Local women march on D.C.
NEW ULM — Hundreds of thousands of protesters, including two women from New Ulm, will descend on Washington, D.C., and state capitols around the nation this Saturday.
Vicki Pieser and Ruth Ann Webster will join the Women’s March on Washington, expected to be one of the largest protests in American history, to voice their concerns with President-Elect Donald Trump and every elected official on Capitol Hill.
“I am going for respect,” Pieser said. “I think that people who are not respected or groups who are not respected can become vulnerable and then it becomes a slippery slope to not being protected. So I think if you do not have respect for people, then you do not care if they are protected.”
Organizers describe the march as a way to affirm shared humanity and send a message of resistance and self-determination, according to their website.
“For me, I am going on this march to send a message to all of the elected in Washington, D.C., that women are here, women are watching and we expect all of our elected officials to protect women’s rights and the rights of our families and the rights of our neighbors,” Webster said. “It is a message march.”
Webster also added that it is their duty, as women who are able to, to go for their compatriots who cannot.
“We have to go because we can. Not everybody can,” Webster said.
For citizens who do not feel they can participate in protests, Pieser suggested they write and call their representatives. She added that they should donate to organizations they approve of because “money talks.”
Pieser reflected on a story her father told her of when he was living Russia as a seven-year-old during an state-sanctioned persecution of Russian Jews.
She related that during the pogroms, his family fled into the forest to hide. He was left behind because he looked Slavic, not Jewish. He would harvest potatoes for his family to eat while they were in hiding.
“My point is, there was not anyone who could speak for them in Russia, and I do not know if there is anyone who could speak for them today in Russia, and we can speak, so that people are respected,” Pieser said. “That is why this is a very acceptable way for us to speak.”
It has become commonly accepted in the American zeitgeist that this is one of the most divisive times in recent political history. For that reason, Webster argues that this march is important.
“I think part of the reason that so many people are coming is because they want to bring people together and want to have a positive message,” Webster said. “Because there is not a positive message coming out of our president-elect. I think some of the people around him are trying to send a positive message but he just cannot seem to give up his impulsive disputes with other people.”
Pieser called the march “an appropriate way to express our opinion in 2017.” Both women wanted to affirm that this is not about delegitimizing Trump’s presidency, but letting him know that they are concerned.
“We are not demanding that anyone step down, we are exercising our right to speak out as citizens about the issues that are important to us,” Webster said.
The two women shared what it would take for Trump to earn their trust as the next president of the United States. Webster said she would like to see his tax returns for the last 15 years and see him apologize to everyone he has insulted since he was elected.
Pieser added that she wants him to show that he is paying attention to international and national events that are important by not responding to celebrities who slight him on Twitter.
Webster shared an expectation that the march is the beginning of a conversation between people dissatisfied with the president-elect and his administration.
“The march is not an end unto itself. This is the beginning, it is not the end,” Webster said. “I expect to come home inspired to do more. I expect to come home with sort of a clear statement of the problems that we have got and how to address them (…) I expect to be inspired to action, not just tired,” Webster said.
For more information on the protest or sister protests in state capitols, check the Women’s March on Washington D.C. Facebook page or go to womensmarch.com
Connor Cummiskey can be emailed at ccummiskey@nujournal.com.
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