Edhat Staff
Speakers on stage during the Women’s March/Rally (Photo: Venessa Denny)
Thousands of activists filled De La Guerra Plaza on Saturday on the first anniversary of the National Women’s March movement.
Event organizers estimate nearly 3,500 people showed up from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on January 20 with “pink pussy hats” and hundreds of colorful signs with clever sayings. “Grab ’em by the ballots,” and “Girls just wanna have FUNdamental rights,” and “Put some avocado on racism so white people notice,” were just a few.
Numerous speakers, politicians, and community activists took the stage to rally the protesters. Performances by World Dance for Humanity, reSisters Choir, and poet Sojourner Kincaid Rolle delighted crowds. While speakers representing the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, CAUSE, Black Lives Matter/Equality SB, and El Centro brought many cheers.
At one point a fire truck drove by on De La Guerra which prompted the entire group to stop, turn and cheer wildly, thanking our local firefighters for their efforts during the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslide.
Last year it was estimated that 8,000 people gathered in De La Guerra Plaza to march down State Street. This year, the march was postponed to International Women’s Day (March 10) as all our local emergency personnel has been strained due to the mudslide in Montecito.
The mission of the Women’s March is to achieve justice through community action, harness the collective po
Separate events were also held in Ventura and Carpinteria as Highway 101 was still closed during this time.
The national movement this year focused on getting people out to vote with a secondary “Power to the Polls” events on Sunday. Volunteers were out in droves with clipboards full of voter registrations. “This next stage of the movement will channel the energy and activism of the Women’s March into tangible strategies and concrete wins in 2018” the Power to the Polls website states.
Across the country, more than 200,000 protesters attended the march in New York on Saturday, approximately 600,000 attended the march in Los Angeles, while 300,000 attended in Chicago. Thousands also turned out in Washington, Philadelphia, Austin and hundreds of other cities and towns around the country and world.
View the photo slideshow from Santa Barbara’s event below:
The protest had something to do with putting avocados on racism so white people will notice. So white people will notice. So white people will notice.
“I don’t understand what the protestors were protesting”
That’s because you’re an imbecile.
“I don’t understand what the protestors were protesting”
That’s because you’re an imbecile.
SO proud of our community of caring people who are sickened by this current dumpster fire of an administration. Thank you to each and every person who came out for this. Power in numbers. Vote them OUT! I’m astonished that we still have to fight for equal rights in this day and age.