Women’s March Takes Over Streets for Fourth Consecutive Year

Photos: Women’s March Santa Barbara

By edhat staff

Over a thousand people gathered at the Sunken Garden on Saturday afternoon and marched for the fourth consecutive Women’s March. 

While the crowd was smaller than the initial 2017 march, it was no less passionate with colorful signs and inspirational t-shirts with this year’s theme of “Women Rising.”

Groups gathered at 1:00 p.m. to make signs while enjoying an “empowerment dance” by World Dance for Humanity.

Assemblymember Monique Limón, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, and leaders of other local community organizations spoke to the crowd before marching down State Street to De La Guerra Plaza.

Women’s March California is comprised of chapters throughout California and is part of a national movement to unify and empower those who stand for women’s rights, human rights, and social justice.  

Santa Barbara was one of the 200+ demonstrations in cities around the world, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Brussels. This year’s Women’s March movement focused on three main issues: climate change, reproductive rights, and immigration.

The initial Women’s March took place on January 21, 2017, as a worldwide protest the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump as many of his statements were sexist and offensive to women and minorities. It was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history and quite possibly the largest in Santa Barbara history as thousands took to the streets.

According to national organizers, the goal was to “send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights”.


Video by Robert Bernstein

Edhat Staff

Written by Edhat Staff

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  1. So glad you asked what has been taken away or threatened to be taken away. While I won’t even mention his disparaging, sexist, and misogynistic statements against women, as well as the numerous times he’s sexually assaulted women, here are some examples of how Trump’s Admin has negatively affected women:: 1.)Women’s health care information removed from Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health. (Late 2017)—– 2.)A 2014 report on sexual violence was removed from the White House website. (August 2017)—– 3.)Beginning in July 2017, Trump made his first of multiple attempts to block transgender people from serving in the military. ——– 4.) In October 2017, HHS issued a rule that would allow employers and universities to opt out of covering birth control ——- 5.) In October 2017, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed a Department of Justice (DOJ) determination that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which prohibits sex discrimination — must be interpreted as protecting transgender people from employment discrimination. ——- 6.) In January 2018, HHS issued a rule that would expand health care workers’ ability to deny health services to patients — which would disproportionately affect LGBQ patients, transgender people, and women —— 7.) In October 2018, the administration proposed new rules to make it more difficult for immigrants with low incomes to enter or stay in the U.S. Its so-called “public charge” rule would deter immigrants, refugees, and their families from accessing health care and other important services.—— 8.) In October 2018, the State Department withdrew visa eligibility from same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats and United Nations employees in the U.S. — imposing hardship on couples from countries with no legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The State Department minimized the impact of the change by offering the spin that “same-sex spouses of U.S. diplomats now enjoy the same rights and benefits as opposite-sex spouses.”—– 9.) In November 2018, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos proposed plans to remove Obama-era Title IX protections for survivors of campus sexual assault. Already, 77 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. The proposed changes would make it even more difficult for survivors of sexual violence to come forward.———- Oops indeed.

  2. I am curious why climate change and immigration were included in a woman’s right march? I am a staunch democrat and despise Trump, but doesn’t it muddy the cause to lump in a bunch of other liberal agenda items. How about women marching for women? Leave the other talking points for a different time.

  3. I’m actually surprised that anyone showed up this year, given the fact this organization was founded by women that hold anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT positions, and associate with hate groups such as The Nation of Islam. Many of these individuals were forced out of leadership after the discovery, and the organization has largely fractured. How embarrassing.

  4. Were all of the 2A supporters white? Whatever race they were (shouldn’t this not matter anymore, shouldn’t it be by the content of their character?), a law abiding citizen is still able to open-carry in that state.

  5. Hi Ryan, I just spent 20 minutes looking at all the photos and videos I can of the Virginia gun rally. It appears to be 99% white people, and more specifically, 90% white men. I really wish race doesn’t matter, but it does. There is no way this protest would continue if these were men of color with guns.

  6. Thanks for responding seriously, and for your time. I’ll trust your findings during that 20 minutes of research. As far as race mattering, please know there are many people out there that do believe its not about what you look like its about how you carry yourself and the respect you show for the privilege of walking this Earth. We all easily recognize that there will always be bad people out there, but if we tried even with a half-arsed effort to see the good in people, and that there are more good people than bad, we’d be better off.

  7. JOB, I’m curious as to how you arrived at the statement that, “none of that is true.” It’s all true and here are the facts. I grabbed this info from several Wikipedia articles and included the sources.
    1. In November 2018, Teresa Shook, the march’s founder, called for Linda Sarsour and her fellow co-chairs (Carmen Perez, Tamika Mallory, and Bob Bland) to step down, accusing them of having “allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs.”
    (https://thehill.com/homenews/news/417480-womens-march-founder-teresa-shook-calls-for-linda-sarsour-tamika-mallory-and)
    (https://nypost.com/2018/11/20/womens-march-founder-calls-on-current-leadership-to-step-down/)
    2. Linda Sarsour stepped down from the Women’s March organization in September 2019 along with Bob Bland and Tamika Mallory, following a controversy over the organization’s handling of accusations of anti-semitism.
    (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/us/womens-march-anti-semitism.html)
    3. Carmen Perez, the only remaining original co-chair on the board, has written a number of op-eds apologizing for the organization’s blind spots on anti-Semitism. When asked in January 2020 by Emma Green of The Atlantic whether Farrakhan’s views represent her own, Perez refused to condemn him. However, she did say that the Women’s March erred in harming its own brand. Since the controversy, Perez has participated in antisemitism sensitivity training.
    (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/womens-march-2020/605095/)
    4. A New York Times article about the entire controversy.
    (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/opinion/womens-march-progressives-hate.html)

  8. If you want to know whether or not this woman’s march really includes all women – just check out the downvotes on posts from women, saying they aren’t offended or don’t hate Trump. that will tell you what this is really about.

  9. Mattyboy, you took the words right out my mouth. I am also a woman. That’s exactly why I am not a progressive/liberal . We only tolerate those that agree, all others can choke on a stick. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

  10. Citizens United is Not about uniting citizens. The Patriot Act is not about being a patriot. These are simply misleading titles created by charlatans who’s main goal is to misinform and misdirect the public. This march is the same. What a contradiction really. Reminds me of one of those travel ads suggesting a resort in paradise yet when you get there it’s a motel in Cleveland. Too bad for those who buy into it expecting more. Caveat Emptor, seriously. Especially for the kids exposed to these corrupt ideas.

  11. It doesn’t matter what the topic is , No one cares about a bunch of well off women and students marching around Santa Barbara. This does nothing to further any cause. It’s more of a nuisance than anything else. If you want to make a difference, go march in Washington DC or Sacramento. Go Lobby politicians. Most of all vote! Volunteer to for your candidate of choice. Do things that really create change. Stop complaining and really get to work.

  12. To 5:48 pm: “the white men marching in Virginia any less of domestic terrorists”???? I saw quite a few black people there, some of whom were interviewed to explain why they supported gun rights, the Second Amendment, and their opposition to governor Northam. Seemingly disappointing to CNN and MSNBC, the rally was peaceful and I didn’t see any “domestic terrorists” there, unlike the actions of our Antifa friends at other pro-Trump, pro-2nd rally’s. The left truly seems to live in an alternate reality these days, fueled in great part by the MSM, self-induced TDS, and hatred of anything the right supports.

  13. Matty and 737, that is exactly how it is working on both sides. I wonder why only dems are supposed to be inclusive and welcoming to extreme viewpoints? Give me some examples of an inclusive Republican’t and maybe I will buy the hogwash you are selling.

  14. I was under the impression that marches and protests of decades past were more focused on peace, love, tolerance, and being inclusive. Is there anyone on here who participated in any marches or protests during the Vietnam war or civil rights movement? I would really love to hear your perspective on what those events were like and how they compare and contrast to the women’s march.

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