Women's March Cleveland expects thousands on Public Square at 10 am on Saturday, January 21, 2017, with six headliners of Congresspersons Kaptur and Fudge, state Rep. Antonio, activist Kathy Wray Coleman, Margaret Mitchell and Gail Sands....The Cleveland march will mirror the national march in Washington the same day as women unite across racial and ethic lines in cities throughout the country to stand up for women's rights.... By www.clevelandurbannews.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders
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According to organizers Laura Johnson and Claudia Pasma, both Ph.D. students in physics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, other morning speakers include Greater Cleveland YWCA President and CEO Margaret Mitchell, and Gail Sands, a Cleveland Heights resident and volunteer for the National Council of Jewish Women. (Editor's note: Organizers added Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown and Mallory McMaster as speakers after press time),
Protesters will gather at Public Square at 10 am for speeches by the aforementioned and at 11 am they will march through the streets of the city to the Free Stamp next to city Hall at Willard Park.
They will then march back to Public Square for speeches that could go on to 2 pm, organizers said.
"We are standing up for women's rights," said Johnson, sentiments echoed by Pasma, an immigrant from Greece in her second year as a doctoral student at CWRU.
The two young women said that they stepped to the plate to organize Clevelanders and others that will attend the march on Public Square Saturday to '"stand together for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families, while recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our communities."
A Republican and former reality star turned president who won the presidency in November over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump will have already taken his oath as president on Friday, Jan 20, a day before the women's march and the day that President Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, officially leaves office.
The national women's march in Washington and similar rallies that will be held in cities across the country come as Trump is under fire from women's rights groups and Civil Rights organizations, including the NAACP, for insensitive remarks during the presidential campaign against women, and the make-up of his transition team and cabinet, neither of which contains any Black women whatsoever.
Also at issue are comments the president -elect made last week, saying Civil Rights icon and longtime Congressman John Lewis of Georgia had done nothing for his congressional districts.
The insensitive rhetoric caused Lewis to back-out of the inauguration and several other Washington Democrats followed his lead, some 62 Democratic lawmakers in fact, including Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, and Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose congressional district stretches to Cleveland. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE ON OHIO CONGRESSWOMAN MARCIA FUDGE JOINING CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS AND OTHERS TO BOYCOTT THE INAUGURATION AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS
But Saturday's march in Cleveland is non-partisan, organizers say.
"The women's rights march in Cleveland is non- partisan but will address women's rights and Civil Rights in general," organizer Claudia Pasma told Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper.
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