Twenty-two days to Election Day and the blue wave is growing. I've just learned that #MarchToThePolls wants to make it bigger.
Energized by the outrage that resulted from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation in recent weeks, the Women's March Chicago will hold a rally and literal "march to the polls" on Saturday, with marchers walking to early voting sites to cast their ballots in the midterm elections.
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Offering a model to other communities nationwide, organizers say the event aims to mobilize voters in Chicago and all over the country to go to the polls in record numbers on November 6—and before if early voting is available to them—to fight the Republican Party's anti-woman, anti-immigration, and anti-healthcare agenda.
"The stakes are sky-high this November," Women's March Chicago board president Jessica Scheller said in a statement announcing the event last month. "We need every single woman—from first time voters to great-grandmothers—along with every single ally to take to the streets and converge on the polls. We have been practicing for months. Now it's time to channel our outrage and energy and truly make our voices heard through our votes in greater numbers than ever before."
According to news reports, Chicago's rally on Saturday drew thousands of energized marchers, who see this election as pivotal.
Sharon Digiacomo brought her two young granddaughters to the Women’s March Chicago on Saturday, to prepare the next generation of female voters and activists.
“It’s a legacy,” said Digiacomo, who traveled from Bourbonnais in Kankakee County to attend the Grant Park rally and march with 12-year-old Simara and 4-year-old Gia. “They’re women, and they have to learn that they’re going to have to fight for the rest of their lives.”
The focus (like the Women's March) is on the dignity and rights of more than half the population - alongside a broader sane, fair, progressive agenda.
Speakers at a Grant Park rally before the midday march addressed the importance of voting, income inequality, gun violence, women's rights and education affordability. A student from Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas High School in Florida, the site of a deadly mass shooting in February, also spoke.
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Nonprofit, and not specifically endorsing candidates, organizer Women's March Chicago has major donors including the Chicago Federation of Labor and Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker's campaign.
"We're here to bring change for future generations," Pilsen resident Frances Valez said. With Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation, "The government just showed -- again -- that it sees women as 'less than.' We can't take that."
I've been working locally to support my candidate (canvassing, writing postcards for Perry Gershon in NY1). But I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't hear about Saturday's March in time (and of course I dont live in Chicago!). But I am happy to see that the #MarchToThePolls web site has a map of upcoming locations and a way to create your own march.
Twenty-two days left.
Twenty-two days to turn our blue wave into a blue tsunami. Even a 1% difference in turnout can mean the difference between one party rule and a blue House. A 10% difference in turnout could mean a blue Senate. Time to pull out all the stops and GOTV.
As the #MarchToThePolls web site says,
Because when they go low, we go vote.