April 29, 2012 08:51 PM UTC

"We Are Women Colorado" Events Were A Huge Success!

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• by: nancycronk

(Fantastic work, organizers! Keep the pressure on! – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)

Update: The We Are Women Colorado group would like to thank all of our speakers, volunteers, perfomers, security guards and so many others for helping us pull off a huge event this past Saturday!

To clarify, although it was organized and paid for by the grassroots, we couldn’t have pulled it off without the PR help of our friends in Allied organizations who mentioned our event in their newsletters, emails, social media, or at their events: NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Progressive Women of Colorado, Blueflower, 9 to 5, White House Project, Health Care for All Colorado, Occupy, Emerge, AM 760 radio, local Democratic groups, etc. Thank you to OFA and some other groups for allowing their voter registrars to come to our event, as well. A huge thank you to Senator Morgan Carroll for helping me put together the roster for the rally! (Please let me know who I have forgotten.)

My emphasis in the comments that ours was a grassroots event was not to minimize the contributions of these wonderful allied organizations — only to fend off accusations that we were somehow a front group for the Democratic party or for some other group. We weren’t and we’re not, although we do appreciate our allies in this community! Please accept my apologies if you are one of the many people or organizations that helped us spread the word. We love our allies! Please continue to donate to them, volunteer for them, and support them!

Thank you!

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Thousands of Colorado men and women participated in “We Are Women” events on Saturday, which included a Rally, a March/Parade, pre- and post-event concerts, and a flashmob at the Colorado State Capitol.

Denver’s main newspaper had nothing to say about it. Meanwhile, Denver’s Channel 9 News did mention the women’s events briefly while also making time for another important breaking story, “Student Makes Prom Dress From Pop Tabs”. Denver’s Channel 7 was the only main-stream media that covered We Are Women events, showing the beginning of the crowd pouring in for the pre-Rally concert, and and actually, a great shot of some flashmob performers.

Numerous simultaneous events were going on in Denver on Saturday, yet the following community leaders stood proudly with Colorado women. Some, like House District 35 Democratic Candidate Armando Valdez, drove hundreds of miles to attand. Some of the high-profile attendees managed to attended the funeral of Democrat Paul Sandoval, and still attend the March afterward.  

Legislators in attendance:

House Representatives Crisanta Duran (D-HD5),

Lois Court (D-HD6),

Su Ryden (D-HD36),

Jonathan Singer (D-HD11),

Beth McCann (D-HD8),

Rhonda Fields (D-HD42),

Joe Miklosi (D-HD9),

State Senators Morgan Carroll (D-SD29),

Gail Schwartz (D-SD5),

Betty Boyd (D-SD21),

Linda Newell (D-SD26),

Evie Hudak (D-SD19),

Pat Steadman (D-SD31),

Brandon Shaffer (D-SD17),

Former Legislator, Dianna Primavera (D-HD33)

Andy Kerr (D-HD26), was later photographed along the parade route.

State Senator Irene Aguilar quickly jumped on the “We Are Women Colorado” facebook page, and apologized for not being able to attend. Senator Aguilar, a popular speaker at Health Care for All Colorado events for a number of years, has been a regular attendee at pro-women’s health rallies in the past.

Performers:

Pre and post-event concert by The Foxfield Four (formerly the David James Band)

Musical Comedy by “The Raging Grannies”

National Award-winning Poetry Slam Artists, Suzi Q and Jen Rinaldi

Sami DeBell and Company performed a surprise flashmob at the State Capitol, and then joined the March, adding to the parade numbers.

Candidates:

Brandon Shaffer (D-CD4),

Dave Anderson (I-CD5),

Joe Miklosi (D-CD6),

Armando Valdez (D-SD35),

Mike Foote (D-HD12),

JM Fay (I-HD41),

Tracy Kraft Tharp (D-HD29),

Paul Rosenthal (D-HD9),

Lorna Idol (D-HD25),

Jonathan Singer (D-HD11),

Pier Cohen (D-HD60)

Mary Parker (D-HD22)

Donovan ODell (D-HD38)

(Nancy Todd D-HD41, and husband Terry Todd, D Candidate for HD41, helped with the planning of the event but couldn’t be there.)

Don’t see your legislators or candidates for office here? Call them and find out why not. Note the two independent candidates in the above list. Notably absent were all Colorado Republican legislators and candidates, for any office.

Community Leaders and Activists:

Human Rights Attorney Beth Klein

Unitarian Universalist Reverend Dr. Nori Rost

Rosemary Harris Lytle, CO NAACP State President, ACLU

Personal story by Activist Kelly Everitt

DeAna Jiminez, Co-Chair of Colorado 9-5, with her children

Native American Activist and former CO State Trustee, Karen Wilde

Former First Lady of the State of CO, Dottie Lamm

Nancy Perlmutter, wife of Congressman Ed Perlmutter

Several attendees commented upon the best speeches of the day, with many agreeing they were by NAACP’s Rosemary Harris Lytle, and CD6 Candidate Joe Miklosi.

Lead Organizer Meg Fossinger summarized,

“It was a beautiful day. So many women and children out standing up for their rights… standing up for our rights! It’s time for those in power to understand women are not going to stand for the attacks against us. I was thrilled with the diversity of the speakers who were there. The roster included everyone from award-winning national poet Susi Q, to NAACP’s Rosemary Harris Lytle, to some amazing politicians like Representative Joe Miklosi and Senator Brandon Schaffer, who are challenging incumbents who do not support women’s rights. It was an incredibly inspiring day for women in Colorado.”

Congresswoman Diana DeGette’s staff was extremely supportive of the events, despite the Congresswoman being at her law school reunion this weekend.

Colorado’s Lead Organizers were Nancy Cronk (Aurora), Pat Hansen (CO-Springs), Meg Fossinger (CO Springs), Kristie Wheeler (CO Springs), Kathryn Brusco (Evergreen) and Allison Vail (Aurora)

Colorado women — remember this list when it is time to volunteer, donate, vote, or subscribe to a newspaper. Your time, your money, and your opionions, matter.

Some memorable moments from Saturday:

Here is the whole two hour video if you want to see it all (except for the pre-event concert and the lunch with NARAL). I hope you watch through the march — the signs are hillarious.

I’m a little embarrassed to show a video of myself (self-conscious) but the movement is more important. Also, I regret my comment about Susan Daggett — she had mentioned to me that if she comes, she wanted to blend in with the audience, not be up on stage, so she could enjoy the crowd. My apologies to Susan.  🙁  Be sure to watch the last third of the bottom video to see lots of great signs and the flash mob.