{"id":4613,"date":"2018-01-22T21:25:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T21:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.afm47.org\/press\/?p=4613"},"modified":"2018-03-02T21:26:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T21:26:39","slug":"musicians-join-thousands-at-womens-march-la-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afm47.org\/press\/musicians-join-thousands-at-womens-march-la-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Musicians join thousands in Los Angeles at Women’s March 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"[slideshow_deploy id=’4645′]\n

Local 47 musicians & union members joined hundreds of thousands at the 2018 Women’s March Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Activists converged\u00a0on downtown the morning of Jan. 20 marching from Pershing Square to City Hall as part of the second annual Women\u2019s March, the largest of dozens of similar protests held around the nation.<\/p>\n

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The message of the #metoo movement was at the forefront, with many demonstrators waving signs calling for the end of sexual violence and assault.<\/p>\n

Among other issues raised were equal rights for women and an end to attacks on\u00a0reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers\u2019 rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, Indigenous people\u2019s rights, and environmental justice.<\/p>\n

AFM Local 47 led the entertainment union contingent, with\u00a0musicians marching\u00a0alongside\u00a0members of Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, and the Directors Guild. Labor representing at the Women’s March comes at a time when\u00a0unions throughout the nation are working to more closely scrutinize<\/a>\u00a0workplace conditions and “industry norms,” and taking steps to improve conditions\u00a0for all working people.<\/p>\n

At City Hall, celebrity speakers addressed the crowd, including actresses Viola Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Laverne Cox.\u00a0In her\u00a0impassioned speech, Davis reminded women that they must fight for their liberties and rights.<\/p>\n

“I am speaking today, not just for the #metoos, because I was a #metoo, but when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence,” Davis said. “The women who are faceless. The women who don’t have the money, and who don’t have the constitution, and who don’t have the confidence, and who don’t have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth enough to break their silence that’s rooted in the shame of assault. That’s rooted in the stigma of assault.”<\/p>\n

Davis concluded by saying that until we’re all free, none of us are.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we live on earth, we\u2019ve got to bring up everyone with us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She finished by saying her hope for the future is that we “never go back,” and reminding the crowd that marching isn’t enough \u2014 that we all must “keep it rolling” when we go home.<\/p>\n

Watch her full speech here:<\/p>\n