Worcester Women Marching on Washington

WORCESTER, MA — The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. And the angrier she got, the more she had to do something about it.

In late November, local poet and activist Karen Sharpe read about the Women's March on Washington that was being planned on Saturday, Jan. 21, to "send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights." Not only did she want to attend but she also wanted to play an active role in motivating supporters in her own city.

"During the campaign season and after the election of Trump, the thing that angered me the most was the normalizing of his behavior, behavior that is bullying, demeaning, and unacceptable in anyone, of any age, in a civil society," said Sharpe, who is assistant vice president of University Advancement at Worcester State University. "He spouted pure racism, mocked the disabled, bragged about grabbing another person’s body as if it were an entitlement. Misogyny, patriarchy, racism, ablism, ageism, and power-mongering divide people and pit people against each other, they make people suspicious of each other, they make people compete instead of cooperate, they are unjust and inhumane. A leader that behaves that way is unacceptable."

After the announcement of the Women's March, days went by with countless posts from women in the Worcester area asking if others were going and how they were getting there. No specific, organized information popped up about the march, so Sharpe took on the mission. The state organizers for the Women’s March on Washington—Massachusetts found Sharpe and asked her to join them as a regional coordinator.

She created a Women's March on Washington—Worcester Rally Facebook page and website and started to line up low-cost ways to get women from the Worcester area to head down to the march, including renting a bus. And for those not heading to the march, the page serves as a touchstone for those in the area who are marching in solidarity, if only figuratively.

The Facebook event page became the “official” page for the region, where Sharpe and others from the state share information about the march itself, kickoff events, bus information and more.

"I felt that I would need to do more in my every day life to ensure that I didn’t let the normalization of these things happen without calling them out for what they are and that I supported leaders and leadership that did the same," said Sharpe. "I had decided that even though I could afford a plane ticket and hotel to participate, that there were others who couldn’t, so I wanted to find low-cost ways to help get people to DC who wanted to go."

While there may be more chartered buses for groups from the area, Sharpe knows specifically of four leaving from Worcester: one from Union Station, another from Clark University and two from Worcester State College. Clark’s bus is a charter for students, faculty and staff. The others are all for the general public and all sold out.

"That’s about 200 people," said Sharpe. "There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of others from the Greater Worcester area, who are going, who are driving individually, in carpools, or in rented vans, or flying down and spending a night or two. They are from the higher ed community, business community, education community, faith community, politically active people and people who are doing something for the first time."

Sharpe said she is now also involved at the state level, discussing actions each week via conference call with other volunteers. This week, she's working on finding a spot to have a sign-making event and information kick off for those planning to march in D.C. – and Boston. Details for this will be announced soon, she said.

"Why am I going to D.C. to participate in this? How could I not?" said Sharpe. "What else was I going to do that weekend? Go skiing and ignore the fact that the most dramatic change in policy and pretense in the free world was about to change? I could not just sit back and wait for someone else to organize, or to go to the march and come back and tell me how it was. I need to ensure that I demonstrate in the strongest way possible that I won't tolerate any threats to women’s rights and progress in equality under Trump’s leadership. At this moment, that means marching in Washington, D.C."