Women’s March in Wichita, 2020 “The Time is Now”

By SJ Otto

Saturday, my wife, Cam Gentry and I went to the Women’s March, 2020, here in Wichita. The theme was “The Time is Now.” I went to this same march last year and it had been much longer. However last year it was much colder. January is a cold month to march in. Cam and I didn’t march anyway. She has health problems so we both just stayed at the Wave, a bar type facility that this event was held at.

There were many good signs the marchers carried. My favorite was some balloons that looked like President Donald Trump as a big baby. How appropriate was that? (VERY appropriate!)

Oletha Faust-Goudeau led the march. She is probably one of the most progressive Senators we have in Kansas.

Once inside there were about 18 speakers. Most were women but Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers spoke to the crowd.

“I’m here to support women,” he said. He talked about the need to raise strong women.

“My Boss (Governor Laura Kelly) is a woman,” he said.

A common theme for speakers was US history and the many women who fought and struggled to promote rights for women.

Martha Pint an Investigator at US Department of Labor, said that Many women, in history, were left behind, such as black women and Native American Indian Women. In general she said women of minority status had their own struggles outside of just being women.

Melody Miller, who serves on the Executive Board of Center for Health and Wellness, the Advisory Board for Wichita Children's Home, and the Grant Chapel A.M.E. Steward Board, talked about statistics on women who die in child birth. She pointed out that we live in the richest country in the world and yet, sadly, about 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications. It is higher for minority women, such as African American women.

Amanda Meyer, of the family crisis center, talked about domestic violence.

 “We put women in hotels,” she said as she talked about women who are victims of domestic violence.

“Everyone has empowerment to change,” she added. She said it is important that people do not tolerate domestic violence.

This event showed the power of women and the positive influence they can have on our politics. An important theme was that “we are done living in a misogyny oriented world.” Some speakers pointed out we would have a better society if more women were elected to our state government. That is true if we don’t consider the female ass holes we have in office such as Senator Susan Wagle, a conservative. We don’t need those kinds of women.  

I have to love this. There is nothing more fitting than a balloon that looks like President Donald Trump as a big baby! 

There were other marches across the country and world. For information on those marches click here.