NORTHAMPTON — The symbol of a girl, typically used to mark a restroom, was drawn on a poster Karen Sullivan and her 7-year-old daughter, Lyra, were working on together Wednesday night.
Beside it was the same outline, but colored in: A blue shirt, white pants and a red cape. The cape is designed to signify the empowerment and equality of women.
“It was never a dress,” the poster read. Lyra outlined her mother’s pencil letters with a blue marker.
Sullivan said they plan to hold the sign while marching from Sheldon Field to Northampton City Hall with some 1,500 other people Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March on Washington. Lyra will wear a cape, her mother said.
On Wednesday, the mother-daughter duo were joined by about a dozen other people at the World War II Club who were creating posters in preparation for the march.
“The Women’s March: Hear Our Voices, Hear Our Vote” march and rally is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events will follow throughout the day.
Director of the Pioneer Valley Women’s March, Lindsay Sabadosa, said she has no idea how many people to expect. About 1,500 people on Facebook say they will attend, and about 10,000 say they are interested.
Almost a year ago, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States. The day after, thousands filled the streets of Washington and across the country for the Women’s March.
This year, the Women’s March is also holding a Power to the Polls event on Sunday in Las Vegas to launch a national voter registration, according to its website.
Hannah Levine, 60, of Florence, said there are even more reasons to march this year.
Levine, a preschool teacher, said it appears Trump is attempting to end the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which has expired. CHIP provides low-cost health coverage to children in families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
“In some ways, it’s everything we thought it would be,” Laura Sylvester, of Shutesbury, said about Trump’s presidency. “And in some ways it’s worse.”
Sylvester referenced Trump’s tightening restrictions on immigration, his support for Judge Roy Moore’s failed bid for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat, and his Tweet about his “nuclear button” being bigger that that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Barbara Pearson, 73, of Amherst, said enough is enough.
Since Nov. 29, she’s been involved in Enough is Enough Wednesdays, which started after Congress approved a tax reform plan late last year. Every Wednesday she rallies at the corner of Main and North Pleasant streets in Amherst, holding signs like “Dump Trump,” she said.
Pearson, who is involved in the League of Women Voters, said she’ll be in Northampton throughout the day on Saturday at a voter registration tent next to City Hall.
Wendy Sinton agrees that voting is important.
“What would Sojourner Truth say?” Sinton’s sign reads. “Vote.”
Sinton, who is part of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee, said if Truth were at the rally, she would walk eloquently to the front of the stage — uninvited — and sing before speaking to the audience. Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
“She would tell the Truth,” Sinton said.
Speakers at the Northampton rally include Jennifer L. Levi, the director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project; Shanique Spalding, the western and central Massachusetts organizer for the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund; and Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, an attorney who is challenging Congressman Richard Neal, D-Springfield.
Events will follow throughout the day, including:
—An activist fair at the Unitarian Society basement, 220 Main St., will be from 1-3 p.m.
—A Women’s March documentary will be screened at First Churches, 129 Main St.
—45 Years of Roe: A Sweet Celebration will be at Click Workspace, 9½ Market St., from 6-8 p.m.
—413 Fierce Femmes: Women’s March After-Party will be at Bishop’s Lounge, 41 Strong Ave., at 9 p.m.
The Franklin County Women’s Rally in Greenfield will take place at the Town Common and Court Square from noon to 2 p.m. In Pittsfield, there will be a March Into Action Resource Fair and Community Forum from 1-4 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, 111 South St.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@ gazettenet.com.