http://www.reflector.com/News/2017/01/21/Greenville-residents-join-Women-s-March-in-D-C.html
Large contingent headed for Women's March
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Kelsi Dew, from left, Anna Dixon, Amber Wigent and Pearl Wigent are among the 165 people leaving Greenville in three buses this morning to participant in the Women's March in Washington D.C.
Ginger Livingston
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Greenville residents say today’s Women’s March is a jumping off point for continuing efforts to ensure all people are treated with respect and equality.
Organizers describe the march, expected to draw tens of thousands to Washington, D.C., as a message to President Donald Trump and Congress that women's rights are human rights. Participants said they also will stand up for other groups they believe were marginalized during the recent presidential campaign.
Ann Harrington is among 165 people leaving Greenville at 4 a.m. today to participate in the march. Dozens of others from Greenville and eastern North Carolina are carpooling to the event which begins at 10 a.m. with a rally, followed by a march at 1 p.m.
Harrington is an advocate for allowing woman to join the Catholic priesthood. She was ordained in 2014 in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and is now the priest of the Free Spirit Inclusive Catholic Community.
"I want to do this because of the tone that is coming from the president-elect and his people,” she said. “People march on Washington as an expression of their citizenship and our belief that we are a democracy and belief in the democratic process, and we have faith in our country to do what is right," she said. "I am going to send that message to the new administration, that we are going to be watching and we're going to be caring a lot about what is going to happen the next several years...Harrington said while people say the march is a message to Trump and his administration, she sees it as a complement to his goal of "draining the swamp."I hope my time in Washington, D.C., will help Donald Trump drain the swamp of corruption, lack of civility and meanness that hinders our democratic process by bringing the feminine energies, that both men and women have, of community-building, hospitality, care-giving and reverencing life," Harrington said. "My heart's desire is to help build a more just society."
Contact Ginger Livingston at glivingston@reflector.com or 252-329-9570. Follow her on Twitter @GingerLGDR.