By John McNamara

[Photos by Frank Gerratana]

The Women’s March on Washington the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump spawned marches from Augusta, Maine to Anchorage Alaska.

Millions of people, connected by the same social media so deftly and divisively used by Donald Trump, answered the call of the women’s march to respond to the 2016 Election:

The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us – immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.

The Women’s March’s response to the 2016 campaign and Trump’s election is a  Mission and Statement of Principles  in pursuit of women’s rights and social justice summed up in the phrase “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights”

Trump apologists and GOP flacks, however, are dismissing one of the largest demonstrations of dissent in U.S. history as the work of “snowflakes” and “whiners.” But the only whining all weekend came from Trump himself, quickly backed by  his fact-free White House flack carping about crowd sizes. By early Sunday Trump’s handlers, realizing the public opinion damage, attempted to recover from Trump’s erratic and divisive messages on Saturday by tweeting “peaceful protests are a hallmark of democracy.”

CT residents who did not get on the 80 busses headed for D.C. rallied in Hartford 10,000 strong on the north steps of the State Capitol.

Participants in Hartford and elsewhere realized early on that turnout would overwhelm even the most optimistic estimates. That’s because march leaders and their followers were exponentially joined by an intergenerational grassroots uprising of men and women from all occupations, children, the disabled immigrants, retirees and students.

And where do the marchers go from here?

President Obama’s Farewell message “to take up a clipboard” and get involved locally was heard from march podiums and marchers on Saturday.

The New Britain Democratic Town Committee invites you to join the committee and local efforts to work for women’s rights and human rights in our community.   Email: newbritaindemocrat@gmail.com. Telephone: 860-505-8901.