Now What? Where do Women's Marchers go from here

Mary Potter
Tuesday, January 24, 2017 10:31 am

Now What? Where do Women's Marchers go from here | Women's March 2017, sierra club, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, KFTC, labor,

That buzzy euphoric feeling inspired in millions that participated in the 600 plus Women's Marches is beginning to dissipate. All over the world, participants are asking themselves - now what?

Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson weighed in writing on the Washington Post:

"If progressives are going to re-create the tea party's success, Saturday's multitudes will have to begin organizing at the local level. They will have to field candidates not just for Congress but for governorships and state legislatures, too. They will have to develop policy positions that go beyond "stop Trump" -- and that also go beyond traditional Democratic Party dogma..." Trump inspired a movement all right WaPo 012417

Western Kentuckians who marched in Murray on Saturday had a range of causes they espouse including workplace organizing, reproductive rights, sexual violence, the environment, education, black lives matter, the Affordable Care Act and the elephant in the room -President Donald Trump.

All of those issues have support groups (Trump's is called the Republican Party). All of those support groups have their own agendas. Getting them all going in the same direction will be a monumental task.

For the environmentally minded, The Sierra Club has a chapter, Great Rivers Group, that meets at Murray State. http://kentucky.sierraclub.org/Groups/greatRivers

The National Organization for Women, NOW, has a local chapter. Email Kynow.wky@gmail.com for meeting information.

One group with the potential to be a unifying force is Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. KFTC has spread across the state in the 35 years since it began in Eastern Kentucky. Their website lays out their philosophy:

"KFTC is a grassroots organization of 10,000 members across Kentucky. We have local chapters and at-large members in many counties. We use a set of core strategies, from leadership development to communications and voter empowerment, to impact a broad range of issues, including coal and water, new energy and transition, economic justice and voting rights." https://www.kftc.org/

KFTC will hold an organizational meeting at the McCracken County Public Library in Paducah on Wednesday February 1st at 7:00.

Saturday was the first and easiest day. To be more than a feel good bit of physical exercise, the March has to be more than a group stroll on a pretty day.