‘We need you’: SLO Women’s March calls for community involvement and resilience
More than 300 attendees turned out for the Women’s March at Mitchell Park in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, hosted by Planned Parenthood of San Luis Obispo.
This year’s theme was “When Women Run, Women Win.”
Multiple speakers talked about the need for participation and advocacy for social justice issues including healthcare access for abortion, the climate and civil engagement in politics.
Along a sidewalk path leading to the gazebo, booths were lined up in an area dubbed “Call to Action Alley.”
The booths were staffed by representatives from community organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People San Luis Obispo, Gala Pride Center, Democratic Socialists of San Luis Obispo, Diversity Coalition San Luis Obispo County and more.
Speakers emphasize community engagement
The event started with an introduction by yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe member Wendy Lucas, who talked about the importance of renewable energy in terms of community energy.
“You are the renewable natural resource and you must choose to take the time to renew,” Lucas said. “Wherever you find your divine source for strength, for guidance, or support, recognize and honor that source.”
Then, Lucas said a prayer in Tilhini and English.
“We pray to the ocean inside our bodies and the bodies of those that are loved,” Lucas said. “Land people, sky people, and those that reside in all the waters of the earth. We pray that we remember the teachings of breathing together for ourselves and for each other.”
This year’s lead organizer and community organizer from Planned Parenthood Central Coast, Mariam Shah, followed up with a moment of silence for Roe v. Wade legislation. Some people lowered their heads or closed their eyes in suit.
After doing do, she described the positive impacts that community involvement has brought, while also suggesting that people continue to get involved as they can.
“You registered voters, you knocked on doors, you made phone calls. Together, we elected reproductive rights champions,” Shah said. “This community, we put abortion rights and the right to contraception where it belongs, in the California State Constitution.”
In addition to suggesting further involvement, Shah said that Planned Parenthood of San Luis Obispo will be hosting abortion storytelling workshops to encourage people to share their stories.
Co-organizer Dawn Addis was the next speaker, saying how she understood the “despair” that people could be feeling around the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
“We have despair over the loss of Roe,” Addis said. “We have despair over the racial and gender injustice that we continue to experience daily.”
Addis also mourned the loss of 5-year-old Kyle Doan, who was swept away in the Salinas River floodwaters on Jan. 9.
“But as women as allies, and as Californians, it’s not our way to wallow in despair,” Addis said. “We are the people who get back up, who dust ourselves off, and who lead to make our communities better, and I’m proud of all of us for that.”
Director of Operations for the Gala Pride and Diversity Center Serrin Ruggles was the next speaker. They talked about the past few political years, and how women of different backgrounds have held political positions.
“Every person of color every woman and transgender person who has won a seat in office has laid the foundations for someone else like that to follow, set a precedent that will make it that much easier for the next person,” Ruggles said. “Each and every one of them has inspired someone else with their story.”
Mayor Erica Stewart also spoke at the event, and emphasized the need for community involvement.
“And I hope that you continue to get involved even more, even more,” Stewart said. “And if you say, ‘Wow, I could never run for office. I don’t want to be there.’ Well, I bet you can, but we’ll set that aside for a second. You have the ability inside your own home, to write letters, to send phone calls, to send texts, to send off petitions, to call us and email us as electeds. You have the ability to help support all of your issues that you care about.“
First-time and consecutive attendees speak to their experiences
Central Coast Congressmen Jimmy Panetta and Salud Carbajal were also in attendance. District 4 Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, state Sen. John Laird, Supervisor Bruce Gibson, Atascadero Pro Tem Mayor Susan Funk, San Luis Obispo School Board member Mark Buchman and District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg.
Some tents sold T-shirts or had flyers. At the end of the event, Morro Bay City Councilmember and co-Founder of Women’s March San Luis Obispo Jen Ford announced that the shirts, pins and poetry books were free for anyone to take.
A volunteer at the Women’s March San Luis Obispo booth told The Tribune that they had around 500 items from past marches and had given away most of them during the event.
First-time attendee Mark Prodehl came to the march after his family and friends invited him. Prodehl lived in South Africa and the United Kingdom, then moved to the U.S. He moved to Arroyo Grande two months ago.
One part of the event that stuck out to him were the political references.
“But then at the same time, it was like winning this political thing, which was to me a little unusual,” Prodehl said. “I don’t know exactly. I don’t fully understand it.”
However, he says he will still attend next year, as he enjoyed the experience.
Planned Parenthood volunteer Roger Ludin has been volunteering for around four or five years with the center. He has been to the past few marches in San Luis Obispo, last year helping make sure no cars crossed the barriers in the roads while people marched.
This year, Ludin was a patient greeter, which included welcoming protesters and making sure they weren’t “doing any harm.”
“I don’t see myself giving it up,” Ludin, said of his role in the future.
Eighty-year-old Karlie Cool has attended almost every Women’s March in San Luis Obispo since 2017. She went to the march Saturday with her family and friends. Her group included her daughter and granddaughter — both of whom were wearing matching Rosie the Riveter bandannas.
Former Women’s March organizer Rita Casaverde has attended the march in San Luis Obispo since 2017, becoming an organizer in 2018. Casaverde was unable to attend the event on Saturday.
To Casaverde, marching has provided a community in times where she felt alone previously, due to “harsh rhetoric around immigration” in 2017 from the president, she said.
“It just felt like a really dark time and I remember going to the marches and seeing all the people with their signs that said immigrants are welcome here,” Casaverde said. “Just everyone just sharing that spirit of, you know, work. Now we’re gonna sing together and we’re gonna get through this, and that message resonated with me and it made me feel like there was a community here.”
Typically, the Women’s March in San Luis Obispo is organized by the National Women’s March organization. However, this year, Planned Parenthood took on the role of organizing the event.
Multiple women’s marches will be held across the nation on Sunday, largely commemorating the 50-year anniversary of Roe.
This story was originally published January 21, 2023 at 10:01 PM.
