Isle resident helps spark national women’s march

A planned Washington, D.C., march that organizers expect to be the largest demonstration connected to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration got its start in remote East Maui.

Retired attorney Teresa Shook, who lives in Hana, took to Facebook the night after the election and invited friends to join her in a march on Washington. She awoke to more than 40,000 people expressing interest in the event.

As of Friday, the event had attracted more than 170,000 people who say they’ll be attending the Women’s March on Washington Jan. 21. It also has spawned smaller marches in various states, including five that will be held in Hawaii: one each on Oahu, Kauai and Maui, and two on Hawaii island.

“I’m so pleased and proud that the original idea came out of Hawaii because it tells you that we have aloha for all of the women in the nation and we want to share that concern and that love that we have,” said Amy Monk, a retired diplomat who is a co-chairwoman for the Oahu march.

Local organizers say the nonpartisan events are not anti-Trump rallies but are peaceful events focused on the protection of women’s rights, safety, health and families. Several thousand participants are expected at the Oahu event to be held at the state Capitol.

“It’s open to independents, Democrats, Republicans, nonvoters,” Monk said. “It’s open to people who are concerned about issues that are focused on women, and I think partly because this last election cycle was so difficult for women — they were often insulted — I think the feeling is that their concerns may not be addressed by this next administration.”

She encourages women to voice their concerns over any number of issues such as women’s health care, equal pay and paid family leave.

“We’re hoping that women will come, will give voice to their concerns. There’s so much that’s at risk right now,” Monk said. She emphasized that the event is “a peaceful march,” adding: “It’s a friendly march. It’s a march of aloha. It’s a march to empower women, to let them speak their voice.”

A group of at least 70 Hawaii residents is planning to travel to the nation’s Capitol to participate in the national demonstration. (As the movement gained popularity, Shook and other volunteers handed planning of the Washington march over to a group of experienced female activists.)

The Hawaii contingent is being organized in part by Kaunakakai resident Emillia Noordhoek, the executive director and co-founder of Sustainable Molokai, a nonprofit that advocates for food and energy sustainability for the island.

“What we try to do in the work we do here and what I want to bring to Washington, D.C., is that sense of aloha and solidarity,” Noordhoek said. “I encourage people to reach out to each other. If you see something that is not pono, stand up for what is pono. Let’s show people that aloha is aloha all over the world.”

Marches planned for Jan. 21 include:

>> On Oahu: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., state Capitol

>> On Maui: 8 to 11 a.m., University of Hawaii-Maui College

>> In Kona: 3 p.m., south of Henry Street on Queen Kaahumanu Highway

>> In Hilo: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mo‘oheau Bandstand

>> On Kauai: To be announced

>> In Washington, D.C.: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Independence Avenue and Third Street SW

More than a dozen local organizations have signed on as supporters or sponsors, including the Sierra Club, Domestic Violence Action Center, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, AF3IRM, Ceeds of Peace, Friends of the Hawaii Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii Friends of Civil Rights, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands.