Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” inspired Lata Murti and fellow Women’s March Santa Maria Valley planning committee members for this year’s women’s march: Still, We Rise.
“It’s also inspired by the fact that women all over the world are always rising up against injustices, and part of what identifying as a woman [means is] rising up against injustices,” Murti said.
The 2022 Women’s March was held on March 6 in person with guest speakers from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Lideres Campesinas, Lompoc Union School District students, and Murti’s 13-year-old daughter. She said that the event also included Spanish, Mixteco, and American Sign Language interpreters.
“We haven’t gathered for it in two years and so in that way it’s great we’re able to do it again. It’s outdoors, which makes it COVID-safe for a lot of people. It’s a show of solidarity for women in our community and globally,” Murti said a few days before the event. “We all crave connection. Even though we’ve all been fighting for women’s rights and that didn’t stop because of the pandemic, we were a little disconnected. Now, we can come together face-to-face again.”
Participants were invited to make posters and pick up buttons and stickers before the march, and Líderes Campesinas provided COVID-19 vaccines. Speakers began at 2 p.m. at the Minami Community Center and the march started at 3 p.m.
“You can learn from women in our community and what you can do to improve the lives of women in our community as well as women internationally,” she said.
Nationally, the Women’s March started in January 2017 as a response to the Trump administration and the possibility of women’s rights being threatened, Murti said. Santa Maria didn’t launch its own march until 2019, after seeing a greater need for representation.
“We decided Santa Maria needed its own Women’s March here because our community is different from SLO’s and Santa Barbara. … We have more women of color and people of color,” she said.
Murti didn’t join the Women’s March until she attended Santa Maria’s first march in 2019 and saw the difference between Santa Maria and its neighboring cities.
“The demographics are different. There’s a lot more representation of communities and culture in Santa Maria, and in the women in particular. That’s what really appealed to me and made me think I want to invest more in this local march.
“As a woman of color, I want to invest in this March rather than marches in other areas,” Murti said.
This year’s march was designed to highlight International Women’s Day (March 8), celebrate women from other countries, and recognize the injustices they faced and continue to face, she continued.
“Women internationally are rising up against injustices, and since we have women [from] all over the world living in Santa Maria, we are not blind to those injustices happening,” Murti said.
In the U.S., women face limited child care opportunities and maternity leave options, unequal pay and—in some instances—violence, Murti said. Women fleeing their countries to come to Santa Maria face language barriers, immigration concerns, and health care setbacks.
“They don’t go away because they come to the U.S. I think the women’s movement and marches are so U.S. focused that I welcome the discussion for women’s rights globally,” she said.
Highlight
• The city of Lompoc, Lompoc Trails, and West Coast Arborists—all partners on the Cal Fire Amplifying the Urban Forest Grant—invite community members to a Lompoc tree-planting event on March 12. Local volunteers are joining others in 30 communities across California to plant 2,000 urban trees in the state. Local residents are encouraged to sign up to plant trees from 8 a.m. to noon at River Park and Riverbend Park. Volunteers will meet near the pond at River Park off Highway 246 and Sweeney Road. Participants need to register at volunteermatch.org/search/opp3444696.jsp. Direct questions to grantinfo@wcainc.com or (714) 926-0563.
Taylor O’Connor wrote this week’s Spotlight. She can be reached at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2022.
