Saturday, January 21, 2017

We the People Have Risen - the Women's March on Washington

Women's March, January 21, 2017
"Hear Our Voice"
(Click on any image for a larger view.)


"On Saturday, January 21, 2017, millions will gather in Washington D.C. and in hundreds of cities around the world. This is a local event for those that will be unable to travel to Washington D.C. - instead, we will march in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington here in Albuquerque.

We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.  The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us - women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear. In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers is too great to ignore.  We call on all defenders of human rights to join us."

- Excerpt from the Women's March website - the Albuquerque page.


"Come gather around people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
And if your breath to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changing

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no telling who that it's naming
For the loser now will be later to win
Cause the times they are a-changing

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's the battle outside raging
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changing"


- Excerpt from The Times They Are A Changin', 1963, Bob Dylan. (A version of this song - sung by Tracy Chapman - appears at this post's end.)

***

Women's March, January 21, 2017
"Same Shit, Different Century"


I would not be a human - let alone a woman - if I did not somehow commemorate this day.

It rained the day Donald Trump - our reigning patriarch - took office. But, that was yesterday. The good news is that today the sun shines on millions of women and men around the world who have risen against all that he represents.

What a difference a day makes.

And, it only took one woman posting on her Facebook page to awaken this sleeping giant... one Facebook post, my friends, to start a virtual war. But this is a war we can all rally around.  When one half of the worlds population finally frees themselves from an oppression that has lasted centuries, then all of us are made free and whole again.

For a live feed of this world-wide event, click here. For more images, try here, here and here... or there and there.

I've posted some images recently found... including a drawing of my own* from 1979 (below, and after the jump). Nothing defines a movement like its art! ;-)

* Drawing added January 22, 2017.

(This just in: Apparently Trump  is still in denial. He did not win the popular vote, nor were the participants in the Women's March on Washington exclusively from the States... but: "President Trump tweets on Women’s March protesters: “Why didn’t these people vote?”)


Los Angeles, January 21, 2017
"We the People are Greater than Fear"


Los Angeles, January 21, 2017
"We the People Defend Dignity"


A tribute to Carrie Fisher - another casualty of 2016
"A Woman's Place is Leading the Resistance!"


Women's March, January 21, 2017


More photos (and videos added 1/24/17) after the jump...


Women's March, January 21, 2017
"Vulva La Resistance!"


Women's March, January 21, 2017


Women's March, Washington, D.C.


Women's March, Denver, Colorado


Women's March, London, England


Women's March, Paris, France

Women's March, Berlin, Germany

Women's March, New Zealand



Women's March, Copenhagen








My favorite!
Translation: "I Can't Believe I Still Have To Protest This Fucking Shit!"


Another favorite: "We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren't able to burn"


*A drawing of mine from 1979 I dug up recently. I include it here because
its iconography is oddly similar to the WM iconography used now.

Hmmm... a visionary drawing? :-)


I'm just so proud of the women and men who have made this day possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you.


PS  I've just added some videos... the first is of (legendary feminist) Gloria Steinem's speech at the Women's March on Washington. The second is a video that went viral after the march, featuring a song (and a spontaneous performance) by MILCK found here. The third is an always timely song by Bob Dylan performed by one of the loveliest voices on the planet, Tracy Chapman.









2 comments:

  1. AWESOME drawing!

    And hell...I thought all this had been decided. I guess that was so last Century. I HATE the Dark Ages all over again.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks BG!

      Yeah, well, once again, I must quote Judy Chicago because the situation calls for it. She was referring specifically to art, but I find that what she said holds true across she board. Apparently, it doesn't take much to drag women backwards. It's like some strange disease... and, in its current form, requires merely one rabid animal.

      "... I found out that many women before me had broken through female roles and made themselves into successful, independent and creative people. Yet the struggles and successes of one generation did not necessarily guarantee greater ease to the women of the next. Instead of the work of one woman attesting to the potential of all women, the work was ripped out of its natural context by male historians. One historical period would allow women more freedom... Then male dominance would assert itself again. The women's achievements would be left out of recorded history, and young women could not model themselves upon the struggles and accomplishments of their mothers."

      - Excerpt from Through the Flower; my struggle as a female artist - Judy Chicago, 1973, 1977

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