As is often the case, much of the organising (from our end) took place last minute but fell into place somehow. FiLiA flyers arrived the day before and we also collected the lightweight mesh version of our banner with 24 hours to spare. With poles reaching over 2 meters and a mini to collect them in, the battle to get into the train and ‘up North’ from Portsmouth was filled with laughter.

We made it - some as MWR stewards; others representing FiLiA.

As with every year, the organisers gather first; chatter increasing in volume as the excitement grows and the deadline for setting off draws near. You really know that things are about to kick off when you hear the sound of the drums , and just when you think everyone is going to be late, hundreds upon hundreds of women stream around the corner into Duke Street with banners flying, whistles blowing and smiles on their faces.

Million Women Rise is an essential event for any Feminist calendar.

“We rise because our lives are being taken from us.
We rise even though we are exhausted from centuries of oppression.
We rise to demand freedom and justice.
We rise to demand an end to the harms that are inflicted on us through male violence against us.”

The march and other MWR activities are led and organised by Black women for all women, and the website says that the MWR march ‘is an opportunity for us to come together in sisterhood, solidarity, unity and upliftment...to march together, to feel the strength, exhilaration and power of being with other women, to celebrate ourselves, our differences and our diversity...to raise our voices and, if necessary, to mourn in silence.’

There certainly is an overwhelming sense of coming together; both because of our similarities and in spite of our differences. MWR provides a unique moment in time where Women feel that anything is possible.

The opportunity to march alongside new Women and to meet others who you may not have seen for a year is well worth the trip to London. We met Sisters from the Bradford and Manchester FiLiA conferences as well as other Sisters from all over the world. We heard speeches and performances that made us laugh and cry and the hairs on the backs of our necks stand on end. There is so much male brutality meted out against us and MWR provides moments to mourn as well as to celebrate.

Keep checking back to the MWR website for films of the rally

Thank you to the organisers, for all that you do. See you next year.

Sisterhood and Solidarity

FiLiA Team

By LM