By Deborah Bailey,
AFRO D.C. Editor
The Women’s March is set to kick a summer of activism into high gear on July 9 as national protests continue to ignite around the country. The 2022 Women’s Convention is scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas from Aug. 12 to Aug. 14.
In the wake of the June 24 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, march organizers have filed a permit with the National Park Service for an 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the National Mall, Freedom Plaza, the MLK, and Lincoln Memorial Sites. They expect up to 10,000 protestors to flood the Mall in Downtown Washington, D.C.
Trigger laws in 13 states have already made abortion illegal or highly restricted in six states with others on a timetable to follow.
Woman’s March website has posted a website with a call to action request that persons participating in the July 9 March attend additional training if they are willing to risk arrest.
“We will not be silent. We will not be ignored. And we will not let politicians play games with our lives and our futures,” the local site reads.
In August, the group will also host The Women’s Convention with co-sponsorship from Planned Parenthood and other major pro-choice organizations. Organizers are planning for thousands of women to set an agenda for their movement going forward.
Strategy sessions are planned to train conference attendees in campaigning, lobbying public officials, mobilizing, and messaging what the Women’s March organizers hope is a unified strategy with unified voices across many diverse groups and organizations.
Women’s March organizers said they are hosting their convention in Texas because the state has been one of the most repressive with respect to the rollback of abortion rights. Laws passed by the Texas legislature before the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling already severely restricted abortion.
“We have to gather where the fight is, and in the places that women and our allies will be hurt the most,” march organizers said in response to the choice of Texas for the Women’s Convention 2022.
“We cannot fear our opposition or their strongholds. We will not leave the women of Texas behind in our struggle,” organizers.
The Women’s Convention costs $350 per person, which organizers have said is necessary to host the event. Scholarships are available to persons who cannot afford to attend.
The Women’s March is the organization that sponsored the “Bans Off Our Bodies” Day of Action for Abortion Rights on May 14, after a leaked memorandum from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito laid out the argument for overturning Roe. v. Wade. Politico published the memo on May 2.
The Day of Action drew thousands to D.C and cities across the nation that held their own marches in support of abortion. The group also attracted more than 450,000 marchers for a nationwide demonstration after Donald Trump’s Inauguration in 2017.
Women’s marches were held all over the world in tandem with the 2017 Washington Women’s March protesting Trump’s anti-abortion position and pledge to appoint Supreme court justices who held this viewpoint.
The original Women’s March organizers became embroiled in conflict over the inclusion of Black and Brown. Criticisms of the Women’s March Movement said that the early marches were led by “White cisgender women” while the voices of women of color were drowned out.
Women’s March leadership has not yet responded to the AFRO for comment on plans to ensure a more inclusive agenda this summer.
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