{"id":50918,"date":"2020-10-17T18:11:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-18T00:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hundreds-honor-ginsburg-at-durango-womens-march\/"},"modified":"2020-10-18T00:11:05","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T00:11:05","slug":"hundreds-honor-ginsburg-at-durango-womens-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hundreds-honor-ginsburg-at-durango-womens-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds honor Ginsburg at Durango Women\u2019s March"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Carolyn
Carolyn Hunter, left, and Leslie Jackson lead the Women\u2019s March on Saturday down Main Avenue. More than 200 people took part in the march that ended at Buckley Park listening to speakers.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Durango Women\u2019s March on Saturday, which drew about 200 people, was a mixture of commemoration, protest and campaigning.<\/p>\n

The national Women\u2019s March organization decided to hold the October demonstration to commemorate late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and protest President Donald Trump\u2019s nomination of a new justice. The Durango event drew Democratic candidates vying for open political seats and others who spoke of the need for change and urged people to get out and vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so much to protect because we are losing so much right now,\u201d said Marsha Porter-Norton, a Democratic candidate for a La Plata County commissioner seat, referring to losing public lands, environmental protections and potentially women\u2019s right to choose.<\/p>\n

She urged people to take action and talked about what she would do if elected as county commissioner. Wherever people fall on the political spectrum, \u201cthis is the election that matters,\u201d Porter-Norton said.<\/p>\n

\"Participants
Participants in the Women&#x2019;s March on Saturday walked down Main Avenue Saturday. The event honored late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and participants advocated for progressive women&#x2019;s rights.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The first Women\u2019s March was held the day after Trump\u2019s inauguration in 2017 to protest the new administration. Millions of women gathered for marches around the world.<\/p>\n

While the fourth annual Women\u2019s March took place in January, this October demonstration spread to more than 200 satellite marches across the country.<\/p>\n

In Durango, the crowd marched from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Depot and continued along Main Avenue sidewalks to Buckley Park.<\/p>\n

People carried signs reading: \u201cI can\u2019t believe we still have to protest this s\u2013t,\u201d \u201cWomen belong in places where decisions are made\u201d and \u201cGrab him by the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turnout is amazing, given COVID,\u201d said Karen Pontius, coordinator with Indivisible Durango.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Martinez, a Durango resident dressed as Ginsburg, wanted to honor the justice who died Sept. 18 at 87 years old. Ginsburg joined the Supreme Court in 1993 after being nominated by former President Bill Clinton. She spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we must be Ruth-less, we must be ruthless,\u201d her sign read.<\/p>\n

The event prominently featured Democratic candidates and progressive values with Biden-Harris yard signs distributed during the speeches.<\/p>\n

In addition to Porter-Norton, speakers at the event included Democratic candidates state Rep. Barbara McLachlan, who is running for another term in the state Legislature, and Matt Salka of Bayfield, a county commissioner candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe led the way. I think a lot of people didn\u2019t even know she was leading the way until she passed,\u201d McLachlan said. \u201c\u2026 We need women in politics. We need all of you to be strong and show your voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Women&#x2019;s March on Saturday ended at Buckley Park where seven speakers addressed the crowd. Three Democratic candidates vying for seats on the Nov. 3 ticket spoke up for women&#x2019;s rights.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Tracy Jones, another speaker and a leader with the Southwest Movement for Black Lives, spoke about challenges that disproportionately affect Black women, like unemployment, violence and the financial impacts of mass incarceration<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure we vote. There\u2019s no better time than now,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Pontius said the Women\u2019s March was meant to be inclusive, even across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re not attracting conservative people because our message is about equality and inclusivity and we don\u2019t talk so much about freedom,\u201d Pontius said.<\/p>\n

She said she hadn\u2019t invited conservative organizations, but the event is advertised on the group\u2019s website and is open to everyone.<\/p>\n

Of nine people interviewed by The Durango Herald<\/em>, most said they were marching for women\u2019s rights. Several emphasized placing women in policymaking or leadership positions and advocating for pro-choice abortion and reproductive rights.<\/p>\n

Martinez was motivated to march because of the election and issues like getting more women in politics and leadership positions.<\/p>\n

Sophia Holt, a Durango resident, came out to support racial justice, particularly important, she said, as a young biracial woman in a predominantly white town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 17. I can\u2019t vote,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to spread awareness and make sure people can vote, are voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic candidates throw in some campaigning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1175,950,13,3885,28,2425,4259],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-civil-rights","tag-durango","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-gender-equality","tag-headlines","tag-league-of-women-voters","tag-newsletter-sign-up"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50918"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}