Matt Weinstein

mweinstein@ithacajournal.com | @SteinTime44

One of the key themes of the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday — one day after Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States — is solidarity.

The spirit of unity among the more-than 200,000 people expected to march in the nation’s capital has extended across the country, sparking sister marches in many communities, including downtown Ithaca on Saturday.

The Women’s March on Ithaca, which was organized by Ithaca resident Amanda Champion, begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with a one-mile march around downtown beginning at City Hall and ending at the Ithaca Commons for an 11:30 rally.

“This is an event to promote women’s rights and our solidarity, and standing up for what we believe in, which may differ from the administration,” Champion said. “We want to be clear that this isn’t necessarily a protest against Trump, but we are concerned citizens uniting to speak up.”

According the Ithaca event’s Facebook page, more than 1,400 people say they are attending and more than 2,800 are interested in attending as of noon Tuesday. The march is one of 616 sister marches around the country Saturday, according to the Women’s March on Washington website. More than 1 million people are expected to take part in the marches.

Champion stressed that people of all races, genders and ages are invited to march and attend the rally at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons. She said speakers at the rally will speak on political issues of concern to women, the LGBTQ community, race, people with disabilities and “all those who fight for human rights.” Speakers include former Tompkins County Poet Laureate Michelle Courtney Berry, county historian Carol Kammen, Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes Director Angela Riddell and 2017 Tompkins County Poet Laureate Zee Zahava.

A few days after the election, Champion said, she was despondent about the results, heard about the march in Washington, D.C., and was interested in attending. Like many people who wanted to attend, the logistics of traveling to the capital were not realistic. Champion thought a march in Ithaca would be a great idea and put the idea on Facebook. Once she had a handful of people willing to help organize the event, the planning started. She said the reaction has been a nice surprise.

“It’s pretty overwhelming; I’m delighted,” Champion said. “The support has been amazing, and the numbers of people interested in attending is skyrocketing every day. I think as we get closer to the inauguration, more and more people are seeing what’s happening. It’s wonderful. I’m definitely nervous about it all working out smoothly.”

Champion said about 10 women have helped plan the event from the start, and that it would not have happened without them. She added there have been a handful of Facebook messages from people against the event, but she expects a peaceful day. The Ithaca Police Department has been invited to mingle with the crowd, Champion said.

Follow@SteinTime44 on Twitter