2019 Boston Women’s March: Crowds pack Boston Common in unity and protest

Jan. 19--Throngs of protestors arrived at Boston Common on Saturday to take part in the Women's March, a national movement "celebrating power of women united," according to its lead organizer Karen Cosmas.

The protest marks the third Women's March in the Boston area. Similar marches are slated to take place across the country on Saturday.

In addition to spotlighting women's rights, like contraception for all, the march aims to unite protestors on a number of societal issues.

"Leaders here are fighting every day for human rights, religious freedom, racial justice, economic justice, reproductive rights, climate justice, workers' rights," said Cosmas, the executive director of March Forward Massachusetts.

A group of counter-protestors from the Club of American Nationalists also gathered in Boston.

Organizer John Camden said the group was there to support pro-life values and President Donald Trump.

The Women's March became a national movement in 2017 as a protest against the president's conservative agenda.

Boston organizers credit the march's rallying cry of left-wing activism and female leadership as inspiring record numbers of women to run for elected office across the country during the 2018 midterm elections, and in turn, resulted in Democrats taking back the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The march is not connected to New York-based Women's March Inc., the national organization roiled in controversy, according to Cosmas. Organizers of the New York non-profit, founded by several women who launched the first massive Women's March protest in Washington D.C. in 2017, are under scrutiny for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments.

A program of speakers is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Boston Common, which will include comments from local officials and Boston leaders of Planned Parenthood, the NAACP the ACLU, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action Impact and other groups.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who has received national attention for her historic win and progressive agenda, will provide a keynote address.

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