Nodesia Hernandez and Nada Odeh addressed the growing crowd gathered in downtown Syracuse as the 2020 Women’s March began Saturday morning. 

The two had organized last year’s march in Syracuse. The experience was gratifying, Hernandez said. 

“All of a sudden, we were marching and I turned around and the streets were filled with women,” Hernandez said. “There was blocks of women behind me, so it was amazing.” 

This year, more than 100 protesters filled city sidewalks as they marched through the snow from the James M. Hanley Federal Building to the United Methodist Church. Many carried signs advocating for women’s rights, healthcare, climate change awareness and an end to gun violence. 

Intersectionality was a key component of this year’s theme of peacemaking, Odeh said. Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in 1989 to describe how one’s personal identities can intersect to create unique forms of discrimination. The theme remains particularly important to Odeh as a Syrian woman, she said. 

Nodesia Hernandez addressed the crowd at the United Methodist Church, the march’s final destination. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Once the protesters arrived at the United Methodist Church, Reverend Deanna Daniel began to sing. 

“I need you to survive,” Daniel sang. “You are important to me.” 

Women shared aspirations and advocacy stories in the packed church. Speakers began by acknowledging the origins of the women’s rights movement in central New York and within the female leadership of the Haudenosaunee community. 

The need to address women’s rights remains urgent, said Alexis Ahn, a Girl Ambassador for Human Rights, a program that aims to empower young women into local and national activism. That responsibility belongs to the protesters present, she said.

Amiah Crisler, a student in the Syracuse City School District who was present at last year’s march, also shared her concerns for solidarity among protesters. 

“Even though I am young, I can see peace,” Crisler said. “It’s our ability to see each other. It’s in our need to care for one another. It’s in our courage to continue the journey, and it’s in our unity to acknowledge that women’s rights are human rights.” 

Human rights advocate Agnes McCray said its crucial that women remain supportive of each other. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Several community activists and leaders also spoke at the event, including organizers of Black Lives Matter Syracuse, Black Cuse Pride, Planned Parenthood and Black Leadership Coalition co-founders Cjala Surratt and Gina Iliev. 

Each woman spoke about the importance of women’s rights in their personal lives, and the conflicts that often arise when discussions of women’s rights are not inclusive. The march’s church venue itself is an example of how feminism exists in spaces distant from affected communities, such as Syracuse’s Southside neighborhood, Surratt said. 

Surratt asked protesters present to consider their privilege in marching, citing examples of police brutality, displacement and “poisoned housing” in the city. 

Iliev discussed the city’s pending decision on renovations to the aging Interstate-81 viaduct. The New York State Department of Transportation is expected to make a final decision this year on the construction plan for the viaduct, which destroyed a predominantly black and Jewish neighborhood when built in the 1950s. 

“We don’t get to march once a year and then walk away. We have to be ever-vigilant of what happens to our own city,” Iliev said.

Agnes McCray, a human rights advocate for central New York, described discrimination she experienced as a mother with disabilities. Remaining supportive of other women, regardless of the differences in the challenges they face, is crucial to building up the women’s rights movement, she said.

“Let’s show the world and the rest of America how it’s done,” McCray said. “If we all have an opportunity to get it done, why not all of us?” 

Published on January 18, 2020 at 9:50 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu