Athens activists participated in a Women’s March in coordination with sister marches across the nation.
The march commemorated the first annual 2017 Women’s March held in Washington, DC. Kerri Shaw, a social work field education instructor at Ohio University, was the coordinator for the Athens Women’s March Planning Team.
The 2017 Women’s March galvanized this country and birthed a new wave of the women’s rights movement,” Shaw said in a press release. “That wave is taking to the streets, here in Athens and nationwide, and we’re coming with an agenda.”
The march began at the Scripps Amphitheater and carried on through cold temperatures and consistent rain. Free workshops were offered on naloxone training and distribution, self-defense, activism burnout, self care and active bystander training.
Speakers included OU students, Athens residents and Iris Cooke, an 11 year-old environmental activist, who talked about climate change and how it affects the future. Other speakers spoke about topics including gun violence and mass incarceration and how it impacts women.
