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| People gather for the Women's March in Washington. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters |
Tonia assured Charise that there would only be a handful of women there – maybe forty. Charise waivered about taking her indigenous drum with her. She finally decided to leave it at home.
Four thousand women turned out. One of the speakers was the woman who taught Charise how to make her drum. When she saw Charise she asked about her drum and told her to always bring it with her to marches.
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| Image from pussycatproject.com |
My favourite sign was the one that said, “I have carried this sign for 60 years.”
I didn’t have a pussyhat to wear while I was watching from the comfort of my home. Naomi Brooks said she will knit one for me.
I shall wear it when I shovel snow.
Arta
I was so naive! I thought it was going to be a gathering of a few people and we would sit, talk, and commiserate together. Charise and I arrived late so we stood at the back of the stage and had an amazing view of the crowd. While I am not good at gauging number, I have heard there were between 4,000-5,000 people. We arrived just in time to hear the words of a trans-woman telling how her life has changes over the decades. We were present for a poet-in-residence and heard her work. The final presenter Charise knew as she has been taking drum workshops and making her own hand drums. This woman lead us in a call-and-answer Ojibwe song called a Bear song. It was powerful and I recorded it and posted it on Facebook. The video has about 700 views now, which I see as a new era of engagement in which people are realizing that basic human rights have always been and will always be a struggle. That we can't sit easily by assuming others will take care of us, we have a responsibility to teach them how we want to be treated. If they don't listen, such as Trump and his followers, we come out overtly and state that their choices are wrong and we all deserve greater equality. I will continue to support my American friends who are working for equality as what happens in the US influences other spaces, and we need to be 'on guard' as Canadians that we don't disintegrate into a Trump-like view of the world. Plus I need a pussy hat but in yellow or purple.
ReplyDeleteRe getting your own pussy hat. Do you knit, Tonia? I do, but I am an elementary knitter. I knit some Barbie doll clothes for Rebecca when she was a little girl. And when I first started working Christine Bourgeois would knit during her 15 minute coffee breaks. She said she would teach me how, so I got the wool and needles and knit my own sweater. That sweater has a lot of flaws in it, but I was proud of it, anyway. I did go out and look at the patterns on the internet for this hat, and even looked at many images deciding which one would be best for me. I have seen one in black, so I know they can be knit in any colour of your choosing. :-)
ReplyDeleteI doubt that we should wait for the summer for a knit-in, since it is hard to drag you potters away from the wheel. There must be a time between now and then when we can do this since I need a hat as well.