Women's rights gone virtual amidst COVID-19
By Noor Memarzadeh, Staff Writer
COVID-19 has resulted in uncertainty regarding women's marches around the world especially in the United States. While other countries are able to hold social distanced marches, the US is more at risk because of the large number of cases, which required the Women's March organizers to create a virtual march via Zoom on Jan.16 from 2-4 p.m.
The virtual march was hosted by the Western New York Peace Center, and their main goal was to unify women and allow them to have empowering voices. The themes for this year included the goals: Women in Universal Solidarity, Women in Peacemaking, Women in Cooperative Economics, Women in Sustainability and Women in Reverence for Life. Although the march was virtual, they made it as interactive as possible, incorporating breakout rooms where people were given discussion topics. The march also included guest speakers from the Confident Girls Mentoring Program and the PeaceJamming at Little Africa Culture Club Series such as Roc Da Mic and Laticia McKnaughton. Speakers from organizations like these are important because they bring different perspectives and cultures into the march.
The schedule included a drumming intro to start the meeting which then led to Gnonyoh, an indigenous Thanksgiving opening, in addition to an introduction given by Vicki Ross about the agenda and reminders. Then, another drumming intro was given followed by a spoken word poem from the Confident Girls Mentoring Program. After this, an introduction to facilitators and breakout sessions was given before the breakout rooms were opened. Eventually, the breakout rooms closed, communal music was shared and the march was concluded with an indigenous closing.
Although Los Angeles has not scheduled any marches as of now, some Samo students have continued to stay active regarding the topic of women's rights. The Girls Learn International club at Samo has continued to stay involved with the women's rights movement by discussing inequality between men and women in their weekly meetings. The club also spreads their advocacy and discusses feminism with different elementary school classes. Leila Ben Abdallah (’21) is a member of the club and explains it to be a great way to stay involved with the women's rights movement. She recognizes the importance of clubs like this and explains how the club contributes to the women's rights movement.
“We recognized that elementary school-aged children are getting to that point where they start to become exposed to different people and activities, and can start to understand the importance of valuing women’s rights. Even if they only understand a little bit, change is still change” Ben Abdallah said.
Another way the club stays involved with the women's rights movement is through acknowledging women who have made accomplishments and sexism present in different industries.
