Who we are and how it all started….
Charlotte Women’s March is a non-profit organization designed to aggregate the local, state and federal initiatives and actions in our area; we encourage you to interact with our site and visit often as we evaluate policy and its impact on our communities.
While Charlotte women responded to a national call for women to march in January 2017, our local organization evolved independently. Charlotte Women’s March is not a part of the national Women’s March organization, but a fully independent, organic, and grassroots group with local leaders and members. CWM strongly opposes all anti-Semitism, including statements made by any of the national Women’s March leaders. We believe, as the Anti-Defamation League says, “No one should be targeted or treated unfairly because of their religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or disability.”
Part of our mission is advocating for the equity and equality for all peoples. CWM is committed to working for change, inclusion, and collaboration in our local community.
How did it all begin?
The story is one of synergy–those women who traveled to Washington DC on January 21, 2017 and those women and men and children who marched in Charlotte.
The handful of women who decided to hold a Women’s March on Charlotte the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration thought a few thousand people might join them. But in a stunning demonstration of solidarity with marchers around the world, according to police estimates some 25,000-30,000 women and men, many with children in hand, marched peaceably and joyfully together through the streets of Charlotte.
At the same time, the Charlotte women returning home on their bus from the Washington, DC march talked about their experiences and what had occurred in their home town. They knew they wanted to keep the momentum going.
The result was the first meeting of Charlotte Women’s March, an organization created to harness the energy unleashed at the marches and put it into action. And once again, the turnout was stunning. Charlotte’s spacious McColl Center for Art + Innovation was filled to capacity. Those who were at the February 7 meeting broke into interest groups and began to define their goals and action steps.
The Women’s March of 2017 has galvanized us to follow issues that matter. To offer our view of what our political leaders and representatives are doing in leading our country. To raise our voices in either support or resistance. We acknowledge that not all women will agree on every issue. But we seek to offer more daylight on ALL issues, and let our members decide. We offer a platform for discussion and notification of local action. We encourage you to follow us through this website and on social media.
We encourage you to join our mailing list, and become a member of CharlotteWomensMarch. We encourage you to engage and contribute your comments. We encourage you to share our organization with friends and family. We encourage you to keep marching…digitally and physically. We have found our voices. We march on.