NPR

Women's March Divisions Offer Lessons For Democrats On Managing A Big Tent

The third annual Women's March is Saturday. The first march, held the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, was a moment of unity. But now there are questions about keeping the united front together.
Ginny Suss, Carmen Perez, Gloria Steinem, Linda Sarsour and Mia Ives-Rublee appear at the first Women's March in Washington, D.C., the day after President Trump's 2017 inauguration. Two years later, divisions in the movement have dampened the 2019 events.

Angie Beem used to be a woman who, at most, would read the voter pamphlet before Election Day, cast a vote, and consider her duty done. She didn't pay attention to politics much because she didn't think it affected her life.

But that all changed ahead of the 2016 presidential election when she noticed Facebook posts that deeply troubled her.

"My family were starting to be racist and saying horrible things," said Beem. "I didn't recognize them."

She felt as if Donald Trump was empowering people to be bigots. And so when he won the presidency, she resolved to do something.

The first Women's March was one of the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Police Enter UCLA Anti-war Encampment; Arizona Repeals Civil War-era Abortion Ban
Law enforcement officers have moved into a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA. Arizona lawmakers voted to repeal a Civil War-era abortion ban.
NPR3 min readAmerican Government
A Michigan Grassroots Effort Is Raising Reparations, While The Government Lags
The year 2020 was a turning point for Lansing, Michigan resident Willye Bryan. Between the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and the health disparities that hit the African American community during the pandemic, she knew it was t
NPR4 min read
A Poet Searches For Answers About The Short Life Of A Writer In 'Traces Of Enayat'
Poet Iman Mersal's book is a memoir of her search for knowledge about the writer Enayat al-Zayyat; it's a slow, idiosyncratic journey through a layered, changing Cairo — and through her own mind.

Related Books & Audiobooks