Two years after more than 4 million women around the world flooded the streets in protest of Donald Trump’s inauguration, kicking off a massive national movement around progressive issues, demonstrators will once again have the opportunity to convene for the third-annual Women’s March.
“Save the date,” reads an announcement on the organization’s website. “The #WomensWave is coming, and we’re sweeping the world forward with us.” Below, here’s what we know so far.
In the months since Women’s March, Inc. announced the 2019 demonstration, though, the national organization has been dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism and mismanagement, leading some supporters to call for the four co-chairs’ resignation — and some local march organizers to call off their marches completely. (The national organization’s statement in response to the aforementioned allegations did not address the state of this year’s march, although its Twitter account indicates that it’ll be flooding D.C.’s streets in a little over two weeks.)
Below, here’s what we know about the 2019 Women’s March.
When is the main march?
On January 16, the Women’s March announced that the main event in Washington, D.C. was relocating due to the partial federal government shutdown and possibility of snow. According to the updated schedule, the day is scheduled to kick off at Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m. on January 19. At 11 a.m., protesters will march and then return to Freedom Plaza at 12:30 p.m. for a rally.
But over the past few weeks, a number of organizations have withdrawn their support of the main march; per the Daily Beast, less than half of the approximately 550 groups that partnered with the 2018 march will return for the 2019 event. The most recent sponsor — and one of the march’s biggest — to pull support from this year’s march is the Democratic National Committee. The DNC has not commented on the specific reason behind its decision, though the committee issued a statement in support of women’s rights on January 15.
“The DNC stands in solidarity with all those fighting for women’s rights and holding the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers across the country accountable,” the statement reads. “Women are on the front lines of fighting back against this administration and are the core of our Democratic Party.”
Is there a march in New York City?
For the past two years, the Women’s March Alliance (WMA) — which is not affiliated with the national organization, the Women’s March, Inc. — has organized the Women’s March on NYC, and is doing so again this year. According to the New York Daily News, the WMA’s march will kick off near Columbus Circle at 11 a.m. (Curbed has a useful map, which also shows street closures.)
As is the trend with the march this year, there’s some controversy surrounding the New York City event. As amNewYork reports, Women’s March, Inc. is holding a competing demonstration on the same day. And the relationship between the two is strained: Women’s March, Inc. claims that WMA is refusing to cooperate with it, while the founder of the WMA says the national organization has “used bullying and threats to attempt to hijack the inclusive and beautiful Women’s March on NYC.”
The Women’s March, Inc.’s event will kick off in Foley Square at 11 a.m. and go until 1:30 p.m. (This is simply a rally — not an actual march.)
Whatever march you attend, be prepared for snow.
Are other cities hosting their own marches?
According to the Women’s March website, almost every state is hosting at least one event this year, most of which are organized independently from the national organization, Women’s March, Inc. — and as of now, the planned actions on the website total more than 100. To see where all the marches are planned, go here.
However, a number of local marches have been roiled by drama, both related and unrelated to the controversies surrounding the national organization. On December 30, the National Organization for Women’s Baton Rouge chapter posted to the New Orleans Women’s March event on Facebook that it was canceling the demonstration due to “several issues” — notably, the fact that co-chairs Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour have not resigned, despite escalating calls to do so. (Mallory specifically has come under fire for praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.)
The original organizers behind the Women’s March in Eureka, California, also canceled this year’s event due to “overwhelmingly white” participation over the past few years. (They told the Times-Standard that the anti-Semitism allegations were “not central” to their decision to call off the march.) As of January 10, though, KTLA reports that Linda Atkins, a former Eureka city councilwoman, has organized a new march on January 19.
Chicago also will not be holding a march this year, though local organizers say they never planned one in the first place, due to high costs and lack of volunteers.
This post will be updated.
