A letter from the co-president of CWM, Laura Meier:
As the Charlotte Women’s March movement trudges along, so do the issues and the politics. I want to take a moment to update you on where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going.
We ended 2018 with a celebration of a hard-won fight after flipping the House in DC and ending the Supermajority in Raleigh. We saw many women elected to office at the state and federal levels, and enjoyed a wonderful Reception to Honor Women Elected to Office.
2019 brought the MLK Parade, spearheaded by Erin Barbee, and then our signature uptown Charlotte march, this year a strong and prosperous partnership with 100 Black Women—Queen City Metropolitan Chapter (QCMC): Women United March.
As a board, we had a productive board retreat, agreeing on a new mission statement:
Charlotte Women’s March seeks to raise awareness and galvanize action on equity for all women.
How have we measured up to that new mission? We have:
• Partnered with the YWCA Central Carolinas on Stand Against Racism— Gina participated in their immigration panel, and we are participating in their public Stand Against Racism (rescheduled due to weather) on June 14th at noon uptown at the Square.
• Sponsored a Pride event called Reel Out Charlotte, Women’s Film night.
• Held a poverty simulation in partnership with Crisis Assistance and Habitat for Humanity
• Worked hard together on Women Build Day with Habitat for Humanity
• Partnered with pro-choice groups to hold a #StopTheBans rally on a Tuesday at noon— very well attended!
• Helped spread the word on stopping the override of Governor Cooper’s veto on the “Born Alive” bill (success!)
• Spreading the word to our city council to increase the noise ordinance buffer zone (in part to protect women who are visiting health clinics)
• Partnered with many other organizations to hold a vigil for Medicaid for All
Throughout all of this time, our incredible Communications Team has kept us current… sharing details of other events in Charlotte, keeping social media always up to date, sending out emails, and publishing a professional quality newsletter of which any organization would be envious.
Looking forward to this summer: SAVE THE DATE: July 18 CWM will be holding an Immigration panel, headed up by Stephanie Fielder.
September will be seeing the special election in District 9, another opportunity for us to protect women’s reproductive rights! GET OUT THE VOTE.
And of course the 2019 General Election is in November.
In 2020 we will be participating in the MLK Parade on January 18 and the WUM on January 25th (with two new chairs at the helm: Becca Bernstein and Atreece Bailey) and of course, the 2020 General Election, where the birth of the Charlotte Women’s March will have had come full circle…. hopefully with much better results.
We are grateful for all of the countless hours our members have devoted to the causes we support and look forward, after a brief summer break, to our next board meeting in August.
March On!
