The Radical Women’s March on Washington

After 8 years of hearing dissent against the President of the United States is unpatriotic, a collection of radical women will be making it fashionable again under the name “Women’s March on Washington” (WMW).

The main thrust is to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump and the tagline the groups is using is “Hear My Voice” but make no mistake, this event is a protest. The website even warns about “safety protocols” in their FAQ for parents asking if they can ‘bring their kids’:

The WMW has a team of experienced and professional national organizers working to ensure that every safety protocol is followed. We will release specific details on how to stay safe during your time in Washington as we draw closer to the date. The decision to bring your children is a personal one.

The website for the event is slick and privately registered, making it difficult to track down who is funding it. The event site links to t-shirts being sold noting that “100% of the profits will benefit the Women’s March on Washington.” As of this article, 2,107 shirts have been purchased and $33,878 has been raised.

Image via Facebook

Without naming Trump, the Women’s March on Washington mission statement begins with a continuation of the failed Clinton campaign/Democrat-style of demonizing of the incoming President:

“The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us – immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.”

The Women’s March on Washington website details who their ‘national committee members’ are as well as a long list of support staff. As one might guess, former Hillary Clinton campaign staffers, union supporters, Black Lives Matter activists, social justice warriors, LGBTQ activists, Pro-Palestinian supporters and a host of other far Leftists are in the line-up.

The headlining names on the list are Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, Linda Sarsour, and clothing designer, Bob Bland.

The highlights for Tamika Mallory on the WMW website include being the National Action Network’s youngest Executive Director,” and that she, “has been publicly applauded as “a leader of tomorrow” by Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, Valerie B. Jarrett and was selected to serve on the transition committee of New York City Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio.” She’s also a fan and supporter of the racist and bigoted extremist, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan.

Mallory’s bio touts ‘working closely with the Obama administration’ and being a “social justice champion”. She is involved with a group called ‘Justice or Else!’, is an ardent supporter of Black Lives Matter and was an organizer of the 50th anniversary March on Washington.

Carmen Perez is the Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice, a nonprofit founded by Harry Belafonte. This group has, of course, joined the WMW along with groups like Planned Parenthood and uber-feminists like Gloria Steinem. Perez is also affiliated with a social justice group in New York City called Justice League NYC.

It’s clear from Perez’s personal website that she is a Black Lives Matter supporter. Perez was part of the Dream Defenders Palestine Delegation, who toured “Palestine” and in Israel in January 2015. Also on that tour was coordinated by Patrisse Cullors, one of the three co-founders of “Black Lives Matter.” Perez’s associations to Cullors and several others link her to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Sarsour’s bio says she is an “award-winning, Brooklyn-born Palestinian-American-Muslim racial justice, and civil rights activist, community organizer, social media maverick, and mother of three.”

Sarsour is deeply involved with Black Lives Matter and #Our100 and was one of the organizers who was involved in a shutdown of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn following the Eric Garner Grand Jury decision not to indict the officer involved. Sarsour also was, “one of three women co-chairs of the March2Justice, an effort advised and chaired by legendary artist and activist Belafonte,”.

Of note is Sarsour’s involvement with the National Muslim Democratic Council. In 2012, a memo from the organization was leaked which highlighted focusing support on key races with “an aggressive GOTV and voter persuasion campaign”. Sansour is also affiliated with “My Muslim Vote”, a website dedicated to getting out the Muslim vote. The site includes ‘talking points‘ to be used in Mosques to give a khutba — the Muslim version of preaching.

Bland is the “CEO + Founder of Manufacture New York (MNY), a social enterprise that is rethinking the fashion ecosystem (design, development, distribution) and creating a new, vertically-integrated business model that will transform apparel & textile production for the 21st century.”

The “strategic advisors” for the Women’s March on Washington are Meredith Shepherd and De’Ara Balenger. Both are former Hillary Clinton campaign staffers.

Shepherd was a point of contact for Hillary for America as well as National Finance Council Member, Ready for Hillary.

Balenger was the former Director of Engagement for Hillary for America. According to Politico, Balenger previously worked under Cheryl Mills at the State Department before joining the Clinton campaign and part of her job as Director of Engagement for Clinton was, “making sure nobody starts talking off their own script.”

The Women’s March on Washington also has an operations team or ‘ops’ for short. On that team is another Hillary for America staffer, Miriam Ehrari. The other ‘ops’ team member is Sophie Ellman-Golan, Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President for the often wildly inaccurate gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety.

Also in the Women’s March on Washington staff mixed in with communications and logistics are Lamon Bland and Janaye Ingram, both are of former employees of Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN). Ingram was the former Former DC Bureau Chief of NAN.

The North Carolina Connection

On the local, North Carolina level there are five women acting as state organizers for the Women’s March on Washington. Their names are Katherine Bellamy, Emily Harris, Gracie Harrington, Monica Renee Baker, and Caitlin Williams and their organizing seem to be mainly happening on Facebook.

Via one of the Facebook event posts for NC Women’s March, here are the North Carolina organizers pictures and bios. Addition information about these women follows their quoted biographical information.

Katherine Bellamy

“Katherine Bellamy currently serves as the Public Relations and Outreach Coordinator for a large nonprofit in the Triangle area. She is serving on the North Carolina Organizing Team for the Women’s March on Washington because she wants justice and equity for all women. She is a “recovering” Southern Baptist, LGBT identifying woman who is passionate about reconciling the LGBTQ+ and faith community.”

According to LinkedIn, Bellamy is actually the Public Relations / Outreach Coordinator at The Salvation Army of Durham.

Emily Harris
“From her experience working with local and international organizations on anti-trafficking projects, Emily has developed an understanding of the humanitarian aid needs and issues, and how these issues have a profound impact upon women, especially in the developing world. As a member for the USNC for UN Women, Emily appreciated the opportunities to assist in increasing awareness on social issues that impact women and girls; she truly enjoyed being part of women-mobilized community and international change. She is committed to applying her skills and experience in mobilizing supporters and increasing donor relations in order to support the Women’s March. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and is the program manager for ATHENA International, a nonprofit organization that supports women leaders.”

Harris has a Master’s degree in Social Work is a member of USNC for UN women, serving in a communications role. She’s also a former copy editor for the News and Record.

Gracie Harrington
Gracie Harrington is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She moved to North Carolina in 2011, and currently works at her alma mater Wake Forest University as a Development Associate. While in college, Gracie won university and nation-wide awards for her LGBTQ activism on campus. Gracie identifies as queer, intersectional feminist who in her free time enjoys writing music and getting to know people at the local coffeeshop.”

Harrington is a Wake Forest University Alumna, class of 2015. She received the Martin Luther King Jr. “Building the Dream” award while attending Wake Forest. Harrington is an LGBTQ activist. She was given the ‘Voice & Action Award’ by Campus Pride, an LGBT organization in part for her leadership of the Winston-Salem college’s Gay-Straight Student Alliance and for her role on the President’s Commission on LGBTQ Affairs.

Monica Baker
“I came to Nc in 2007. I currently reside in Charlotte. I am a single mother of 4 (2sons, [sic] 2 daughters). I’m a strong believer of Women’s Rights & I feel that our voices need to be heard.”

Ms. Baker’s bio is one of few words and evidence of any past activism wasn’t apparent. A thorough search of local media revealed Baker has nearly a zero activist footprint.

Caitlin Williams
“Caitlin is a public health professional with a passion for supporting women and families to achieve their full potential. She lives in Durham, NC. #WhyIMarch I march for our collective future — one where we can all create the families we choose, and live with safety and dignity.”