March on Raleigh plans to give voice to thousands of women

Many of the women preparing for the event Tuesday evening did not know each other before arriving. Organizer Shana Becker said she has never done something like the planned march before.

“It is important not to get discouraged or afraid,” Becker said.

The march in downtown Raleigh is intended to give women a voice that some feel was lost in the recent political climate.

“I am concerned about paid maternity leave. I am concerned about the wage gap. I am concerned about my reproductive rights,” said organizer Carly Jones.

Jones envisions thousands of women marching through downtown Raleigh. The event starts at City Plaza outside the Marriott at 10:30 a.m., heads up Fayetteville Street to Martin Street and ends at Moore Square with an 11:30 a.m. rally.

In a Tuesday evening planning meeting at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, volunteers decorated signs and learned interest in their event is only getting bigger, growing by a thousand people in one day.

Jones said she wants participants to keep marching long after the rally. The main goal of the event is to connect women to organizations fighting for what matters to them.

“We don’t just want this to be another rally. We don’t want this to just be another march,” she said.

As of Tuesday night, more than 5,000 people have signed up on the event’s Facebook page to attend the rally. Another 8,000 more said they were interested.