Area women headed to ‘Women’s March on Washington’

Eka Kapiotis of Warren County and Debra Copeland of Warrenton are leading a van load of 15 area women from as far as Shenandoah Farms to Culpeper to join the thousands of women who are congregating in the nation’s capital on Saturday, January 21, the day following the inauguration of businessman Donald Trump as President of the United States.  Others, such as Paula Conrow of Front Royal, are making their own way to the “Women’s March on Washington.”

Organizers say the event should not be viewed as an anti-Trump rally, although many take that statement with the so-called “grain of salt” considering the next president’s verbal, and many believe actual history of less than gentlemanly conduct toward women.

Not the first time – women lent their voice to the call for civil rights for all as part of the 1963 March on Washington. Public Domain Photo

Kapiotis said she’d have invited others along “if we had the room” but welcomed the information that more area women were planning to join the estimated crowd of 120,000.

Carmen Perez, a co-chair, said the women are marching to be included, not only when it comes to issues, but to “make sure women of color are at the forefront.”

Another organizer was quoted as saying that the demonstration “is designed to say, ‘You know what? Women do matter, our voices are strong.’ ”

Insofar as the van group is concerned, Kapiotis said she and Copeland put the group together although, “we don’t all know each other, but met some who wanted to go and asked them to join us.”

She said her own reason for participating is that “women hold society together – We need to recognize our value – and values – and bring in a more peaceful world where all are treated with respect, including Mother Nature.”

Kapiotis is a Martha Beck-certified Life Coach, educator and body worker, specializing in cranial-sacro therapy.  She is a longtime member of the Front Royal Women’s Resource Center and for five years did a local radio program for the Women’s Resource Center.

Some are hearing echoes of 1963, in tomorrow’s (Jan. 21, 2017) Women’s March on Washington. Public Domain Photo

March organizers settled on the name “Women’s March on Washington” with the approval of Bernice King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter. Leaders say the title is an intentional nod to King’s 1963 civil rights march.

However, parade organizers were denied a permit to gather at the Lincoln Memorial, the site of MLK’s famous 1963 speech, and instead were designated an area at Third Street NW and Independence Avenue, in front of the U.S. Capitol. They will march from there and terminate on the grounds of the Washington Monument.