Centre County’s Donita Rudy readily admits that prior to November, she wasn’t what people would call “politically engaged.”
She was raised by a good family with politics in their blood. Her mom was a longtime state representative. Politics were always a normal conversation around the dinner table.
But when Donald Trump was elected as the United States’ 45th president in November, her attitude toward the political scene changed. She, like many other people, is viewing the recent election as a challenge to America’s core values. She asked herself, “How do I move forward at this point?”
While surfing the Internet, she stumbled across posts concerning the Women’s March on Washington, scheduled for Saturday in Washington, D.C. She said she knew exactly what she had to do.
“That very day, I phoned Fullington (Trailways) to charter a bus,” she said. “I’ve always dealt with a lot of gender bias, and I’ve tried to be above it all. Now, however, I fear the worst is yet to come, and anything I can do to help and defend the values my parents instilled in me, I’m going to do.”
Rudy said her bus filled quickly with friends and family members — men, women and children.
“This event isn’t just for women,” she said. “It’s for anyone who wants to get involved and send a message to our government. I will be there on Saturday with my one voice, but that one voice will be part of a larger collective voice that will definitely be heard.”
The Women’s March on Washington was spurred from social media posts. Rudy said what started as a small, grassroots movement has transformed into something much more, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in the Jan. 21 march.
Mike Dull, who works in the charter department with Fullington, said charter buses from his company are sold out for the weekend.
“This is great for our company,” said Dull. “Normally, this is a slow part of the year for us, but because of the inauguration on Friday and the march on Saturday, we’ve sold out.”
Dull said Fullington will charter 18 buses for transport to Washington this weekend for the march and 83 for the inauguration. He said the pickup and drop-off points are at various locations throughout central Pennsylvania.
Six of those buses will be full of Centre County residents headed to the march.
“In talking with the other local bus captains, I know most of the buses will be leaving at 4 a.m. Saturday morning,” said Rudy. “Our bus is leaving at 5 a.m. The march organizes around 10 a.m., so we’ll be there in plenty of time.”
Rudy said the weather forecast for the weekend could not be better for the march.
“The weather is supposed to be in the 50s, so that will be nice,” she said. “But, I think even if it were really cold or raining, there would still be a huge turnout for this event.”
She said based on registration for the event through social media, hundreds of thousands plan to attend the gathering.
“There’s been a lot of anti-Trump protesting, but what we’re doing isn’t about that,” said Rudy. “It’s more of a rally to bring attention to human rights issues and women’s rights. We’re going as a peaceful group and to try and send a message to leaders across the country that we will continue to stand up for the respect of diversity and inclusion.”
Rudy said the Women’s March now has nearly 200 progressive groups that have signed on as supporting partners. She said the issues represented will be varied and include topics such as the environment, prisoner rights, a free press, voting rights, affordable health care, legal abortion, gun safety, racial and gender equality and a higher minimum wage.
“Please also understand this is not just a one-day event,” said Rudy. “Sure, the march is occurring on Saturday, but these issues that are important to Americans live much longer than this one day in January.
‘I think it’s important to know there are several workshops, not only in (Washington) D.C., but also on the local level, to get more people involved in government, particularly women.”
She said in addition to the march, there will be hundreds of smaller rallies taking place in large cities across the United States, including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Support marches are also planned in 30 other countries as well.
“There is a waiting list for people who still want to get to Washington, D.C., this weekend to get involved,” said Rudy. “Those that can’t make it have other options to become involved, such as these remote rally locations.”
The Women’s March on Washington was conceived on Nov. 9 — one day after the presidential election. A retired lawyer from Hawaii, Teresa Shook, suggested a protest timed around Trump’s inauguration and posted this thought on Facebook. The message found its way to Pantsuit Nation, an invitation-only Facebook support group lauded by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during her concession speech.
The post gained popularity and grew exponentially from there; however, there was an outcry because it was being seen as a predominantly white event.
The event was also briefly known as the Million Women March, which angered some because of the similarity in name to the Million Man March, which was held in Washington in 1995, and the Million Woman March, which was held in 1997 in Philadelphia. Both of those events were organized as predominantly demonstrations against racial injustice.
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