Hundreds Expected to Rally at the City Hall Rotunda for Women’s Rights on Saturday

Hundreds, mostly women, are expected to “Rally at the Rotunda” at Pasadena City Hall Saturday morning in solidarity for women’s rights and equality in what is planned as local version of this week’s national, 150 sister-city-strong movement of similar marches and demonstations.

The rally is the brainchild of a group of local women led by recently retired Pasadena Public Library Director Jan Sanders. The organizers plan to take to the streets of Pasadena and travel to downtown L.A.’s official Women’s March Los Angeles.

“I think all of us as active, participating, educated Americans need to keep our eye on what’s going on. It’s not just about women’s rights — it’s about human rights, it’s about citizens’ rights, it’s about our rights and our history as a free thinking Democratic and successful community and country. I think it behooves all of us to pay attention,” said Rally at the Rotunda Committee Chair Jan Sanders. “No matter who’s in that big chair, we all need to pay attention and we need to pay attention starting at City Hall and going up the ladder as far as we feel like we can reach.”

The intent of the “Rally at the Rotunda” is not to establish yet another women’s coalition but for local women to get to know one another and assist with existing grassroots efforts to protect the rights and freedoms that currently seem so fragile and vulnerable, according to a statement penned by Sanders and published by the Whittier Daily News.

The rally is a free speech event, not sponsored by the City of Pasadena or any other institution, corporation or organization.

“It was simply a group of interested women who came together. Each of us brought something slightly different to the table and some talents. It’s very much a grassroots effort which is often the most successful,” explained Sanders, who said she believes initiating change starts at the local level.

“Rally at the Rotunda” is a testament to what can be organized on a local level by concerned citizens on a grassroots level in what was originally brainstormed to mimic rallies that are more famously held in bigger cities, according to Sanders.

The larger purpose of the rally is to bring not only women together, but also the larger community, to help spark change and raise awareness of civil rights as the nation enters a new Administration.

“This is only a first step. Part of what we’ll be doing at the rally is giving concrete next steps of action for people who are interested how to get involved,” said Rally at the Rotunda Committee Member Desiree Zamorano. “The reality is we don’t know where our actions will lead us. I am doing this without expectations. I am doing this because I can’t live doing nothing. I want to fight the good fight,” added Zamorano.

The rally will feature special speaker presentations before participants trek to downtown L.A. on the Metro light rail to discuss topics of women’s health, public education, immigration rights, fair wage rights and more.

“We decided instead, because there are so many active women’s organizations in Pasadena, to give people an opportunity to get to know some of those organizations, get themselves in sync with volunteer opportunities that might be out there and to just use this as a way to share this information that’s of interest and importance to women in the community,” explained Sanders.

“There was a thought that we would get to know the other existing organizations and be able to share a wider volunteer base,” added Sanders. “People who are interested in immigration rights can tie into an organization that’s already fighting that fight here in Pasadena and thus make their views known and make their actions go further,” said Sanders.

Sanders expects at least 300 participants to gather in Pasadena, but if social media is any indicator, there could be many more.

“It just sort of developed a life of its own,” said Sanders. “We’ve had wild numbers coming back from the Facebook pages in excess of a thousand likes…”

We’re hoping that we have that many women and men come out, Sanders said.

Everyone is invited to join the “Rally at the Rotunda” which will kick off at 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. followed by a peaceful march to the nearby Memorial Park Goldline station. Participants will then head to downtown L.A. to join the
march from Pershing Square to the Los Angeles City Hall and back again.

“We’re encourage people to go away feeling that you are apart of a vital grassroots effort to keep America and to keep Pasadena the participatory democratic society that we all have come to love,” Sanders concluded.

For updates and additional information, visit https://www.facebook.com/womensrallypasadena.