It was an amazing day. While we did not make history on January 20th by electing the first woman president, history was made on January 21 by the sheer size of the Women’s March in DC. Along with the fact that many other marches were held simultaneously in support around the globe.
The crowds were friendly and happy, and they seemed enthused to be there to express their views in a demonstration. It was multi-generational, and there were families of all sizes. The crowd was diverse, the posters diverse as well, and while the majority of participants were women, there were many men there as well. There were pink pussy hats on a wide variety of bodies.
The speakers were many and also diverse, from Gloria Steinem to Ashley Judd, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Moore, Van Johnson, Angela Davis and more. Many speakers were not familiar names, but people who work hard on the ground as activists trying to make the world a better place. Speakers urged the crowd to take action, don’t lose hope. My favorite part was when many women from Congress took the stage together, it was a powerful image. They urged the crowd to run for office. Or at least support a sister running for office.
I wish I could have drawn more. There was so much to see, so much hope and enthusiasm, so many great pink vistas. But it got cold, and very crowded, so it became hard to draw after a while.
Below are some of the drawings I did of the crowds, and some of the speakers, and a video of my drawing at the event.
Liza live drew all the comedians and a few of the dignitaries at the twentieth Ms. Comedy night, held at Caroline’s On Broadway to benefit the Ms. Foundation for women.
I’m a big advocate for showing up. A few months ago, I was invited to live tweet draw a conference in Iceland called WE2015. Not only was going to Iceland absolutely amazing, but the conference was terrific as well. I wrote about it here in these pages, and The New Yorker also did a story about my drawings. The keynote speaker was Geena Davis, actor and feminist activist. I was aware of her work as an actress and of the research institute that she founded a number of years ago, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender In Media. Her keynote was fascinating–all about the numbers and stats of women working in Hollywood–and she was funny. I loved it. Geena and I happened to meet as the conference was wrapping up, and when she found out what I did for a living, we really hit it off. Geena Davis loves to laugh and knows the importance of humor in not only getting people’s attention, but in bringing about change.
Geena and I and her CEO of the GDIGM, Madeline Di Nonno had many conversations over the phone about using my cartoons to help with their efforts to redress the balance of women in Hollywood. I donated some of my feminist cartoons for their use, and now its happening. GDGMI uses my cartoons every week on social media and the website to promote the cause. I am thrilled.
Follow here work here, on Facebook, and Instagram and twitter: @gdigm
Here are some of the cartoons she has run already.
