Lockart with a Land Acknowledgement, Megan Miller from Community Action Alliance, Troyle Tognoli with Black Lives Matter, Linda Helland with Palestine and Peace, and Heather Criss on our civic responsibilities — among many others.
McClure emphasized the inclusive nature of the event, stating that “...it really makes a difference, that we show that we show up, that we are engaged and not kind of pulling a blanket over our head and kind of withdrawing. It's going to be very interesting for the next several years. The more we can keep our conversations going and keep each other uplifted and work on, again, finding our common ground. It's not so important who people vote for as it is that we all work to make our community where we want to live. We all want clean air and clean water. We want our kids to be safe in school. We want livable jobs and housing. There's a lot more we have in common than we have different. We want to lay the groundwork for community. We're all in this together.”