Women Plan Next Steps For Change After Successful March Turnout
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Loop turned into a sea of pink on Saturday for the Women's March on Chicago.
It was a moment of empowerment for some 250,000 Chicagoans.
Now participants in the women's march said that was just the beginning. Organizers of the Women's March on Chicago said they are just getting started and there is much more to come.
Plenty of those people were political newcomers, including Co-Chair Jessica Scheller.
She said those who came out are ready to take action. WBBM's Nancy Harty reports.
Fellow organizer Ann Scholhamer said they are working with national and local groups to bring about "significant change."
That is likely to take the form of opposing conservative Supreme Court nominees, supporting liberal candidates in the 2018 mid-term elections, running for local office and volunteering for causes.
Whatever they do, it will be a collaborative action, Co-Chair Liz Radford said.
"The turnout showed that there are many people out there who want to make their voices head, have something to say," Radford said. "Have a fear, have a protest, are moved enough to get out of their houses, go downtown on a Saturday, join others and try to connect and make a difference the next day."
She adds that the next steps are "developing organically" just as the march did.
Just like the group used social media to promote the march, they plan to reach out online to encourage action on liberal causes.
More than 35,000 people have joined the group's Facebook page, which is suggesting they come to a Volunteer Expo at the Peggy Notebaert Museum on February 26th.
CBS 2's Marissa Bailey headed out on Monday to ask the inevitable question, what is next?
"You have to be invested in the long term if you really want to make things change."
Political Science professor William Adler said the march was momentum, but marchers need to commit to becoming activists.
"Voting is the cornerstone of the process," Adler said. "That is the first things you have to do. You can build on that, you can write to your congressman, you can call, you can tweet."
Adler said congressional offices keep track of calls and emails. Reaching out to your representative, just to voice your opinion is a good place to start.
"They keep track if you call the district office or the Washington D.C. office. Someone's been told just keep a running tally of how many people are calling on this side or that side," Adler said.
Callparty.org is creating a Facebook messenger app to send out a political issue each week that need attention.
The message is set to include a script and information to connect to your congressional representative to get your voice heard.
