300 Attend Tri-Valley Women's March In Pleasanton

PLEASANTON, CA — More than 300 took to the streets of downtown Pleasanton on Saturday for the Tri-Valley Women's March, organizer Kyoko Takayama said.

"We believe we had achieved most of our goals," she said in an email, "to empower women in voting and volunteering, to promote inclusion, and to create awareness of Census 2020.

Some 200 people attended the rally at Amador Valley High School prior to the march, which featured speakers such as Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Hayward City Councilmember Aisha Wahab, and others from organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Students for Social Change, Livermore American Indian Center and La Familia. Speakers addressed abortion, the influence that women can wield in their communities and families, discrimination against women and the LGTBQ community and more.

There were activities for kids and tabling by local activists and nonprofits.

“It’s part celebration and part (recognizing) that we do have issues we are still fighting for,” organizer and Students for Social Change co-founder Lily Mobraaten, 15, told Pleasanton Weekly.

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the Constitution's 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, organizers say. It's also the 55-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discriminatory voting practices.

The event was sponsored by Students for Social Change and organized with help from grassroots groups such as Livermore Indivisible and Organize for Action East Bay Central. More than 50 volunteers pitched in to make the event possible, including six male Livermore High students who did the bulk of the physical labor, Takayama said.

See photos of the march here. Watch speakers here.

Correction: An earlier version of this article reflected an inaccurate count of attendees.