Knox women say Trump prompted their interest in women's march, advocating for women's rights

Two East Tennessee women woke up the morning after Election Day, surprised Donald Trump had won.

Separately, they sought to advocate on an issue in a major way for the first time in their lives. Both would end up leading local charges that will culminate this weekend in marches for women's rights.

"I woke up and was in shock, like a lot of other people," said Nell Walton, local trip organizer for Saturday's Women's March on Washington. "I was not a political person."

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Like Walton, the Knoxville coordinator for the 12:30 p.m. Saturday women's march on Market Square wasn't very politically involved.

Not before the election, anyway.

"Honestly, Nov. 8 was such a pivotal event in American history," said Caroline Mann, the local women's march director. "And this has absolutely energized anyone who might have been complacent about the status quo of politics."

Separately, both women would begin work to see what they could do concerning women's rights.

"The reaction to the outcome of the election was so strong that people felt they had to make their voice overheard," Mann said. "It's energizing."

She expects more than 1,000 people to head out Saturday for the local march, a sister march with the one in Washington.

Walton, meanwhile, has organized a caravan of charter buses to Washington with East Tennessee locals who want to participate in the national march.

When she decided to get involved, Walton figured maybe 10 or 12 women would want to join the effort.

"Now we’ve got 1,500 people in our group," Walton said. "I've got four buses and I'm sitting here looking at emails of people wanting more tickets."

Even the organizer of the sister march at the University of Tennessee is a newcomer to politics. Kendy Altizer, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at UT and one of the primary organizers behind the march, was also motivated by the November election results. The Women’s March on Washington Sister March around UT's campus is at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

"I was kind of stumbling around just wondering, ‘How does this affect all of us?’” she said. “And I’m seeing people that look scared, like they don’t know what’s going to happen and I thought, ‘I have to say something. This is up to me.’ I can’t just stand by and not say something anymore. We have to have a voice.”

Wanda Sobieski, a Knoxville attorney and occasional social and political activist, said the interest in the marches is keeping people like Mann and Walton busy as Saturday approaches. Sobieski will be one of the local women on stage at the Saturday march in Knoxville.

She doesn't see the marches rooted in an anti-Trump message, however, but based in a philosophical perspective to protect fundamental values of equality.

"The turn and tone of rhetoric, and the result of the election, combined to wake up a lot of apathetic people who have thought they could go about their daily lives and count on other people to keep an eye on what's happening in the political scene," Sobieski said. "They probably realize that they should have been doing something for a long time."

Reasons to march among women and supporters of women's rights vary. Some fear what could come under a President Trump, who has been taped commenting about sexually assaulting a woman. Some others want to protect funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides sexual and reproductive health services for women, including abortions and STD treatment.

But, in general, marchers want to raise awareness for issues of any kind that impact women.

The Women's March on Washington website says that the mission is, "We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country."

Sobieski wants to be sure that basic decency remains among differing viewpoints, no matter the political swing in elected offices. She's concerned about the vitriol that has appears to be seeping into otherwise healthy political discussions.

"If we think it's OK to be cruel to people we disagree with, we send a message to others that it's OK to be cruel, too," she said. "That is a corruption that's a kind of cancer of the culture."

Mann said the impetus to get involved stemmed from Trump's victory, but that the rally is not an anti-Trump movement.

"I hope that Market Square fills up with women and supporters and people who have women in their lives," Mann said, "and people who want to build a community of concentrated, caring people who want to take action on women's rights, health and safety."

To Sobieski's point, Mann hopes the march Saturday will be a peaceful one with healthy discourse.

"We've got kids coming out, we've got people bringing their grandbabies," she said. "We're marching for issues, we're not marching in protest. We're encouraging people to bring positive signs that they're not going to shock the children with."

And Mann and Walton agreed that more work lies ahead in getting their viewpoints heard.

"We will be involved going forward," Walton said. "I’m really an independent. I'm not Republican, I'm not a Democrat. I'm going to be voting issues, and I will be paying attention."