This blog was written by Olga Bonfiglio, an Associate with the Congregation of St Joseph
Several Nazareth sisters and
associates attended Women’s Marches, including the march in Washington, D.C.
where 120 CSJs were present from across the Federation as well as in Lansing,
Kalamazoo and Albuquerque, NM.
Sisters Rita Ann Teichman and
Sarah Simmons went to DC
“It was a mixed group of women:
young, middle aged, older—a few even in their 80s!” said Sister Rita Ann. “One
librarian from Notre Dame gathered a group to ride with us, and there were
three husbands, too.”
Sister Rita Ann said she could
feel the energy of the march the minute she stepped off the bus at JFK Stadium,
2.5 miles from the gathering point in front of the Capitol.
“Immediately, I realized we were
involved and participating in something so much bigger than ourselves,” said
Sister Rita Ann, who with Sarah donned a pink hat that her sister-in-law had
crocheted for them both.
Part of the walk was through a
residential neighborhood where homeowners placed signs on their front lawns
that displayed quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy.
“You were immersed in an
environment of justice, relationship and love,” said Sister Rita Ann who added
that the negative and vulgar signs were very few—and Madonna’s inflammatory
speech rare.
For security reasons,
participants were allowed to carry only a purse no bigger than a fanny pack, so
the sisters stuffed peanut butter sandwiches in their coat pockets, brought
their cell phones and a little money.
Once they reached their
destination at the Capitol, Sister Rita Ann said that she felt swept up in a
mass of humanity where people were converging from all four directions.
“We tried to find the CSJ
Federation, but couldn’t,” she said.
Although 200,000 people were
expected for the march, about one million people showed up. As a result, it was
sometimes even difficult for the Nazareth duo to stick together in the crowd.
The speeches were likewise
incredible as they addressed the issues of women, health care, the Earth,
equality and others, said Sister Rita Ann. She especially appreciated Michael
Moore, Gloria Steinem and singer, songwriter, pianist and actress Alicia Keys.
“They were all about justice,
peace, women, men, unity, immigration—what America is supposed to be about and
what we were about that day.”
The bus ride back home was more
subdued since people were exhausted. Sister Sarah recorded 23,000 steps on her
Fitbit. The driver congratulated the women and said they “did a great job
today.”
Upon their return to Nazareth,
the elderly sisters greeted Sisters Rita Ann and Sarah with wishes of
solidarity, prayer and curiosity about their experiences.
In reflecting on the experience,
Sister Rita Ann said that she now realizes in a more expansive way that the
participants were standing up, standing for, standing with those who this
administration and Congress might stand against.
“The march was a moment and now
we must continue to choose and act on ways to move forward together,” said
Sister Rita Ann Teichman. “I think that’s why the people were there on all
these marches not only in Washington, DC, but the various sister marches.”
According to the Women’s March on
Washington website (https://www.womensmarch.com/sisters) there were about 700 sister marches across the USA and in 81
countries totaling nearly 5 million participants.
“The new president’s inaugural
speech focused on ‘America first’ agenda
Lansing
In Lansing, 8,000 participants
(according to the Lansing State Journal) showed up and the mood was reportedly similar
to the DC march. People wore the march’s signature pink hats and they carried
signs that promoted women’s rights, health care rights, ending racism and care
for the Earth. Participants were orderly, smiling and without anger. There were
a lot of children there, too. One of the speakers was former
Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, who is running for governor of
Michigan in 2018 along with a music group also played for the crowd.
At the end of the demonstration,
a group of 300-400 Michigan State University students walked around the Capitol
building three or four times.
“There was a lot of positive
energy,” said Sister Marie Hogan. “People were there for the issues that
mattered to them and as different speakers spoke, people cheered.”
Sister Marie was inspired to see
so many marches going on during the day.
“Being with so many people who
wanted people to be taken care of gave me hope that people will stand up for
these rights should the current administration try to take them away,” she
said.
Sister Mary Ellen Gondeck also
attended the Lansing march and served on the Peace Team, a group of 40
volunteers who wore yellow shirts to identify themselves as peacekeepers during
the demonstration.
There were only two incidents
that were quickly quelled by police without further trouble, said Sister Mary
Ellen. They were white men waving anti-Trump signs.
“To be on the Peace Team was
inspiring,” she said. “We received training and knew what to do. We were
confident being out among the crowd. Participants knew who we were and seemed
to feel safe seeing us there, too.”
Kalamazoo
On the night of the Inauguration,
Sister Mary Ellen attended the Candlelight Vigil sponsored by Peace House, a
local intentional community based on the Catholic worker house model. Between
400-500 people attended the vigil, which was 60 minutes long where people stood
together in Bronson Park, the city’s central public space, with lighted candles.
They talked quietly together and stood with signs.
Sister Kit Kaiser attended and
carried the sign that said: “Stand for Love.” Other signs read: “Be peace.”
“This was not an anti-Trump
rally,” said Sister Mary Ellen. “It was all about solidarity for peace and
love.
“It was really encouraging for me
to know that there were so many other people who attended the vigil and not
just Peace House people and friends that you’d expect to be there,” she said.
“We also talked about how we could go forward and what we could do to build a
positive environment.”
Albuquerque
While Sister Mary Ellen was
disappointed that there were not more African Americans and Hispanics at the
Kalamazoo vigil or the Lansing women’s march, such was not the case in
Albuquerque, NM, where Sister Brigetta Slinger attended a march of 10,000
people and white people were a minority.
“There were all genders, all
races, all religions, all sexual orientations present,” said Sister Brigetta.
“It was a first time for me where I was a minority.”
Native Americans performed dances
and Hispanics offered prayers in Spanish.
Hispanics in that region are
especially vulnerable because of the immigration issue and the city’s proximity
to the US-Mexico border.
“We all came from different
places,” she said, “and we do not want to close our doors or build walls.”
In truth, Albuquerque is filled
with illegal residents. Sister Brigetta found this an issue when she worked
with the schools. Children were afraid to go home and find their parents
missing because of deportation. The Dreamers, now, are especially vulnerable
since they are identified.
“The issue of the march was that
we, the people, will not tolerate inequality, or prejudice,” she said. “No one
can come into office and take our freedoms away. This is what we as Americans stand for as a democracy.”
Sister Brigetta said the
Albuquerque march was very peaceful as was the march in Santa Fe and several
little cities in the state. There were no arrests or incidents of violence.
“What I took away from this march
was the wonderful feeling of powerfulness in the sense that we are strong when
we stand together,” said Sister Brigetta. “We can do this so that all humanity can be free if only we
stand up and use our voices to say ‘we the people, are all important and accepting
of all.”
In fact, many signs reflected
that sentiment with “Estamos juntos” (we are all one together) and “Sí, se
puede” (yes we can make a difference).
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