On January 21st, Lyndsey Silva and Suzanne Benton joined tens of thousands of women in
St. Petersburg at the Women's March for Social Justice.
Lyndsey Silva is someone like many others across the country: a young woman disheartened by the results of the 2016 presidential election.
"It was just really devastating news," said Silva, "because I just thought that we were better, than that." Suzanne Benton, at 81 and a long time protestor and feminist, is no stranger to this sort of demonstration. “I knew it had to happen. You know, I’m called the founder, but I actually think I was the instigator," said Benton, "Well, of course, I did the women’s march in New York that Betty Friedan had called, and there was already an organization. The D.C. march is something that just grew, it just came of itself as a result of the election.” Several weeks after the protest, I spoke with Silva about her experience and plans for the future.
I spoke to Benton the following day, and she had some inspiring thoughts to share.
Benton's response to why she wanted to plan the march was simply "Why would you want to organize march? Wouldn’t you have an expectation that were other people that were already raring to go? That you weren’t alone?" she asked before adding, "There wasn’t any energy for it at all and I definitely woke it up." When asked about the surprisingly large turnout, she said: "We had, I do believe, the best organized, the most enthusiastic march in all of Florida- that’s my belief," said Benton, "We are unique, we can be very, very proud, and I just feel so connected now to this wonderful town.” Benton also cautioned young women and anyone else to learn from the past before its too late. “Those of us that have been active in civil rights and in the women’s movement, we’re getting pretty old now, but we were out there. And you better take advantage of us while we’re here, because we know a lot," said Benton, "We’ve lived through a lot of changes and seen things happen; we’ve seen things go in the right direction and in the wrong direction, but I think we were caught on this one. I don’t think we understood the depth of archaic thinking in America- so we have to change it.”
Adding to the celebration of hope and unity the Women's March represented, Benton received some very exciting news.
“The mayor declared January 21st, which happened to be my 81st birthday, Women’s Rights Day. So from now on, my birthday will be Women’s Rights day. I think that’s pretty neat.” Benton also had a word of advice for the current president. “If the disgruntled people are out there en masse, he better pay attention. And we are- and we’re unrelenting.” Finally, Benton shared a message to anyone wanting to get involved. "What you have ahead of you is something that doesn’t come to everybody: it’s a lifelong cause," said Benton, "They have the capacity for leadership and this is the time. They may not know that they can be leaders, but once you start moving forward you learn, and you do, and it’s intrinsic, to a person who cares. If they care, they’re going to learn what to do and how to do it. The resources are out there, they’re growing every day."
1 Comment
Kim
3/4/2017 04:24:51 pm
I would like to know where will the day without women march on March 8 will be held at
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