The Women’s March on Washington took place on January 19 despite heated controversy. Several of the founders of Women’s March Inc. were accused of having anti-Semitic sentiments and ties to an outspoken anti-Semite, Louis Farrakhan. Their refusal to denounce his statements shook the movement and only highlighted the fact that the Women’s March Inc. movement made many transgender women, women of color, Latinas and other marginalized groups feel excluded from the fight for women’s rights.
Social movements must often ford rough waters, and this march, as well as the sister marches around the country, served as an important reminder that questions must be asked of any social movement. People from all walks of life joined the women’s movement and all of their voices need to be heard. In the words of Katie Wheeler, a cartoonist and writer from The Lily newspaper, “It’s important to take lessons from our biggest failures in history: We cannot march forward until we all march together.”
