YOUNG AND OLD
Young and old, women and men joined together on the 400 Block in the center of downtown Wausau, March 4th, to raise awareness of the issues confronting us as a “people” living on planet earth. The March was organized by Women for Women of Marathon County. We opened with The Pledge of Allegiance and This Land is Your Land. We closed as one united people singing This Land Is Your Land.
Here are comments from “we the people” who stand united and want a more just and healthier world to leave to our children, grandchildren, and future generations. Each person I interviewed had a long list of concerns.
I. Immigrants and the treatment of refugees
Judy: Don’t send them back.
Ka: I am part of a family of refugees. The way refugees are being treated is wrong.
Maggie: I came to show my support for immigrants.
II. The Environment
Judy: This planet does not belong to us, we share it with all species, and we don’t have a right to destroy it.
Signs reflected the concern:
**No Fresh Water Now=No Life Later
**Save the Environment
**No person can order us to Destroy the Planet
**No cuts to the EPA
**Climate change is real
III. Health Care and Medicare
Shelly: Protect the Affordable Care and improve it.
Marsha: I support women’s health.
Karen: My family would be affected by changes to the ACA. We depend on the ACA. Possible changes/cuts to Medicare would hurt the poor.
Lisa: Health Care is a Human Right.
Molly: I have a million reasons! Preventative care saved my life. (Molly is a cancer survivor beating thyroid cancer twice. Molly is a single mom and is at the March for her sons and future generations.)
Multiple signs reflected support for the ACA .
**Hands off my Health Care
**Save the Affordable Care Act
**Support Medicare
IV. Support Our Public Schools
Shelley: I support our Public Schools.
Mollie: I support our great Public Schools and School Lunch Programs.
Karen: I am very concerned about Public Education and the Funding.
Multiple signs reflected support for our Public Schools.
** Support Rural Roads and Public Schools
**Public Schools are the Heart of our Community
**Safe Schools for All
V. Women and Pay Inequity
Jeff: Women must embrace unions! In union shops, women who do the same work as men are paid the same as men and women receive the same benefits as men.
Signs reflected this issue.
Pay Inequity=Retirement Inequity
Equal Pay for Equal Work
Human Rights Should Equal Men’s Rights
VI. Women’s Rights and Health
Shelley: I support women’s rights and rights for all people.
Anonymous: I support a woman’s right to control the size of her family. Affordable birth control is essential. Repealing funds for Planned Parenthood World Wide will result in even more women dying around the world.
Karin: I support Women’s Rights. This is my first march. I came to show solidarity for all of the issues we are facing.
Sarah: I support Women’s Rights.
Multiple signs showed support for Women’s Health and Rights
**Get Your Laws Off My Body
**Support Planned Parenthood
**Pro Choice—Pro Child
**Fight Like a Girl
VII. General Concerns
Pat: I came to stand up for what’s right and just for all people.
Kelsey: I believe what’s going on at this time is not right. Cuts to the Violence Against Women Act will hurt women and their families. (Kelsey is a volunteer at the Women’s Community and is getting her degree in Social Work.)
Shelley: I want to see more Women in Politics.
Sarah: I want my children to have the same rights I have. My grandmother worked with others for the rights I now enjoy. These rights can and are being taken away. We must take a stand.
Mollie: I am worried sick about the state of our democracy! I worry about the world my grandchildren will inherit. Our elected officials must grow a backbone to protect our democracy. Our elected officials must act ethically for the welfare of all people. In the present Administration, the people in the Cabinet are unqualified and some are out to destroy the agencies they now head.
Ruth: We are standing together as human beings. I am concerned for our elderly citizens.
Marguerite: I am here because I’m a human being!
Jean who is 83 years old: I became involved when Nixon was President. I see the values we hold so dear being destroyed at the state and federal level. I must stay involved.
Other signs:
**No Private Prisons
**Don’t Stall on Trans Rights
**No GMOs
**Raise the Cap on Social Security—Not the Age
**Get $$$ out of Politics—Move to Amend
**Yes! Guns Kill People
**End Human Trafficking
**Diversity Enriches Our Community
One sign summarized the March: For All Our Children I March
VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY OF THE EVENT