UPDATED Jan. 15, 2018:
The second annual Women’s March will be held in Traverse City this Saturday. Organizers are planning a demonstration on Front Street.
The event coincides with marches to be held across the country. A year ago, millions of people protested in cities worldwide during the first annual Women’s March – including thousands of people in downtown Traverse City.
Kathy Dawkins of Leland is an organizer of the Traverse City march. She says last year’s event was largely inspired by the election of President Donald Trump.
“This year we want to be more inclusive of people who may have voted for Trump,” says Dawkins, “but we want to focus on issues that are common to all of us no matter who we voted for president.”
Dawkins says the mission of the march is to get people out to vote.
“We want to make things better for all of us,” Dawkins says. “And if we make it better for women, we make it better for our families and for the rest of the country.”
The march begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce building. Marchers will head down Front Street.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified a photo of marchers at the Traverse City Women's March in 2017. The photo was actually taken at a different march in Kalamazoo.