{"id":48453,"date":"2019-01-26T14:34:25","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T21:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=48453"},"modified":"2021-02-08T08:12:28","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T15:12:28","slug":"marchers-pack-downtown-to-speak-up-for-intersectional-feminism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2019\/01\/26\/marchers-pack-downtown-to-speak-up-for-intersectional-feminism\/","title":{"rendered":"Marchers pack downtown to speak up for ‘intersectional feminism’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Domestic Drumming:\u00a0<\/strong>Chantal Chagnon, left, Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes, and Michelle Robinson in Calgary on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019. Calgarians flooded Stephen Avenue in support of the annual Women’s March. (Photo by Megan Maher\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

M<\/span>en, women, and children filled the streets of Calgary for the third annual Women\u2019s March<\/a> on Jan. 19, 2018.<\/p>\n

T<\/span>he march focused on violence against Indigenous women, domestic abuse, and the treatment of trans women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are marginalized, they are voiceless, and somebody has to speak out for them,\u201d said Ashley Bristowe, one of the event\u2019s organizers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntersectional feminism is the only way forward in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intersectional feminism is an approach the recognizes not only women’s issues, but issues of races, class, gender identity, age and other characteristics.<\/p>\n

The march started at Bankers Hall and moved east down to City Hall Plaza, where attendees gathered to listen to a handful of speeches.<\/p>\n

The speeches were interrupted by cars honking and chants of \u2018O Canada\u2019 coming from Yellow Vests Canada, a group of protesters demonstrating against Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n

The group handed out a manifesto calling for \u2018a Canada-wide cry for support, all as one,\u2019 and meetings outside City Hall every Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalgary can stand up and speak out and say, \u2018We are invested in these issues,\u2019\u201d said Michael Kehler, a masculinity scholar at the University of Calgary.<\/p>\n

\u201cEquality means acknowledging diversity and equal rights for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Bristowe, the 2017 march saw 6,000 people in attendance, while the 2018 march saw 2,500.<\/p>\n

The turnout this year was estimated at about 1,500, due to the subzero temperatures and a collision on the downtown CTrain tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the trains, in both directions, are full of marchers who aren\u2019t here yet, so it\u2019s going to get big,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The speeches were hosted by local comedian Adora Nwofor, who described the racism and sexism that she experiences in Calgary.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes men will ask me, \u2018Why are you wearing heels?\u2019 and I will say, \u2018Because I wear whatever I want.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for men and boys to engage in the conversation and be part of the change,\u201d said Kehler.<\/p>\n

Another speaker was Michelle Robinson, the Indigenous liaison for the 12 Community Safety Initiative<\/a>, who named a list of Indigenous women who were either missing or murdered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t know these names and these families, then your feminism is not intersectional,\u201d she said in her speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too uncomfortable for folks to understand, so trying to ignore it is a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aria Burrell, a Mount Royal University student, spoke about the rights of trans women and why all women should be respected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of Alberta\u2019s support for diversity,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy focusing on what\u2019s manageable, we drastically increase our capacity to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chantal Chagnon, founder of Cree8<\/a>, an Indigenous culture workshop, led the group in a \u2018Woman\u2019s Song,\u2019 accompanied by hand-made drums.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t know where you stand, how do you know where you are going?\u201d said Chagnon.<\/p>\n

She believes that if more women speak out, then it will reduce the amount of violence, crime, and murder that happen to marginalized women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make sure that if anything happens to me, my kids will get justice and will have answers,\u201d said Chagnon.<\/p>\n

Chagnon’s mother, Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes, is the first Indigenous female leader for the Green Party of Alberta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Marching for More:\u00a0<\/strong>A women’s supporter marches in Calgary on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019. The annual Women’s March started in 2017 in protest against Donald Trump’s presidency in the U.S. (Photo by Megan Maher\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Men, women, and children filled the streets of Calgary for the third annual Women\u2019s March on Jan. 19, 2018. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":518,"featured_media":48461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S2 Women's March 2019 ","footnotes":""},"categories":[212,4,711,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-48453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-downtown","8":"category-east-village","9":"category-featured","10":"category-life","11":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48453"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48477,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48453\/revisions\/48477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}