Women's March, Bentonville 2025
Keep Showing Up
I have been keeping my ears to the ground for a Women’s March happening in Northwest Arkansas for a couple of months but nothing seemed to be materializing. I put some feelers out to people I knew who might be interested in helping organize one but I didn’t feel like I could get it to gel enough to get behind it. Then, a week or two ago I saw a march advertised on Facebook for a Women’s March in Bentonville.
When I texted multiple friends about it today, asking if they were coming, they did not know about it.
I was privileged to attend this march as a person who had access to abortion in 1988 and would not be where I am in my life without it. I was privileged to attend this march with a woman who was coerced by her husband to continue a pregnancy she didn’t want, when her existing children were almost grown. She was also coerced by her couples therapist who, when she described the pregnancy as tragic, reframed it as a blessing, negating her trauma and grief, forcing her into a lifelong commitment for something that would affect her mental and physical health and relationships into the future. We women are all dealing with this cultural coercion. It is not a small thing. It is a huge transgression.
My critical brain got away with me during the march event today a little bit because I’m old and cynical. The organizer said this was the beginning of the fight for women’s rights. My brain was like, maybe for you, lady, but women and LGBTQ+ people have been fighting this fight since the dawn of time.
She said this was the first Women’s March in Northwest Arkansas. Maybe HER first march. But definitely not the first Women’s March in NWA. I talked to Teresa Turk in the picture above and she told me she had hauled out that sign from many marches past. We’re not new to this, folks. We keep doing it. We keep showing up.
It’s a long an winding road. Each event we show up at is a success. Being present and witnessing the fight is a success. This fight will continue. And we will continue to show up. At this point, we need to regain what we have lost. And we will continue to show up. The world is watching us. Our children depend on us. It is vitally important that we continue to show up.
I’m incredibly happy that there are young women leading this effort. This fight shows up at City Councils, Quorum Courts, Library Boards, and School Boards. You can be involved in the League of Women Voters, in the churches feeding the marginalized, in the immigrant communities with organizations like Canopy, NAACP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, NWA Women’s Shelter, NWA Center for Sexual Assault, Circles NWA, Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Citizen’s First Congress, Arkansas Abortion Support Network, and so many more. Yes, you can run for office. But if that is not where you feel your strength, there are many other options.
This fight is not new. But it may be new to you. If you haven’t found a way to get involved—my Lord, you certainly have options. We need you. You matter. You can make a difference. That difference happens when you show up, wherever that is in the fight.
We have so much work to do. But the work is good, and honorable, and builds community, and compassion, it makes life-long friends, and it makes life worth living. Join us in the fight. We need you. #KeepShowingUp
thank you for always showing up .whoever said first NWA women's march wasn't aware of all the previous marches, protests, maybe a sweatshirt/tee shirt with dates of previous marches...kinda like band tour shirts.
I’m glad people went out. Anything happening tomorrow?