2020 Women's March Steps Off In Grant Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Snow, slush, and incoming bitter cold on Saturday were not about to stop thousands of people from attending the 2020 Women's March in Chicago.
As CBS 2's Vi Nguyen reported, the march stepped off at 11 a.m. in Grant Park.
The focus this year has been narrowed down to five key issues – climate justice, gun violence protection, the 2020 Census, health care access, and voting.
2020 CHICAGO WOMEN'S MARCH: THE ROUTE, DETAILS, AND MORE
Some march participants told CBS 2 why they came out on Saturday.
"I am a Muslim-American woman, and I feel that the current government – the current people in the Senate and Congress – do not represent me and my values and my views, and I just want to remind them – I just want to join all these people and remind them that we're not happy with the way things are, and if we're not happy, then we're going to say something about it," said Wiaam Aggoun.
Elena Orozco took aim at President Trump.
"I don't think he understands what the working class goes through or what the underprivileged go through. I think he just represents the 1 percent," she said. "and to be a president, you have to represent everyone. You cannot just represent the elite; not just men. You have to be a strong leader who is empathetic, for one, like that is what takes a leader. You have to understand people's life and what this country needs.
Joy Tolbert-Nelson carried a sign reading "stop hate now."
"I marched because I think there's too much late I this world, and I want there to be more love, more understanding, more trust," she said.
The march went on hiatus in 2019. In 2018, there were 300,000 people at the march fighting for different issues, and in 2017, there were 250,000.
This year, organizers are urging people to get involved and to head to the polls in November, saying the top priority is moving the Trump administration out of the White House.
The plan now is to send 500,000 postcards to Wisconsin to get voters out for the primary on April 7.
"Women care about what's happening in the country," said organizer Laura Tanner. "We care about what's happening in the White House."
"We need all of those folks and all those voices together to make sure we are building bomb policy that is going to take this country to the next height," said Kyra Woods of the Sierra Club.
The march stepped off at Columbus and Jackson drives. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx were the leaders.
