It wouldn't be Chicago if the only parade on St. Patrick's Day weekend was left to revelers decked out in green hats.
At least 300 people braved a bitterly cold afternoon to commemorate International Women's Day with a March 12 rally and demonstration "for Equality, Justice & Power" through downtown Chicago in a passionate expression of defiance against the Trump administration's policies and solidarity with each of the many groups under attack.
Representatives from the Black, immigrant, LGBT and Muslim communities of all ages, races, genders and gender identities took part in the event organized by ANSWER Chicago, Black Lives Matter ( BLM ) Women of Faith and the Chicago Student's Union that began under the shadow of Trump Tower before taking a message of unity with organizations such as Fightfor15, BLM, NoDAPL and TransUpFront into the sunlight and cheering onlookers along South Michigan Avenue.
"We called for this march because we feel it is absolutely imperative that we stay in the streets to build this new women's movement that will help lead to the defeat of the Trump agenda of racism, sexism, bigotry and war," march co-organizer and ANSWER Chicago member Candice Choo-Kang declared. "We will continue to take over the streets of this country and make it ungovernable until we vanquish Trump and win equality for all."
"We will stand in unity with one another," BLM Women of Faith member Lashawn Yvonne Littrice echoed. "We will not take any of the bigotry being dished out by the Trump agenda. We will not stand for our communities being taken over by such a racist person who thinks that he can say or do anything without any accountability. We cannot continue to sit silently while this administration takes over lives, bodies, access to affordable healthcare. We are here to say, 'No more!'"