Shortly after Donald Trump was elected into office three years ago, Women’s March gathered together in Washington, D.C., to protest. Since then, Women’s March has organized sister marches across the country and will continue their work into 2020.
Women’s March will march in Milwaukee on Saturday, Jan. 18, starting at 11 a.m. at the South Division High School auditorium. The march will also cover voter suppression, an important topic with the upcoming election.
“This year, we’re uniting to defend our democracy, demand that our leaders hold Trump accountable, protect our planet and fight for our rights. In 2020, we are engaging in targeted actions aimed at those who have attempted to impede our rights, and we are building with those who have always stood by our side,” says Sarah Pearson, co-chair of Women’s March Wisconsin, in a press release.
In December 2019, letters notified more than 200,000 voters that they needed to reregister after a judge in Wisconsin had their names removed because voters may have moved. According to Pearson, voter suppression affects people who live in poor communities and communities of color, along with women’s votes, and can affect the outcome of the upcoming election.
‘Unified Front,’ ‘Clear Focus’ to Preserve Democracy
Shauntay Nelson, the Wisconsin state director of All Voting is Local, says, “This flawed decision unfairly strips away the rights of more than 200,000 Wisconsinites, and it threatens to sow confusion into the electoral process and keep eligible voters from making their voices heard. No eligible voter should ever lose the right to vote, regardless of who they are, where they live or whether they move frequently.” All Voting is Local is campaigning through digital ads and text messages, alerting voters to check their registrations.
“It’s important, now more than ever, to really have a united front and clear focus on what we want to do in 2020 to take back our democracy and preserve it for the next generation,” says Pearson.
The Women’s March is a volunteer organization completely led by women. Working together with other organizations, including Youth Climate Action Team, the organization’s mission is to “harness the political power of a diverse group of women and their communities to create transformative change,” says Pearson.
The organization’s goal is to defeat Trump in 2020, and because every vote counts, Women’s March wants to energize the Milwaukee community against voter suppression. By having learning sessions and phone banks at the upcoming event, any individual can get involved.
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“We will continue to be doing a lot of the work that it takes to get those folks back on [voter] rolls and making sure people know that there is an election and turn out for it,” says Pearson.
Because Trump has appointed many judges in the court system, there is “a lot at stake” for women in the upcoming election, according to Pearson. Not only to remove Trump from office, but for example, to also ensure that Roe v. Wade is not taken away.
“We need to spend every moment we possibly can organizing to make sure that the mistakes of 2016 aren’t repeated,” says Pearson.
For more information, visit womensmarchwi.com.
