Marching for Immigrants – Again With the Theme of 'We Care'

Jo Freeman's Marching for Immigrants – Again; With the Theme of 'We Care'

Women protest in District of Columbia against U.S. immigration policies: Sarahmirk photograph, Wikipedia

Women Who Wrote "We" "Care" On Each Palm In Large Black Letters

Hundreds of thousands of people marched throughout the country on Saturday, June 30 to protest family separation at the US-Mexican border. At least 700 marches and rallies were reported from big cities and small towns though the total number of participants was not available. In Washington, DC about two thousand people gathered in Lafayette Square in 95-degree heat to hear speakers before strolling to the Capitol.

Two days earlier Washington saw a much better organized and more colorful march by and for women. Gathering at Freedom Plaza for instructions, chanting and a few speakers, the women stopped for a rally at the Justice Department before proceeding to the Hart Senate Office Building. Once inside women occupied a central atrium and intentionally disturbed the peace. The US Capitol Police said that they arrested 575, though some reports said there were over 600.

Melania Trump wrote the script for both days when she was photographed on June 21 wearing a trench coat that said on the back "I really don’t care. Do U?" At Thursday’s march women wrote "We" "Care" on each palm in large black letters and walked with their hands up so the words would be visible. By Saturday, t-shirts were available that said "I really do care." "We care" about the fate of immigrants and asylum seekers became the theme for all of those protesting Trump’s detention and separation of families escaping violence in Mexico and Central America.

The June 28 march was organized on very short notice by Women's March and Popular Democracy. The former had brought millions of women to Washington on January 21, 2017. The few men who came to Freedom Plaza were asked to provide support services but not be arrested at the Hart Building. The march had a permit. Several of DC’s multiple police forces escorted the marchers down Pennsylvania Ave. and guarded the various buildings on the way.

On Thursday, the main event was civil disobedience (CD) at the Hart SOB. On Saturday the main event was the rally at Lafayette Square. It was much hotter on Saturday, so those listening to the speeches clustered under the many trees in Lafayette Square. Freedom Plaza had a tent where women who signed up to be arrested could leave their stuff. March organizers provided bagels and bottles of water. On Saturday large tubs of water stretched down the sidewalk on 16th St. across from Lafayette Square. St. John’s Episcopal Church opened its doors to anyone who needed to sit down out of the heat and also passed out water, sunscreen and granola bars.

Banners and signs proliferated at the women’s protest. There were fewer at the bigger rally on Saturday. Most signs were homemade. On Saturday, the AFL-CIO held a union rally at its building before joining the main rally one block away. On Thursday, there were no union signs, though there were probably some union members among the marchers.

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Jo Freeman's Marching for Immigrants – Again; With the Theme of 'We Care'

Women Who Wrote "We" "Care" On Each Palm In Large Black Letters

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