Des Moines Women's March draws thousands to Iowa's Capitol

Isabelle Brace, 14, of Des Moines wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

But she plans to do more than teach facts and figures; Brace also wants to run a group supporting LGBTQ students.

"I'm really passionate about human rights," she said Saturday. "Everybody is human, and everybody should have certain rights."

Brace's stepfather, Jay Luedtke, 50, also of Des Moines, echoed her message: "We can't go backward," he said.

That's why Luedtke, Brace and Brace's sister Madilyn, 18, visited the Iowa State Capitol on Saturday. They joined several thousand Iowans, many wearing pink hats and hoisting homemade signs, for the 2018 Women's March in Des Moines.

They gathered on the one year anniversary weekend of the 2017 Women's March to again call for human rights and justice for all, regardless of gender, race, class, immigration status, sexual orientation, ability and more.

The worldwide event in 2017 included more than 600 “sister marches” to the Women’s March on Washington, which saw around 500,000 descend on the National Mall. More than two million participated worldwide.

Last year, the Women's March in Des Moines attracted an estimated 26,000 marchers. The crowd was smaller this year, but Kim Weaver, a Women's March Iowa board member, said she was pleased with the turnout — and the energy.

"It was anywhere from six to seven thousand," she said. "People seemed happy, ready to do some work and excited about being here instead of angry and fearful."

The crowd chanted, cheered and listened to speeches from a diverse range of Iowans.

Renee Hardman, West Des Moines' first black city councilwoman, got the crowd fired up near the beginning of the march. "There's a sign that says 'Mobilize and Organize,' and that's what this rally is all about today," she said. "We can't sit down and pop popcorn. We have to get up and work and make our voices heard."

Her message resonated with many, including Susan TeRonde, 60, of Madrid, Iowa. "I feel that we are losing rights and we don't realize it. I worry about the generations after me," she said. "I think we all need to be politically involved."

Many women have gotten that message in Iowa. One of them was Mazahir Salih, a Sudanese-American who immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 and won a seat on Iowa City's city council in November, making her the first Sudanese-American to hold elected office in the United States.

She addressed the need to amplify underrepresented voices during her speech at the Women's March in Des Moines. "I will not be the last immigrant to be inspired by the promise of democracy," she said. "Women must be heard."

Salih spoke at the Iowa City Women's March on Saturday morning, too, where hundreds gathered downtown.

“I feel excited and energized,” she told the marchers. “This crowd makes me want to do more.”

In the crowd stood Linda Masuku, 59, and Nicholine Junge, 37, a mother-daughter duo from Grinnell who, along with the rest of their family, came to the United States as refugees during the apartheid era in South Africa.

"Iowa became my home," said Masuku, who still remembers how welcoming people in Grinnell were to her and her family. "This country has wonderful, decent people, and (President Donald Trump) is dividing this country each and every single moment he opens his mouth."

Masuku was angry when she heard reports that Trump had used a derogatory word to describe Africa and Haiti. She and Junge want to end hateful rhetoric. "Nothing good comes from hate," Junge said. "Unity and love is what is going to propel us to a bright future."

Junge brought her own daughter, Joey, age 6, to the march. "I'm out here because I have a teenage son and a six-year-old daughter," Junge said. "I'm teaching them to be good, decent human beings who love and care about other communities and who care about the planet."

Organizers said the presence of young people like Joey and Isabelle Brace at the 2018 march was their biggest inspiration. Weaver said Shaddai Johnson, a Roosevelt high school student who performed a piece of spoken word poetry at the end of the march, filled her with hope.

"The young poet at the end gave me chills. It was amazing to see the young women who were excited and wanted to participate," Weaver said.

More about Saturday's march:

Other speakers at the 2018 Women's March in Des Moines:

Chelsea Chism, a student and Planned Parenthood volunteer

Rep. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids

Dema Kazkaz, a Syrian-American activist, president of a local Islamic center and faculty member at Hawkeye Community College

Robin White, a transgender veteran and an LGBTQIA activist

Cecilia Martinez, a member of One Iowa Action, vice president of the student body at Simpson College and a DACA recipient

Christine Nobiss, Plains Cree-Salteaux from the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, and founder of Indigenous Iowa

Co-hosts of the 2018 Women's March in Des Moines:

Women's March Iowa

Planned Parenthood‬ Voters of Iowa

‪Interfaith Alliance‬ of Iowa

‪Iowa CCI

‪One Iowa‬ Action

Our Revolution‬ Iowa

‪Indivisible Iowa.

More #WomensMarch2018 coverage: