Women's March

Women with bright pink hats and signs gathered Saturday to make their voices heard on the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency, in Washington.

(Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

Rebecca Cohen

I just returned to Oregon from an exhilarating trip to the Women's March on Washington. I traveled to D.C., at my own expense, to stand against the dangerous rhetoric prominent during the election season that targeted specific groups just for who they are and what they believe. I traveled to D.C., to stand in solidarity with my fellow Americans, who want to send a message to our nation's leaders in the Administration, in Congress, in statehouses and in corporate boardrooms across the country: Women will not stand on the sidelines while our safety and the safety of our families and communities is jeopardized.

I traveled to D.C. to oppose any attempts by our elected officials to promote the NRA leadership's most extreme agenda ever, an agenda that will effect women, children and people of color by putting more guns, in more places, no questions asked.

The march was an inspirational, energizing and galvanizing experience. But it wasn't just the event itself. It was the entire weekend of meeting fellow march attendees around the area. Strangers, buoyed by common pink hats (and red Moms Demand Action pom-pom hats!) who came together for impromptu strategy sessions in restaurants, museums, airports and historical sites. And, like me, my new friends will head back to their communities all across the nation to get to work.

Like Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the Women's March took root from a simple Facebook post. And like Moms Demand Action, the march attendees will grow quickly into a sustained movement that gets to work in their hometowns because when women are activated to fight for ourselves and our families, we don't back down.

In my four years volunteering with the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action, I have learned valuable organizing skills. Thanks to the anti-gun-violence group, I now know how to contact my state and federal legislators. I know how to set meetings to speak with my legislators. And I know how to testify before my state legislature.

I put those skills to use in Oregon's successful effort last year to pass universal background checks on all gun sales. I will continue to do so for upcoming gun bills pending at the state and national level. And as we charge on as a country, I will rely on these skills and the connections I've made with Moms Demand Action members across the country.

The Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action will be working at our state legislature again this year to support common sense gun laws, such as Oregon's 2017 Gun Violence Prevention Package. That package would not only help protect Oregon's women and children by closing the "boyfriend loophole" and keeping guns out of the hands of convicted stalkers, but would also strengthen the state's background check system by closing the "Charleston Loophole" and alerting law enforcement when dangerous people try to buy a guns and fail background checks.

When you join us to promote gun legislation that research shows will save lives, you'll also make enriching connections and learn valuable organizing skills - both of which help to build safer communities for us all. I hope to see you -and your pink or red pompom hat- in Salem.

Rebecca Cohen lives in North Portland.