Organizers from the Women’s March Los Angeles in conjunction with Women In Media released a “Why We March” PSA in advance of the Women’s Marches on January 21—and as we march and mobilize for equality, the responses they solicited remain as salient as ever.
The LA organizing team solicited responses from their community for the video who come from all walks of life. For some, the march honored the legacies of their mothers—for others, it marked the beginning of their activism. Despite their differences, they are united in this fight.
We talked to the organizers and video team about the PSA and the march—and where we go from here. Here’s some of what they had to say.
Hanieh Jodat:
With less than two weeks to go before the event, Tracy and I discussed creating and producing a visual storybook inspired by the stories of women from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. As an Organizer, and a woman whose identity and religion had been ostracized and demonized during the political campaign, I felt as though these stories would bring significant amount of attention to issues and challenges facing today’s society. If we do not create dialogue about the hardships facing our marginalized groups in our country, we will never create a solution to address these issues.
Tema L. Staig:
The support and positive response has been overwhelming. We were excited to see the video play all day at the Los Angeles March. In the months after the election, many were feeling afraid, angry, numb, and in need of an outlet. After the deep sadness of the inauguration, having the march the very next day was exactly what we needed. I’ve never seen so many people moving together in unison with one goal – to hold onto the progress we’ve made as a society. It was galvanizing and energizing. If we’re going to heal, it will be through resistance.
Tracy Sampson:
My role in organizing the Women’s March on Los Angeles began within a couple of days after the election. I was feeling very lost. When the Women’s March on Washington was declared, I connected with other women locally who were feeling the same way and we began to organize. This PSA was a way for our voices and the voices of these women and men to be heard.
We made this piece so that people could see that this event is about us – all of us. It was not about him. We wanted to show the stories of real people and why this march is important to them. The bigger picture is that we need to stand together as humans, not only for our own rights, but the rights of people we may not know. We cannot wait until our rights are threatened to do something about it.
The video marked the beginning for us. The march was bigger than just Saturday, January 21st. that was the call, the days that follow need to be the call to action. We wanted to inspire people not only to March, but to get involved, so we ended the piece by simply stating: We March To Begin.
