When Women’s March Chicago kicks off at Grant Park on Saturday, Eric Tenfelde plans to march alongside his wife and daughters to be “part of humanity and making history,” he said.
This will be his third Women’s March, and he describes the event as a visceral experience:
“Being outside in January and feeling warm on the inside from energy and people around me expressing their American freedom. Expressing myself with costume and signage and witnessing and celebrating everyone else’s expressions. Praising others and being praised. Leading chants and shouting the chants of others.”
Among the crowd at every Women’s March are the many men and boys who attend as allies, supporting the movement’s many causes including gender equality, climate change and access to health care.
Andrew Clancey also plans to march Saturday. The 30-year-old from the Rogers Park neighborhood recalled attending the first Women’s March at Grant Park in 2017. Clancey said he held a sign with the slogan “I (heart) Nasty Women,” and one of his favorite march memories was taking a picture with a woman wearing a shirt that said “Nasty Woman” on it.
“I felt so connected with everyone else who was marching,” he said. “Many of us were angry about the results of the 2016 election, and we wanted the world to know. Everyone at the march treated one another with a tremendous amount of respect, and although it was wildly busy and energetic, it felt like an incredibly safe environment.”
Women’s March Chicago organizers have planned a revival of the January march at Grant Park after a hiatus in 2019. The event has attracted hundreds of thousands and shut down parts of the Loop in the past. The march will be held in concert with similar events and rallies across the nation and globe.
City officials say that with thousands expected to attend the event, parts of downtown will be closed to traffic in the morning and afternoon. From 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, closures are expected from Columbus Drive to Monroe Street to Ida B. Wells Drive, as well as Columbus to Lake Shore Drive.
Then once the march begins at 11 a.m., rolling closures will be implemented along Michigan Avenue from Randolph to Van Buren streets, and closures on Jackson Street are anticipated as far west as LaSalle Street. Additional street closures may be implemented to ensure public safety, city officials said.
“As always, the city will ensure the First Amendment rights of those participating in the march as well as the safety and security of residents and visitors in the area,” said Executive Director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications Rich Guidice.
Four Chicago Transit Authority warming buses will be available in the area if weather conditions warrant them, according to Emergency Management and Communications officials.
March organizers predict that many supporters will be inspired to attend this weekend’s march by “just about anything you hear on the news.”
“Immigration, separating children from parents, children dying at the borders, tariffs affecting small family-owned farms, sexual predators in government, business (and) entertainment,” said Women’s March Chicago organizer Ann Scholhamer. “There is a long list.”
This year’s local event will honor marchers with disabilities, who will lead the procession to Federal Plaza. Volunteers will help marchers needing assistance by clearing paths, walking alongside participants with disabilities and escorting them to transportation hubs or meeting points, organizers said.
The march will also be led by many elected female politicians, including Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford.
Unlike past Women’s March events, the one on Saturday won’t include a rally or any scheduled programming before the march at Grant Park.
The 2020 march will feature a new format, which organizers call the “Gallery of Issues.” Women’s March Chicago selected five major topics to focus on this year: the 2020 census, climate change, gun violence prevention, health care access and encouraging voting in the 2020 elections. Organizers say each block of the march route will be dedicated to a different cause.
“As marchers move block by block through the route, they will learn more about these key issues and ways they can effect change,” according to the Women’s March Chicago website. “During this lively and interactive ‘Gallery of Issues’ experience, our partner organizations will cheer on marchers, display banners and signage, engage in text message campaigns, hand out branded swag and more.”
The first local Women’s March in January 2017 unexpectedly brought an estimated 250,000 supporters to Grant Park, shutting down parts of downtown, following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The event was held in solidarity with other women’s marches internationally.
An anniversary march in January 2018 — at the height of the #MeToo movement — topped attendance with some 300,000 marchers in Chicago.
Then Women’s March Chicago organizers hosted a solely local march in October 2018, to encourage midterm election voting, and opted to forego the traditional January march at Grant Park in 2019, citing the high costs of crafting two events so close together. Instead, supporters were encouraged to host their own community-based events dispersed around Chicagoland.
Around the same time, several leaders of a separate national women’s march group had faced claims of anti-Semitism and infighting, in part over ties to Louis Farrakhan, whose Chicago-based Nation of Islam is considered to be an anti-Semitic hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The national organization recently established a new board that “consists of leaders from a wide variety of communities, disciplines, ethnicities, religious beliefs, gender identities and experiences,” and the more controversial original leaders have stepped down.
Local organizers say they don’t believe the absence of a 2019 march in Chicago — or the national controversy — will dampen enthusiasm for the event this weekend.
“Our marchers know that we are an independent organization, solely dedicated to the issues in our communities, and supported by organization and marchers locally,” Scholhamer said.
Women’s March Chicago also plans to host another local event in mid-October to encourage voting.
As for Clancey, he said he’s excited for this weekend’s event.
“I want to support the women and all of their allies and advocates who are marching,” he said, “and voice my frustrations with the way we vote and how it can leave so many people feeling left behind and unrepresented.”
eleventis@chicagotribune.com
Details
What: Women’s March Chicago 2020
When: Saturday. Grant Park opens for the event at 9 a.m. and the march begins at 11 a.m. (This year’s event is a march-only format, with no formal rally or other programming preceding the march.)
Where: Main entrance at Ida B. Wells and Columbus drives. Accessible entrance at Columbus Drive and Monroe Street.
March route: The march will begin at Columbus Drive and Jackson Street, ending at Federal Plaza. The city has asked that marchers disperse immediately afterward.
Social media: #WomensMarchChicago2020, #WomensMarchChi2020, #MakeItCount
March route: Participants will gather on Jackson Street at Columbus Drive. They will march west on Jackson to Michigan Avenue, then north to Adams Street and then west on Adams to Federal Plaza. Organizers expect marchers to disband at Federal Plaza.
Street closures: Columbus Drive from Monroe Street to Ida B. Wells Drive, and Columbus to Lake Shore Drive will be closed from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, according to the city. Once the march begins, rolling closures will be implemented along Michigan Avenue from Randolph Street to Van Buren Street, and closures on Jackson Street are expected to be implemented as far west as LaSalle Street. Additional street closures might be implemented to ensure public safety.
Public transportation: Metra isn’t adding any service but conductors have been notified that more patrons with disabilities might be traveling. The Chicago Transit Authority will have longer trains on the Brown, Blue, Orange, Green and Purple lines, as well as more frequent service on the Red Line. There will be additional bus service on the 147 Outer Drive Express route.
ADA Paratransit drop-off/pick-up: The location for participants with disabilities is on Monroe Street, east of Columbus Drive.
Ride services: Drop-offs and pickups are prohibited on Lake Shore Drive, and the city says this will be strictly enforced. Ride-share vehicles can’t stop, stand or park in bus or bike lanes, sidewalk crossings, bridges or any other areas.
Weather: Forecasts say several inches of snow accumulation is possible Friday. On Saturday, the high temperature is expected to be 37 degrees, with rain possibly mixed with snow showers before 2 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications has arranged for four CTA warming buses to be available at the event if conditions warrant.
Security: The Chicago Police Department will have uniformed and plainclothes officers at the event to ensure the safety of participants, pedestrians and motorists. The Office of Emergency Management and Communications will also be monitoring the event.
For more information: www.womensmarchchicago.org
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