Groups of Iowa women will travel to the nation’s capital as part of the Women’s March on Washington.
By Lily Abromeit
Hundreds of eastern Iowa women will arrive in Washington, D.C., early Saturday morning, ready to march alongside what is expected to be hundreds of thousands of others.
They will drive through the night to be in attendance at the Women’s March on Washington, held a day after the presidential inauguration, as a way to call on all levels of government to take women’s issues seriously.
Monica Moen is a bus captain for one group leaving from Iowa City who call themselves Iowa City Marches on Washington. Moen said she thinks the 112 people she will travel with are going for many different reasons.
“Obviously, the group is fairly like-minded in order to be enthusiastic to make that kind of a trip, but we’re all going for a variety of reasons,” she said. “I think we’re all going for private reasons and very public reasons.”
Thousands of women are expected to meet in the heart of D.C. and march for about a mile and a half. A rally that boasts a long list of celebrities as well as speakers that range from television hosts, psychologists, and activists, will also take place.
The idea for the national march formed the day after the election and was originally referred to as the million women march. According to a press release from the Women’s March on Washington official website, it was created to address perceived divisions being created in the country and to have a collective place for people to raise their voices.
For Chris Rohret, an educator in the Clear Creek/ Amana District, this is the reason people should mak the trip to D.C.
“I want to show a unified front to our nation’s new administration and our country related to issues that matter for women,” Rohret said in an email, citing equal pay, public education, and general respect for all as such issues. “I needed to take a more active role in working with like-minded women to further an agenda that is progressive, positive, and supports the rights of all people.”
The theme of solidarity seemed to be an idea that attracted many women to dedicate themselves to the almost 15.5-hour drive. Mary Trachsel, who will also board one of the buses from Iowa City today, said she hopes to learn from others who also feel estranged in the current political climate. “I hope to meet and talk with people on the bus and at the march, to learn how they think, and to build a sense of solidarity that is more informed than my current sense that I am not alone in my concerns for the future,” she said in an email. The collective event in D.C. also gave other women who felt they had been too complacent an easy way to get involved. “I have been so despondent since November that I am hoping the hope and energy that will be taking over D.C. on Saturday will lift me up,” said Becky Leaven, a retired nurse who will march.
There are sister marches organized for Saturday around the country and world, including in Iowa City and Des Moines. Moen said that while some women may have wished to make the trip to D.C. but weren’t able to, it’s still important to get involved in any way possible.
Edyie Stika is one such woman.
Stika owns the Knitting Shoppe in Iowa City, one of a few places in town that collected and distributed pink hats with ear shapes at the top for marchers to wear — called “pussy hats.” While Stika isn’t able to go to Washington to march, she felt she could play a role by providing these hats, another statement in a long list of many made recently by women across the country.
“I think if we all just keep being who we are and doing what we’re doing, [President-elect Donald Trump] can’t take that away from us … I think if anybody can do it, women can do it,” she said.
