NARROWSBURG, NY — Local activists gathered in Narrowsburg on January 19 to mark the second anniversary of the Women’s March, which emerged two years ago in reaction to the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

The original march, which was centered in Washington D.C., but had branch marches in cities across the country, took place January 21, 2017. With hundreds of thousands descending on Washington D.C., including celebrities and women’s rights activists from Gloria Steinem to Native American social activist LaDonna Harris to Scarlett Johansson and now potential presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Since then, the Women’s March organization has faced controversy, with multiple news organizations reporting allegations of anti-Semitism. One of the co-chairs of the organization, Tamika Mallory, was criticized for posting a picture of herself on social media with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who, according to multiple sources,  (tinyurl.com/yd4lvtp6) has a long history of anti-Semitic remarks and teachings.

The map of marches for 2019 (march.womensmarch.com) shows about 13 marches had been scheduled for this year in the U.S., as opposed to hundreds in 2017. This year, Woman’s March unveiled an agenda that began with the following: 

 “Historically, protest movements are difficult to sustain. The raw energy of the people dissipates over time without an ideological frame to continue building power. In this moment of U.S. history, one that will likely be written in books as among the darkest, we have lost the judicial and executive branches of government along with the Senate. Social movements are the only bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism, misogyny, white nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, classism and ageism.”