Hundreds participate in the Women’s March and Unity Walk in Sarasota.
Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: Jan. 22, 2024
Host: What a weekend of contrasts. The second inauguration of Donald Trump coincided with both Martin Luther King Day and the week of mourning for Jimmy Carter. While the Florida and federal governments ordered flags up for the day of the inauguration, many in Sarasota kept flying at half-mast on Monday, honoring the memory of the former president. Also happening that weekend: An energized and bigger-than-expected Sarasota Women’s March. Here are our impressions.
Women’s March crowd, listening to speakers at the Federal Building. Photos: Werner
[Protestors cheer and chant, vehicle honks]
Speaker: Tell me what democracy looks like!
Crowd: This is what democracy looks like!
Speaker: Show me what democracy looks like!
Crowd: This is what democracy looks like!
Johannes Werner: That’s the sound of an estimated 300 protesters concerned about deteriorating women’s rights, this Saturday at Sarasota’s Bayfront Park. Although that number was no match for the thousands of protesters during the original march in 2017, it was clearly more than the organizers of Voices of Florida Fund expected.
They were loud, and they carried signs such as the one showing a pencil with the words “This Machine Kills Fascists.”
On their way to the Federal Building through downtown Sarasota, police squeezed the marchers on a sidewalk along Main Street. That made for a loud and extended procession, mingling with farmers market visitors and cafe patrons. Other than medics attending one protester, and maybe a half-dozen pro-Trump counter-protesters, there were no incidents.
Booker High freshman Ava Donoghue speaks at the Women’s March.
One of the speakers using a megaphone in front of the federal building was Booker High freshman Ava Donoghue, who started an initiative to distribute menstrual products among her peers.
Ava Donoghue: Good morning, everyone! My name is Ava Donoghue. I’m the freshman class president at Booker High School. Today, I’m here to speak to you about the basic unmet need to provide menstrual products in public high school bathrooms. It’s not just an issue of inconvenience but of equality, dignity, and education.
JW: She said providing free pads and tampons in school bathrooms helps with school attendance.
Then, on Monday, it was Martin Luther King’s birthday celebrations. They began with a packed and sold-out MLK breakfast at the Robert Taylor Center in Newtown, honoring community and educators, healthcare professionals and others.
Demonstrators in the Unity Walk.
That was followed by the customary Unity March through Newtown, along MLK Way. The marchers, including County Commissioner Mark Smith—the Siesta Key Republican who edged Newtown legend Fredd Atkins by a razor-thin margin two years ago—braved the cold temperatures with the help of the Sarasota Military Academy’s marching band…
[Marching band plays]
JW: …and the energy of Booker High cheerleaders.
[Cheerleaders chant]
JW: Also among the marchers were sizable contingents from community radio station WSLR—disclosure: that’s us—and the Sarasota Unitarian Universalists. There was a small Quaker group, and there was the Party of Socialism and Liberation.
All this ended with the customary party in the park, complete with live music and speeches, information tables by community groups, and food vendors.
Reporting from the festive streets of Sarasota, Johannes Werner for WSLR News.
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