St. Cloud Women's March by Madeleine Prescott

The Women’s March has become an annual event since January 2017. The movement’s mission is to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change,” according to the organization’s official page. Marches have been held in large cities such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and St. Paul.

This year, for the first time ever, St. Cloud held one of its own. St. Cloud’s Sister March was organized by the SCSU Women’s Center. Recently, the Women’s March organization has been accused of fostering anti-Semitism. The organizers of the St. Cloud event eventually decided not to cancel the march. They rationalized that, if done inclusively, a march would still be beneficial to the community. At the rally, the emcee made it clear that they do not support any form of discrimination.

Despite the bitter cold, a long string of people showed up. The march began at Lake George, went past the library, and circled around downtown to end at Tech High School. The topics of signs varied drastically. The content ranged from “tweet others the way you want to be tweeted” to “women’s rights are human rights” and “men’s silence promotes men’s violence.” Many chants were performed, the lyrics supporting immigrants and refugees, denouncing gun violence, and promoting Indigenous people.

Inside the Tech gym, the marchers gathered on the bleachers for the rally. While shedding layers of winter clothing, rally attendees prepared to hear from a slate of speakers, including new school board member and founder of Unitecloud, Natalie Ringsmuth, members of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and two organizers from Asamblea de Derechos Civiles (the Assembly of Civil Rights).

The speakers, like the signs, addressed a multitude of topics including gun violence, climate change, racism, anti-Semitism, immigrant rights, sex trafficking, and reproductive rights. The rally left the attendants with the motivation to fight for what they know is right and stressed the importance of increasingly considering other people’s perspectives.