Walking tall
Women’s March on Chico caps two days of local protests in response to inauguration
The Women’s March began at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and attracted an estimated 3,000 people to Chico’s streets.
PHOTO BY EMILY TEAGUE
Chico’s Faye Haley, a 91-year-old WWII Army veteran and “advocate for equal opportunities and freedom of choice for women,” addresses the crowd shortly before the march. “There was a slogan when I was young,” she says. ‘You’ve come a long way, baby.’ But we still have a long way to go.”
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
People stand shoulder-to-shoulder in Chico City Plaza minutes before the march began.
PHOTO BY EMILY TEAGUE
Ryan Luster, Karen Mullner and their daughter, “Future President” Kate, march together. Many parents brought their children to participate.
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
Activist/musician Kevin Killion entertains marchers with his saxophone.
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
Participants in the march shout slogans like, “We will not be silenced” and “Love, peace, equality.”
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
Sacramento-based singer songwriter Hannah Mayree leads a sing-along of Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution.” She was one of dozens of speakers and performers scheduled throughout the day representing a diverse range of voices.
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
Two Chico Police Department motorcycle officers close downtown streets along the route of the march.
PHOTO BY KEN SMITH
Hundreds of Chicoans traveled to larger cities to participate in sister marches. Molly Amick (pictured) and about 10 other women rented a shuttle to Sacramento.
PHOTO BY KANDIS HORTON-JORTH
It’s official. Last Friday (Jan. 20), real estate magnate and reality TV personality Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States. The new administration has already released a set of “alternative facts” to contest the reality that attendance at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony was much lower than it has been in recent years, and the new POTUS seems unmoved by large-scale Inauguration Day protests that took place world-wide on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 21).
Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington and its sister marches across the country are being hailed as the largest single day of protest in American history, with conservative estimates reporting that more than 2.6 million people participated. Locally, thousands flocked to the Chico City Plaza. March organizers estimated at least 3,000 people attended the event, which City Councilman Randall Stone called “the largest [political] gathering I’ve seen in my 23 years in Chico.”
Additionally, many locals traveled to Women’s Marches in Sacramento and beyond.
—CN&R staff
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