A Guide to Denver’s Third Annual Womxn’s March

For the third year in a row, the Denver Womxn’s March will again take to the streets on Saturay, January 19. This year’s march in Colorado will not only focus on the theme of Listen.Unite.Act., but will also celebrate the unprecedented amount of women — especially those from marginalized communities — who were elected to public office during the midterm election in 2018. This year we have created a comprehensive guide for this year’s Womxn’s March to help you navigate the change and improvements from last year’s march.

READ: Denver’s Women’s March Changes Name and Opens Call for Performers and Artists

When & Where is The Womxn’s March?

The pre-rally starts at 9 a.m on the west end of Civic Center Park, and will be emceed by Regan Byrd, a member of the Women’s March leadership who is an oppression activist and speaker. The pre-rally will focus on the theme of listening to those have been silenced by oppression and marginalized by society. The actual march is to immediately follow the pre-really at around 10:30 a.m. Marchers with come together and unite against oppression and injustices. Once everyone has made it through the march, the post-rally will convene on the steps of the Colorado Capitol building. The post-rally will begin around 11:45 a.m., and will be emceed by Gloria Neal, who is an African-American journalist who now works for the City Of Denver Mayor’s Office Community Affairs. The post-rally will be focused on the idea of being active in our community through the next year when it comes to injustices 

What’s Changed?

Well first off, the non-profit movement has changed its name to Womxn’s March. While some have been confused by the recent addition of the “x” to the movement’s name, the name change is meant to show that the march is working toward more equality and inclusion for those who identify with trans, non-binary and genderqueer. The past protests were heavily criticized for catering to “white feminism” and excluding marginalized communities — including a recent scandal with the national march involving anti-Semitic remarks. But this year’s Womxn’s March has divided itself from the national event and hopes to address these concerns and is continuing to work toward becoming more intersectional and inclusive by listening to those who have been silenced, uniting under the idea of anti-oppression and acting with intention.

“There is no connection between Womxn’s March Denver and Women’s March, Inc. (National) or March On and Womxn’s March Denver. Womxn’s March Denver became a 501 c 3 in November 2018 and is wholly independent. Denver received no financial support from either organization, and has a grassroots position serving local/regional needs rather than a top-down approach,” said Pat Smith, media relations for the Womxn’s March Denver.

These three themes will be prevalent throughout the event. The event is also broken up into three main sections: the pre-rally which will focus on listening, the march which will embody uniting, and the post-rally which will help guide our actions into the next year.

READ: 30+ People on Why They Participated in the Women’s March 

 

How Long is the March?

The March starts on the west end of Civic Center Park and will go around the capital for approximately a mile. If you need assistance during the march there will be almost 50 ACLU volunteers will be stationed throughout the march in case you need help. Check out the map below to see the official route of the March.

What You Should Bring With You?

Bring whatever you’ll need to be comfortable throughout the day of the march. While the weather is predicted to be around the low 50s, this is Colorado we are talking about so you should always be prepared with multiple layers of clothing. Other things you should consider bringing with you are:

• Comfortable shoe (this is a march after all)
• Snacks and/or Lunch (if you plan on staying for the post-rally)
• Protest sign! (FYI, there are no rules on signage or posters. That being said, please remember children will also be attending the event)
• Water
• Cell Phone 
• Wallet

Speakers & Artists Who You Shouldn’t Miss

During the pre and post-rallies, speakers and performers will each have two minutes each to speak. The Womxn’s March was particularly interested in elevating voices from marginalized communities such as, but not limited to, the queer and trans community, immigrant communities, those with perspectives on police brutality, indigenous people, and many others communities. Check out the lists below to see who the artist and speakers that will be present on the day of the Womxn’s March.

Speakers & Organizations

• Ty May
• Nic Aquino-Roithmayr with Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence
• Nga Vuong-Sandoval & Eyni Ali with Colorado Refugee Speakers Bureau
• Naureen Singh
• Pasha Ripley with Red Light Resources International and SWOP Denver
• Jimena Becerra with Gateway High School, Aurora
• Lisa Calderón
• Ashley Panelli with 9to5 Colorado
• Nicole Portee with Denver Women’s Commission & monologue by Cate Wiley with Athena Project
• Megan Parocha & Maralee Mclean with Mom’s Fight Back
• Katy Hamilton with the Center for Work Education and Employment (CWEE)
• Ana Temu with American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado
• Adri Norris with Center for Colorado Women’s History

Artists

• Caleigh Sebring
• Cara Cruickshank and Cafe de la Culture
• Bella Diva Dance
• Denver Women’s Chorus
• Kayla Frawley with BELA
• Mar Luther
• Samba Colorado
• Sarah Snead Hornbuckle of The Hornbuckles & Michelle Liberti of The Argument
• SuCh
• Tosha Jorden (TJ)/SPAN
• Sethe Tucker of A Girl Named Sethe

For more information about and updates about the official schedule of the event check out the website for the Womxn’s March Denver.

All photography by Brittany Werges 

Editor’s note: The article was updated to clarify the organization’s division from the national women’s march.