Women's March- Walnut Creek/Contra Costa County Planned Saturday

Contra Costa Community Marches Together!

More than 1,000 Contra Costa County friends and families display community strength In Walnut Creek, Calif.--a town not typically known for activism--a diverse group of people from neighboring communities have organized a women’s march, showing strength in numbers, in Contra Costa County to shed light on the importance of women having equity to lead at all levels in society – while recognizing that our diverse, safe, and thriving communities are the backbone of our country.

The march demonstrates that a diverse community, with varying political affiliations and beliefs, can join in the spirit of democracy, to protect the human rights of all citizens and defend those marginalized among us, sending a message to leaders, that the United States of America stands for the values of human decency, equal rights and freedom from discrimination. While supportive of the sister marches taking place in the surrounding Bay Area communities, and across the nation, organizers feel it’s important to support the local community. Regardless of a person’s race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual identity, economic status, or immigration status, it is imperative the community come together and fearlessly lead with empathy as a unified collective to initiate change. If one person in our community is threatened or attacked, we all are.

Everyone in the community--women, men, children, and seniors of all races and ages--are invited to a non-partisan event to peacefully rally and march together.

● When: Saturday, January 21, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

● Where: Music and Rally at Civic Park in Walnut Creek, CA (on the corner of Broadway and Civic).

● Details: Music and entertainment by the rock band Juice with Ron Lorenz, the Meher School Choir, The Las Lomas Sophomore Jazz Combo and the Peter Pan Foundation Performance Troupe will start at 10 a.m.

● March Route: scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m., map available on the event website. Streets will not be closed to traffic. The march is on the sidewalk only, on both sides of the street from Civic Park, heading west on Civic Dr. to Locust Street, south to Olympic Blvd., east to Main Street, north back to Civic Dr. and onto BART to join the rally in San Francisco or back to Civic Park.

● Media check-in : starting at 10 a.m. behind the gazebo at Civic Park, on Civic Dr. & Broadway.

The Women’s March Contra Costa County/Walnut Creek is a sister-march to the march in Washington, D.C. on the same day. Hundreds of marches taking place throughout the country and world on January 21st affirm shared humanity and pronounce a bold message of resistance and self-determination.

Prior to the march, speakers at the event include: --Margaret Hanlon-Gradie, Executive Director of the Central Labor Council of Contra Costa County, AFL-CIO, --Will McGarvey & Leslie Takahashi from the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, --Julie Rabinovitz, President and CEO of Essential Access Health, --Dr. Lori Watson, a Racial Equity Transformation Specialist, --Cheryl Dumesnil an LGBTQ author, mother and poet, --Ejaz Naqvi, practicing Muslim, author and physician, and --Caroline Francois, Sienna Terry, and other local area students. Congressmember Mark DeSaulnier, U.S. House of Representative Eric Swalwell and California State Senator, Nancy Skinner are also joining to support the event.

Following the march, participants are encouraged to head together by BART to join the San Francisco rally in solidarity with the greater sister march community.

** More ** IMPORTANT LINKS:

● Facebook Event: http://tinyurl.com/wmwccc

● Website: https://womensmarchwccc.wixsit...

● Speakers: https://media.wix.com/ugd/47d7...

● Email: womensmarchwccc@gmail.com

● Twitter: @womensmarchwccc

● Volunteers: https://goo.gl/forms/XD6WBGkGD...

● Link to Donate: www.gofundme.com/WomensMarchCC