{"id":22845,"date":"2017-01-23T15:15:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T20:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=22845"},"modified":"2017-01-23T14:53:13","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T19:53:13","slug":"hundreds-or-more-from-chester-co-participate-in-marches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=22845","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds (or more) from Chester Co. participate in marches"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to West Chester, local voices heard<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Just a handful of the attendees in Washington D.C. who rode buses from the Kennett Area Democrats, who brought more than 200 residents to the nation’s capital, Saturday.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Chester County residents participated in Saturday\u2019s Women\u2019s March \u2014 which morphed into events literally around the world, although the epicenter was in Washington D.C., and included events in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Newark, Del., and West Chester \u2014 all featuring the now famous pink knit hats, a tweak on Donald Trump’s comments that came out last year about his grabbing women by their genitalia.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the main march in Washington, D.C. \u2014 so well attended that the entire march route was filled with people by midday \u2014 Chester County was well represented. Just by a token count, the Kennett Area Democrats in the southern part of the county were able to fill four full buses, about 215 people, with others from the area attending on their own. Hundreds more \u2014 some felt it was likely more than a thousand from Chester County\u00a0\u2014 \u00a0attended, based on other sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

West Chester Mayor (and newly elected State Representative) Carolyn Comitta speaks to the crowd during Saturday’s event in West Chester.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although estimates of the Washington D.C. crowd were listed as at least 500,000, some reports suggested that the number could have been higher. The same is true of the event in Philadelphia, which drew an estimated 50,000. The events elsewhere in the immediate region were more modest \u2014 but part of a larger event that literally had millions marching around the world. The event in West Chester was more modest, as might be expected, but Mayor (and newly elected State Rep.) Carolyn Comitta said was pleased to be part of something greater around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(Saturday)\u00a0women and girls (and men and boys!) marched and rallied across America and around the world!!,\u201d Comitta said in a statement. \u201cToday we are energized to resume our vital work to ensure that we, our families and all our neighbors are treated as our Pledge says, “with liberty and justice for all”. Onward and upward together!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lisa Longo, a member of the Phoenixville Board of Education, recounted her experience in attending the event in Philadelphia. She noted that the entire Benjamin Franklin Parkway was filled with people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sally Tallmadge Braffman of Kennett Square called the march in Washington D.C. “magical.”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a little overwhelming,\u201d said Longo, who also serves as the Treasurer for The Chester County Democratic Committee. \u201cIt was just a wall of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose and the point of the march remains a case of who you speak with, with some clearly arguing that the event was strictly about women’s rights and health care issues, while others saw it as a chance to denounce new President Donald Trump. Where there seemed to be agreement, though is that this was not a one-off event, but rather the spark for a new political movement in the United States and potentially around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is concern about some of the cabinet picks, how things are going to impact women and children,\u201d Longo said. \u201cI thought it was a very pro active event, it was a very positive march.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sally Tallmadge Braffman of Kennett Square, a self-styled \u201cveteran\u201d of protest marches in the 1960s and 1970s said the march in DC might have been the most impactful \u2014 if not the biggest \u2014 such march she\u2019s even attended.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was magical, so affirming,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Braffman recounted waiting some 90 minutes to get onto DC\u2019s Metro \u2014 the city\u2019s subway \u2014 to get downtown from nearby Virginia. She said folks shared stories, sang and chanted and there was a real sense of purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time since election night, that I was hopeful again,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, she notes, there remains a frustration that women still have to fight for health care, equal pay and truly equal status.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe that we still have to do it,\u201d she said, noting she\u2019s been fighting for women\u2019s rights since she was 18. Braffman said she thought the march was not going to be a one-off event, but rather the start of a real movement \u2014 already meetings are planned to continue the effort, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Longo agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the start of a conversation,\u201d Longo said. \u201cI hope that people involved understand that this has to be sustained over the years.<\/span><\/p>\n

She also noted that she felt this movement would dovetail well with a growing effort to combat gerrymandering, which not just allows elected officials to hold extreme positions, but often encourages it, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is the number one problem here in Pennsylvania,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to West Chester, local voices heard By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Chester County residents participated in Saturday\u2019s Women\u2019s March \u2014 which morphed into events literally around the world, although the epicenter was in Washington D.C., and included events in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Newark, Del., and West […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3958,6518,5267,557,1032,385,8457],"class_list":["post-22845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chester-county-democratic-committee","tag-featured","tag-kennett-area-democrats","tag-philadelphia","tag-washington","tag-west-chester","tag-womens-march"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22846,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22845\/revisions\/22846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}