LINCOLN PARK — A pair of Francis Parker High School juniors are organizing local teens to join the Women's March on Washington the day after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated into office.
Declaring themselves the Illinois Youth Chapter of the Women's March on Washington, they're organizing along with the more general Illinois Chapter and Chicago Women Take Action to join the march set for Jan. 21.
"I have a really great group of friends, and we're all involved in activism and just trying to improve the world," said Chloe Wagner, whose family lives in Roscoe Village. "Especially for youth in our community, we felt powerless, because we weren't allowed to vote. There wasn't a way for us to get our voice heard. By going to the march, it shows that you don't have to be 18 to make a difference."
When they first came up with the idea to go to the march, they asked their Parker teachers about it, and they put them in touch with the larger local groups of women going. "They've really helped reach out and create a platform for us to create a following," Wagner said.
"The 2016 election left me feeling confused and vulnerable," said classmate Morenike Fabiyi, an Irving Park resident. "Knowing that many youth felt the same way, Chloe and I created the Illinois Youth Chapter in order to let our peers know that their voices are valuable. It is critical to us that youth are involved in this movement, and we are excited to lead a group of a peers that will be politically engaged in the future."
They have about 10 friends committed to go, and are looking for as many as 15 more to join in, through their Youth Chapter Facebook page, while trying to limit it to teens in Chicago Public Schools and private schools and the suburbs.
Between the inauguration and the march the next day, hotel rates in D.C. are said to be exorbitant, but they're getting around that by leaving on buses Friday afternoon. They'll arrive in D.C. ahead of the 10 a.m. start Saturday. "We march for six or seven hours, we get back on the bus and come back," Wagner said.
"We are looking at 1,000-1,500 Chicagoans going by bus and 2,500-3,000 going by bus statewide," said Natasha Norris, spokeswoman for Women Take Action. "We’re estimating that another 1,000 or more are going on their own."
Their general aim, Wagner and Fabiyi said, is "to stand in solidarity against the hateful rhetoric of this past election cycle." The march was organized nationally after the Trump election "in response to the divisive rhetoric of the past election cycle, which demonized and threatened the rights of women, immigrants, the LGBTQIA community, survivors of sexual assault and various other religious and ethnic minorities."
The D.C. march is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 21, with a full route yet to be released. A local march is being organized in Chicago the same day, as well as on Jan. 20 for the inauguration.
"I'm so excited. We're all so excited," Wagner said. "It's going to be historical to be part of that. It's going to be amazing.
"It's coming right after finals for us," she added, "so it's going to be fun."
