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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 2:57:11 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 3:08:24 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 3:24:21 GMT
There were many men and even some boys partcipating. Thanks, guys! Hey, I think we're starting to move ~ And off we go ~ Many Mexicans work a half day on Saturday, so weren't able to march. But as the march passed, people came out of stores, businesses, and restaurants to smile, wave, thumbs-up, and applaud ~ I was somewhere in the middle of the march. Partway down the street it stopped, apparently because the people at the front had arrived at the turning street. That's when I looked back the way we came and almost fell over. So many participants! Applause from bystanders as the march arrives at its terminus in front of the cathedral ~ ~ ~ Gotta go load some more pictures. Back in a bit ::
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Post by fumobici on Jan 22, 2017 3:46:22 GMT
Great report so far from Oaxaca! I'm quite heartened by people's reaction to the inauguration, here's a report on our local march which I think was the largest such demonstration we've ever had here- www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article127919919.htmlI missed it because I was out of town, but it looks like it was a huge success.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 4:10:21 GMT
Thank you, Fumobici and thanks so much for that super news from Bellingham. Sorry you missed it, but you can sure be proud of your town. As you say, these reactions are definitely heartening. It's also heartening that organizers all over are telling people not to lose this momentum, to keep it and use it to keep the dark forces at bay.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 4:13:59 GMT
I'll wind up this report with some pictures from the newstand in front of the cathedral:
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Post by Shannon on Jan 22, 2017 4:49:51 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 5:30:58 GMT
Oh, I missed seeing all kinds of people, Shannon. But I didn't mind at all, since the reason for not seeing them was because the crowd was so large. People reading this: Shannon is being modest, as she was one of the very small number of organizers of this very large and successful event. Do check out her great blog post linked above. Thank you, Shannon! Also, so kind of you to suggest I submit a couple of pictures. It's daunting, as I've seen so many fabulous pictures (including yours) of the Oaxaca march by now. Thanks for the suggestions -- you're right that the support from onlookers was so important.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 6:38:20 GMT
A lot of these pictures are great, Bixa, and your report is outstanding.
I saw that the Paris march attracted 7000 people. (I am not in Paris at the moment.)
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Post by bjd on Jan 22, 2017 6:40:43 GMT
I wonder if Trump will be able to keep himself from reacting to these marches. I just saw on the BBC website that he called journalists "the most dishonest people on earth" for saying that there were fewer people at his inauguration than at Obama's, despite aerial photos showing it.
There was no march here in Toulouse, although I heard there were in other cities in France. 7,000 in Paris according to the police although the organizers had expected 2,000.
Most of the Oaxacan marchers don't look Mexican. Is the expat community so large there?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2017 7:27:43 GMT
Aw, thanks, Kerouac. I was hoping you'd be able to cover the Paris march. Well, the mood of the times may give you another chance. I can't find statistics or photos on the Paris march yet, but imagine it was really something. Bjd, Mr. Infantile Ego is already in a huff about them, since the Washington march apparently pulled in more people than the inauguration did. Apparently a march was planned in Toulouse, but they were denied a permit. They were, however, allowed to hold a candlelight vigil in Place Wilson. I don't know how much publicity was generated outside of facebook: www.facebook.com/Democrats-Abroad-Toulouse-212515078760402/Re: the foreign marchers in Oaxaca ~ I don't know where all those people came from! Some of them are winter residents, some tourists, and some are permanent, but I had no idea there were so many non-Mexican people here. Perhaps the reason the march got so big was because of people joining it along the way, more than likely local people. I think the march as originally conceived was something very small involving the foreigners, then the scope was expanded.
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Post by breeze on Jan 22, 2017 13:41:38 GMT
bixa, it looks like there was a good spirit among the marchers. Many good signs too. I bet a lot of people drove a distance to participate so no wonder you didn't know everyone.
I read online that one woman who participated in DC said it was the first day since the election that she didn't feel her usual fear and stress about what we're going through.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 13:47:25 GMT
Great report Bixa. There were 2 separate marches here in NOLA. One on Friday, then one on Saturday. The march on Saturday drew 12,000 according to the reports I heard. There was a Jazz Funeral that led the procession of protesters as the crowd snaked its way through the French Quarter and then up to the river where a coffin of Liberty Lady was laid onto the launch and sent afloat. A decent turnout as the weather was quite foul with intermittent periods of heavy winds and rain. A group of women merchants that I know made their way up to D.C. for the march there. linkhttp://www.nola.com/#/0
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 23, 2017 3:16:14 GMT
You are right that there was a great spirit among the marchers, Breeze. It was enhanced by the beautiful day, the huge turnout, and the lovely reactions of onlookers along the way. The woman in DC hit the nail on the head. I have been depressed since November and the march finally lifted my spirits. On inauguration day, my dogs got to take really long walks since I didn't want to stay in the house & accidentally see any celebration of the death of democracy on my computer. Instead, I went around and buttonholed people on the street to tell them about the march. Thanks so much, Casimira. I had read about the jazz funeral march, but didn't know about the Viking sendoff for Lady Liberty. Perfect, and sooo New Orleans! And yes, that is a wonderful turnout considering the weather. Very cool that local ladies went up to Washington for the big march. (can't open link )
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Post by lagatta on Jan 23, 2017 12:15:25 GMT
I had to work but listened to Radio 2 (the mostly-music chain) on Radio-Canada and CBC; I didn't want to see or hear the giant orange turd. And didn't attend the demonstration here the next day for the same reason.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2017 4:47:30 GMT
To each her own, LaGatta. There was a march in Melaque, Jalisco that was almost all Canadians. My baby sister went with a contingent of people from her town over to Oakland to march. My niece (her daughter) opted to cover other people at work so they could go to the march in Philadelphia. It's cool to think we were participating together. This is after the fact and way too long for me to expect anyone to watch it. BUT .... Bixa is in it, right at the very beginning for the sharp of eye to find ~
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Post by bjd on Jan 25, 2017 6:16:08 GMT
I found you! My daughter-in-law went to the march in Edinburgh last Saturday.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 25, 2017 11:16:55 GMT
bixa, think I expressed myself badly. I didn't get to our demo because I was working, not for avoiding tkinking about the Incredible Turd.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 28, 2017 23:09:24 GMT
Eagle-eyed Bjd! That is so cool about your daughter-in-law. Do you have any pictures? Thanks, LaGatta ~ I did misinterpret what you said! I copied the information below from the facebook page of this site. The official numbers for the historic Women's Marches held in 914 cities in over 60 countries around the world are in! And, the political scientists who have been tallying march attendance data all week have reached an incredible conclusion -- that there is "no doubt that this was the largest single-day event in US history." Two political scientists, Erica Chenoweth, a professor at the University of Denver, and Jeremy Pressman, a professor at the University of Connecticut, have developed a massive database tracking Women's March attendance around the world based on analyzing news and attendee reports. Since crowd counting is an inexact science, the researchers developed a low-end and high-end estimate for every march. Yesterday, they announced their final Women's March tally -- on the low end, 3.5 million people participated globally, while on the high end, 5.6 million people marched. While many marches took place around the world, the vast majority of global turnout was not surprisingly at US-based marches. Even using the conservative low-end estimate for U.S. Women's March attendance, the researches made a remarkable discovery: on Saturday, at least one out of every 100 Americans participated in a Women's March, an unprecedented mass mobilization that was the largest ever in US history. Chenoweth, who studies emerging political movements, says that act of counting is an important one. “It’s a really empowering thing to be noticed and to be tallied,” she observed. “That actually came to be much more evident to me when people started emailing us and tweeting at us, reporting that they had two, five, seven, 12 people in their tiny outpost.” For the US alone, the researches collected data on 653 individual Women's Marches in cities ranging from Abilene, Texas to Zebulon, Georgia. Now, they plan to continue analyzing the data and develop a final "best guess" estimate and rationale, which they say "will involve various adjustments for under/over-reporting and source validation.” They believe that this number will "land us somewhere between the current high and low estimates.” Thank you once again to everyone who turned out for this immense show of solidarity and support for the belief that women's rights are human rights. And, thank you to Erica Chenoweth and Jeremy Pressman for undertaking the significant challenge of capturing the true and immerse scale of this historic day of action -- a day which marked just the beginning of a fight to protect the rights of women and all those who are threatened in days ahead.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 28, 2017 23:43:47 GMT
I'm glad I cleared that up. I attended three demonstrations at the onset of the Iraq War - at the first, I was in Brussels, and while it was somewhere between -10 and -15C, the wind was ferocious and I didn't have my warmest winter coat or boots as I don't need them in Western Europe. Then two others here in Montréal, one at something like minus 25c.
I make no apologies about having to work, as an impecunious freelancer. I thought the march was very important.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2018 16:35:13 GMT
Anyone participating in any sort of Women's March 2018 this weekend? It would be great to hear about the participation in your areas, whether or not you're able to attend. It will be more low-key here compared to last year, with a candlelight gathering planned for 6 pm this evening. The 2018 Women's March is a planned rally and follow-up to the 2017 Women's March, scheduled to take place on January 20 and 21, 2018. Demonstrations and marches are expected nationwide, primarily on January 20th. Emerging themes of the 2018 events are voting and women running for office. The Women's Marches are coinciding with Impeachment Marches, also being held worldwide. source
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2018 2:44:32 GMT
A huge march here today. After the arctic blast we had all week people came out in droves!!
There is a march on Oak Street as I write and T. phoned me to tell me that I need to get on over there!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 4:53:10 GMT
THANK YOU, Casimira ~ that is so gratifying to hear! And even more wonderful to hear of the enthusiasm that spawned at least one extra march in Carrollton. Gawd, would I have loved to have been on Oak today! Can't wait to hear all about it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 5:07:25 GMT
When I got to the park this evening, it at first looked as though there would be a skimpy turnout. However, it was only that the original meeting point was too crowded, so people were re-directed to the north end of the park. As you see, those waiting at the north end were perfectly content ~ People are coming from the original meeting point ~ Candles were being lit ~ The banner from last year's march was a welcome sight ~ A polite but pertinent response to xenophobia ~ And a blunter comment ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 5:13:52 GMT
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Post by bjd on Jan 21, 2018 6:55:02 GMT
Are all these people part of Oaxaca's expat community? Nobody looks Mexican. Did any Mexicans take part?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 7:10:20 GMT
I don't know how many of the attendees live here year round, as there are many snow birds. No one really took the reins to plan an event this year, so the candlelight vigil was announced very late and was under-publicized. There were some local young guys taking pictures of the gathering, and I asked them if they planned to participate. It turned out, unsurprisingly, that they knew nothing about it. So I think you're right that there were no or very few Mexicans there.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 7:35:34 GMT
If you want to see if a particular place around the globe was represented in today's commemorative events, go to the interactive map here: www.womensmarch.comHere is Oaxaca's event on that map:
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Post by lagatta on Jan 21, 2018 12:20:57 GMT
Bixa, how does this movement relate to Ni una menos? (the movement against femicides and organized rape) - does it use that name in Mexico?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2018 17:53:38 GMT
LaGatta, the first march and this event on the anniversary of the first march were built around the Women's March, a movement from the United States. As you know, that sparked sister marches around the world. The mission statement of Women's March makes clear its goal of a society with full rights and protection of women. Women’s March Global, a project of Tides Center includes those living outside the US who wish to show their adherence to that goal. However, as foreigners in Mexico we cannot interfere in the politics of this country, meaning that there is no direct correlation between Women's March and the Ni Una Menos movement in Mexico. You probably saw this already, but there was a particularly poignant and effective display by Ni Una Menos people in Oaxaca during days of the dead 2013: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/post/180273/thread (reply #33).
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