“Vote to kick them out”, “Trump, surrender”, “The place of women is in the House and the Senate” The signs for the Women’s March, which took place on Saturday in New York and major American cities, had very political overtones. The fourth edition of this event was held two weeks before the start of the Democratic primaries, and ten months before the general elections.
On this frosty morning, two processions, one leaving from west of Central Park, the other from Foley Square, in lower Manhattan, must meet at Time Square. In addition to the usual pink caps, symbols of the movement, we see caricatures of the American president, some comparing him to a “Godfather of the mafia”, and messages calling for his impeachment, as his trial begins Tuesday in the Senate, a month after his indictment by the House of Representatives. “My sign shouldn’t be blurred!” jokes Mary, a young protester. The Washington Post has just revealed that some anti-Trump placards, in a photo of the first edition of the Women’s March in Washington DC in 2017, displayed by the National Archives, had been blurred “So as not to participate in current political controversies”, the institution justified itself, which recalled its identity “Apartisane”.
Having become a meeting of the month of January for anti-Trump, the 2020 Women’s March is far from having the size of the first edition, the day after the inauguration of the Republican billionaire. “We had taken a bus with a group from Brooklyn to go to Washington DC, and some of us could never move forward!” Robert, in his sixties, enthusiastically remembers the streets of the US federal capital completely paralyzed by crowds.
“Three tumultuous years”
But this edition is an opportunity to call for a “Blue wave” for the presidential and legislative elections in November, as indicated by Maureen’s sign. “Today, the most important thing is that people, and in particular women and minorities, mobilize and vote”, insists this New York actress. Democratic voter, she has not yet chosen which candidate she will vote for in the New York primary, which will be held at the end of April: “I like Elizabeth Warren, I like certain positions of Pete Buttigieg… I think Tom Steyer does not quite know why he is there. As for Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, they are too old. Honestly, I’m tired of old white men. ”
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Supporters of just about every candidate for the Democratic primary were present, and visible, in the processions. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren name t-shirts, hats for entrepreneur Andrew Yang, tote bags for former New York mayor and billionaire Mike Bloomberg («Women for Mike»), badges pro-Bernie Sanders… “There are a lot of gender inequalities in the United States”, recalls Thomas Muccioli, a 32-year-old artist and activist who worked for the campaign of New York elected official Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading figure of the American progressive left. Today he wears a sweatshirt in the name of Independent Senator Sanders, whom he supports “For 2020, as in 2016”. “Reproductive rights have been seriously abused under the Trump administration, wage inequalities persist … But I am optimistic”, he says, referring to the mobilization of November 2018, and the record number of democratic women elected in the midterm elections.
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“We must be very vigilant to prevent backtracking, especially on the issue of abortion, and on women’s rights in general”, insists Cristina, a saleswoman from the north of the State who has “Not missed a single Women’s March” since the first edition. “It’s been three tumultuous years, I can’t wait to be in November and leave the Trump era behind us”, hopes the young woman, still undecided “Between the progressive candidates, Bernie or Warren. But everything except Joe Biden ”, the former vice-president of Barack Obama, with the centrist program.
Robert says to himself “very worried” que Donald Trump “Clings to power and refuses to leave the White House, even if he is not re-elected”. “He implied it several times”, he insists. He decided to support Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic primary: “I like his political ideas, I find it clear, especially on the taxation of the richest. And then, after several millennia of patriarchy, it is the turn of women. ”
Isabelle Hanne correspondent in New York
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