The Women's March on Washington

Feminist Studies 43, no. 1. © 2017 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 223 ashwini tambe The Women’s March on Washington: Words from an Organizer An Interview with Mrinalini Chakraborty The Women’s March on January 21, 2017, has been heralded as the largest single-day synchronized global mass mobilization ever. While estimates of the numbers of those who rallied that day vary, even the most conservative guesses are that over five million people turned out on streets in more than 673 marches around the globe. For a long time since the march, I have been mulling over how this event was organized. Who were the people behind the scenes pulling this massive effort together? How did they coordinate it and with what kinds of help? What did they know about each other, and what did they agree on? I was especially attuned to questions of power and difference : did the organizers come to an understanding of a common agenda, and how did they do so? When I reached out to organizers of the march—I sent a group email to the list of chairs named as organizers on the march website—the person who responded was Mrinalini Chakraborty, Head of Field Operations and Strategy at the Women’s March. After several emails, one day in early April 2017, we connected over the phone for an interview. Here are excerpts from our conversation. —Ashwini Tambe Ashwini Tambe: What do you see as the major successes of the event? Mrinalini Chakraborty: There are several successes to celebrate, both with the January 21 marches and with the larger movement. The Women’s 1. Ashwini Tambe is the Editorial Director of Feminist Studies and an associate professor of women’s studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.  News and Views March movement emerged very much as a spontaneous groundswell. But within the first three or so days the organizers—most of whom were complete strangers to each other—came together with a very clear vision. Our goal was to galvanize the nation through rapid mass mobilization led by women, to turn the fear and desolation that people felt as a result of the elections into direct, positive action that makes a statement : we will not normalize the toxic, divisive rhetoric of the election cycle, and we vow to do everything in our power and come together as a global movement to stand up for and protect the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. It is also a point of personal pride that the Women’s March movement was able to activate and mobilize hundreds of thousands of firsttime activists, those who had never taken part in political action or activism in general. We are excited that we have created an entry point for millions of people around the globe to take initiative in their local politics, to stand up to social injustices that they see in their local communities , and to get connected with organizations—both old and new— that are doing vital work in their areas of interest. Also, it was no small feat that in eleven weeks we mounted a global event on a scale that has never been seen before—the largest synchronized one-day global mass mobilization in US history, possibly in human history. Many on the left and center-left have said that the Women’s March was a turning point in the current sociopolitical climate, a reset button of sorts, where people took to the streets on the very first day of this current administration to send a loud and clear message: Hear Our Voice! While numbers are important and impressive, it was also essential for us that there be substance to the Women’s March movement. The policy platform, the Unity Principles, of the Women’s March has been heralded as one of the most unapologetically progressive, comprehensive, and inclusive to ever come out of a movement that encompasses such a diverse, intersectional, and intergenerational demographic. AT: Describe the origins of the march. We read in the early days about the conflict over the name of the march. Tell the story from your perspective. MC: The night of the election, on November 8, Teresa Shook

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