DENVER | Standing on a stage at Denver’s Civic Center Park, Aurora Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet had one question for the roughly 200,000 women and men who turned out for the Women’s March on Denver: “Will you rise?”
Calling back in a clear and distinct collective voice, women and men in the crowd responded with “I will rise.”
Among that crowd was Jessica Jordan, a 32-year-old registered nurse from Aurora, who attended the march to protest President Donald Trump and what she called his “hateful rhetoric.”
A sampling of signs at the Colorado #WomensMarch #coleg #copolitics pic.twitter.com/QvUOe7szZl
— Susan Gonzalez (@TheNewsan) January 21, 2017
“Normally I’m a non-confrontational person, but when I see how much hateful rhetoric has been spread in the wake of our most recent election I just cannot be silent,” Jordan said. “I’m marching for the people whose voices our new presidential administration are trying to silence: Muslims, illegal immigrants, women, the LGBT community. Basically anybody who are incoming president has made feel like they don’t belong in this country.”
The Women’s March on Denver was one of dozens held across the nation and worldwide to raise awareness of women’s rights, civil rights and other freedoms some fear are being attacked by the newly elected president. Organizers for the Denver march placed attendance at roughly 200,000. The march in Washington, D.C. had an attendance of roughly half a million.
“I think this should be a movement about standing up to hate and bigotry, in general,” said Dino Ianni, a 25-year-old musician from Aurora. “But when Trump says and does the things he does, this march becomes a little more specific in who it’s directed at.”
Trump’s comments regarding women, immigrants, people of color and other marginalized groups have left some shaken, said Aurora resident Linda Lee Herron. But gatherings such as Saturday’s march have given her and others a rejuvenated sense of purpose.
“I wasn’t well after the election, I physically felt ill and angry,” said Herron, 57. “A few days into the planning (of the Denver march) … I became less hollowed out. Organizers like Cheetah (McClellan) and the others have given me the will to soldier on, to not give in to that feeling of being permanently bummed.”
Signs at the march conveyed an array of messages including “Make America feminist for once,” “A woman’s place is in the House and Senate” and “I march for Planned Parenthood.” The latter an issue Jenet brought up in her speech.
In December 2015, then-state representative JoAnn Windholz, a Republican, made some pointed remarks following a shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic. Jenet said the rhetoric inspired her to take action and she decided to run against Windholz, taking her seat in House District 30 this past election.
.@dafna_m refers to @JoAnnWindholz‘s (unfortunate) comments about the Planned Parenthood shooting during her speech at the #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/Ol8hwM3vP3
— Susan Gonzalez (@TheNewsan) January 21, 2017
“I decided to rise when my state representative came out after the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs and blamed Planned Parenthood,” Jenet said. “When I heard her words ‘violence begets violence, and violence begins within their walls’ I said (to myself) ‘will you rise?’”
Other Aurora lawmakers in attendance included Democrats, Sen. Rhonda Fields and Rep. Dominque Jackson, both of whom were endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado this past election and share views similar to Jenet.
“For me, it was a time to gather together with men and women who are concerned about what may take place with this new administration as it relates to reproductive rights of women, as it relates to the funding of Planned Parenthood, as it relates to climate control and those kinds of things … I wanted to be in solidarity for that,” said Fields, who represents Aurora’s Senate District 29.
Fields also added that this is not a one-time event, but an ongoing movement.
“It’s not just a march and then its over,” she said. “There’s a series of things that are going to take place to get people engaged and involved after the march.”
According to the Women’s March on Washington website, there will be 10 actions people can engage in during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency; a new action will take place every 10 days. The first action encourages people to write to their state senators about what issues they care about.
In addition, the Women’s March on Denver group is seeking diverse women to take on leadership roles to discuss longterm strategies on how to move forward.
Jackson, who represents Aurora’s House District 42, said she is confident the movement will continue.
“While I was marching, I talked with a lot of people and I said ‘We need to keep this going, I want to see you back here in one, two, three years and the response I got from people was ‘We will not forget, we will keep moving forward,’” Jackson said.
She also added that the people she saw at the march weren’t “the usual always-out-protesting kinds of activists,” and that gave her hope for what’s to come.
#WomensMarch in action pic.twitter.com/yzLxZIhl65
— Susan Gonzalez (@TheNewsan) January 21, 2017
“These were regular folks who might generally stay home and … they came down there because they needed to be there, because they needed their voices heard,” she said. “It was different and that was powerful.”
Jenet closed her speech with a poem she wrote specifically for the occasion, repeating her call to action.
“I rise this day to honor the thousands who fought for every right I have. I rise for every right yet to be won,” she said. “I rise because my body will not let me rest. I rise because together we will protect, defend, raise up, create, thrive, lift each other up, support one another. I rise for you, will you rise too?”