Herndon Women's March Focuses On Equity, Voting

HERNDON, VA — A crowd of marchers demonstrated peacefully Saturday afternoon as part of the Herndon Women's March. After marching through town, the participants returned to Town Hall to listen to a slate of speakers discuss women's rights, social justice, and equity.

"I think it unfolded beautifully. People came with the right spirit," said Athena Scalise Waitt, who organized the event with fellow Herndon residents Coco Buck and Brenna Danatzko. "I think we had probably 150 people there. They were very respectful of the socially distancing guidelines and wearing their masks. A lot of families were there, so it was great to see all ages."

The goal of the march was to be family-friendly and peaceful and to raise awareness that a lot of work remains in the cause of advancing social justice and women's rights.

"People came out with amazing signs and a lot of enthusiasm," Waitt said. "The march itself was really awesome. When we were going down Elden Street, having people honk in a positive light, thumbs up, we didn't encounter any negativity the whole time."

Vanessa Rose, an artist and owner of Maude Salon in Herndon, spoke about the role her industry plays in shaping the perceptions of women.

“For decades, the beauty industry has helped shape our thoughts and feelings around femininity, and what is beautiful,” said Vanessa Rose, during her speech. “We now see beyond those limits and those ridiculous ethnic boundaries and we are waking for the need for positive social change. We recognize that we each play a role in each other’s body positivity and gender fluidity.”

Rose encouraged women to overcome everything designed to destroy their lives.

State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-33rd) spoke about attending the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., with her daughter.

“We are a movement,” she said. “We have never stopped. We have made real, fundamental change here in Virginia.”

Both Boysko and fellow speaker Shyamali Roy Hauth, the executive vice president for the Virginia Equal Rights Coalition, talked about how flipping control of the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate to the Democratic Party allowed for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the last legislative session. The Virginia General Assembly also became the first governmental body in the south to pass legislation protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

“We were on the forefront of all the kinds of things that we’re talking about today,” Boysko said. “Equality for everybody, making Virginia a place that is welcoming for all. Being responsible and listening to people. We are at a time right now where people have stopped listening. But I want to tell you, here in Virginia, we’re not going to let that happen.”

Del. Ibraheem Samirah, (D-86th), who represents the Herndon area in Richmond, celebrated the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia, in his speech. However, he noted that Latino women still make 53 cents to a white man’s dollar.

“Black women are only slightly better, earning 59 cents to that dollar,” Samirah said. “And of course, white women as well, earning less than white men, 79 cents on the dollar. And that’s all as a result of pervasive racism, xenophobia, and sexism in the job market. We don’t have adequate mechanisms in the law to bring the disparity to justice in the courts."

Many of the speakers encouraged marchers who hadn't voted yet to visit the Herndon Fortnightly Library, where early voting was taking place on Saturday. Early voting for the Nov. 3 election will continue through Oct. 31 at the library, the Fairfax County Government Center, and other governmental sites across the county.

Herndon resident Becky McCumiskey, who hosts Talk With Us, a series of online video calls facilitating a peaceful and respectful dialogue on race in America, marched Saturday with her 7-year-old daughter. She called the march an energizing force behind voters on the front line.

"We have to be relentless in our efforts to elect a new president, we have to be relentless in our efforts to insist on reproductive rights for women locally, and we have to be relentless in our never ending fight for equality for all genders, non-binary included," she said, in a text. "Black Lives Matter, racial justice matters, women’s rights are human rights, science IS real, love is love. Love trumps hate and we will move this country forward - together."