‘Women’s Rally’ focuses on progressive issues: Greenport event draws crowd on cold day

The winds that brought frigid temperatures to the area for several days last week abated by Saturday, Jan. 11, but standing outside for close to two hours as traces of snow gave way to steady flakes still chilled the crowd of at least 200 people at Mitchell Park.

But several participants at Greenport’s “Women’s Rally” said they were standing firm to turn fear and anger into action and hope. The gathering was a pre-runner to the “The People’s  March” scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18, which is expected to attract people from across the country to Washington, D.C.

On their website, the organizers of the Washington event have stated the purpose is to build “a base of feminists to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.”

Valerie Shelby, a member of the Greenport rally organizing committee, functioned as an emcee for the program and quoted Jamaican singer songwriter Bob Marley: “Get up, stand up and don’t give up the fight.”

Early in the program she led the gathering in a spirited chant: “My body, my choice,” to which the group responded with enthusiasm, as they did to songs interspersed between speeches, including John Lennon’s “Power to the People” and “Imagine;” Holly Near’s “Singing for our Lives;” and Hal David’s and Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now.”

The crowd heard from speakers focusing on concerns mostly of women who, they said, have seen their rights diminished in recent years. But other demonstrators came with concerns transcending gender issues.

Shelter Islander Sarah Shepherd took the ferry to Greenport to be part of the rally. The day, Ms. Shepherd said after the event, “was a beautiful example of a community coming together on a cold, sunny day for all kinds of reasons. It was important for me to be part of enthusiastic change. January is a month for advocacy and action and I want to be part of the change.”

Mayor Kevin Steussi, whose Village Board had supported use of Mitchell Park for the rally, told the crowd he was raised by a single mother and is now a single parent to two daughters. “The strength of the women in my life impacted me in many ways,” Mr. Steussi said.

He appealed to the gathering to bring their voices to the table within the Village and Southold Town to get action on affordable housing. “This is an emergency,” he said. “We need to put politics aside.”

Pastor Natalie Wimberly of Greenport’s Clinton Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church looked out at the gathering of people holding signs, each bearing a single name, mostly of women. She named them as her “heroines and heroes” — Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Amelia Earhart, and many more. One sign held by an attendee read simply, “Here’s to strong women. May you know them, raise them, be them.”

A few carried names of men, and the pastor spoke of Bishop Desmond Tutu, who devoted much of his life to fighting apartheid, a system marked by racism and segregation in South Africa. Death has not silenced his words, which live on today, Pastor Wimberly said. “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness,” she said, quoting Bishop Tutu.

Patte McManus of Southold United Universalist Church spoke, declaring, “Being here is doing something with your anger,” noting she had heard people expressing fear about coming to the rally, many of them in the immigrant community. “You be the light for your friends and family,” she urged.

“These times scare me,” said Tijuana Fulford, founder and executive director of The Butterfly Effect Project, a nonprofit aiming to empower young girls to develop healthy relationships and strengthen their critical thinking.

“Who the hell do they think they’re talking to?” she said about those who want to make decisions for women. “Enough is enough.”

Rosario Rodriguez said health care needs are not always available, especially to immigrants, noting her father, an immigrant from Guatemala, was well treated as a cancer patient because his doctor was another immigrant from Guatemala. “Immigrants truly make America great,” she said.

Gwenn Schroeder, who was an aide to Southold Supervisor Al Krupski when he served in the Suffolk County Legislature, spoke about the need for universal healthcare, and in broader terms the country at large, stating, “Our democracy is damaged.”

Educational opportunities level the playing field, said speaker Elizabeth Morrison, but American students face serious challenges. High costs have students facing years of heavy debt from loans they took to cover tuition. Laura Hoch knows that situation, she said, and will still be paying off debt after she has retired, she told the crowd.

Carolyn Peabody, chair of the North Fork Action Committee, made it clear to attendees that the rally was just a beginning. She invited attendees to meet on the fourth Friday of every month at 4 p.m. at the new Community Action Center at 51900 Main Street in Southold.

Bring friends, ideas, information on other progressive activities, she said, or opt to work with established groups on efforts to promote issues with which they identify.