Hundreds take to the streets in Sonoma County as part of the third annual Women's March

There were many reasons for the Torres family to attend Saturday’s Women’s March in downtown Santa Rosa – they are raising female children they want to inspire, they come from a lineage of strong women and they are Latino.

As a child and later as a teen, Alejandra Torres said she doesn’t remember being encouraged to voice her opinions on women’s rights.

When Torres looks at her young niece, who marched alongside her family holding a hand painted sign, she said she wants nothing more than for the next generation of women to feel like they never have to question their own sense of power.

“I have limited experiences in my past where I was encouraged to be this bold,” Torres said. “Now I want to see women of color fighting for opportunities.”

Hundreds of women, men, children and non-binary individuals took to the streets across Sonoma County on Saturday morning for the third annual Women’s March, two years since the first event in Washington and around the world drew millions of people.

Before marching, women from all backgrounds stepped to the microphone on the stage on Old Courthouse Square and shared stories of their own struggles and the renewed inspiration that has gripped the nation since a record number of females, people of color and those that identify as LGBTQ were elected to Congress in the midterm elections in November.

“I come from a long line of strong, powerful and resistant women,” shouted 16-year-old Jayden Lim, a youth tribal ambassador who identifies as Pomo Indian. “When I had the opportunity to visit the White House and meet Michelle Obama, she asked me ‘what are you going to do with all that fire?’ and I said that I intend to keep resisting injustice.”

Newly elected councilmembers Esther Lemus of Windsor, Victoria Flemming of Santa Rosa and Marta Cruz of Cloverdale in their speeches touched on how they related to the scores of attendees who were women of color, working mothers and those who came from underrepresented corners of the community.

“I will be the first to tell you that I am not a stranger to discrimination because as a brown skinned, Mexican American female I have experienced plenty of that,” Lemus said. “But then came the Women’s March of 2017 and it was then that I realized I wasn’t alone and I recognized that I needed to fight, that we needed to fight.”

Simultaneously, on Saturday, many more people marched in Petaluma and Sonoma, joining in the demonstration of solidarity. Scores more also gathered around the nation and in dozens of cities across the globe calling for a resurgence in the defense of women’s rights, the end of inequality and to stop all violence against women.

The origins of the Women’s March movement grew out of shock that quickly shifted to anger after Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President in 2016. Two years into his presidency on the streets in Santa Rosa on Saturday, strong political messages opposing nearly every agenda of Trump’s presidency were bold backdrops to the larger messages of preserving women’s rights.

But not all aspects of the national march this year were harmonious.

Leading up to this year’s march there were fractures that led to some events being rescheduled and even canceled, like the march in Humboldt County that was canceled after claims that the organizers were not racially inclusive. The Democratic National Convention for the first time since the movement started separated itself from the main organizers of the national march after statements anti-Semitic in nature made by some of the original organizers went viral online.

Organizers of the march in Santa Rosa announced early on that they were fully independent and that the local event was not affiliated in any way to the national march.

“As a fully inclusive, diverse and representative event there’s no room for antisemitism, hate and/or bigotry of any group or person at the event,” organizers stated. “What the national leaders are doing does not represent all the tens of thousands of women and allies who come together in Sonoma County to speak up for women’s rights and human rights for all.”

Rabbi Stephanie Kramer of the Congregation Shomrei Torah brushed off issues at the national level and instead centered her speech on messages of love, support and rights for all.

“As a Rabbi being asked to speak today it shows that decisions made at the local level are truly focused on the right message,” Kramer boomed to deafening roars of support. “We need to stand together, not splinter, and continue to get closer.”

You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CrossingBordas.