Organizers of the Women’s March in New Orleans have decided to cancel their Jan. 19 sister march, saying that participation and fundraising have dropped “drastically” in the wake of outrage surrounding the national co-chairs.
“Due to several issues we have decided it is necessary to cancel the 2019 Women’s March in New Orleans,” said a Saturday post on the National Organization for Women’s Baton Rouge chapter on Facebook.
The announcement by the NOW chapter, which organized the 2018 Women’s March on New Orleans, comes with the four co-chairs — Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Linda Sarsour — facing escalating calls to resign.
“Many of the sister marches have asked the leaders of Women’s March, Inc. to resign but as of today, they have yet to do so,” said the NOW Baton Rouge statement. “The controversy is dampening efforts of sister marches to fundraise, enlist involvement, find sponsors and attendee numbers have drastically declined this year. New Orleans is no exception.”
The group also said it would shift its focus away from the January marches. The first Women’s March was held the day after President Trump was inaugurated in 2017 to protest his election.- READ MORE