Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief
Mvk5945@psu.edu

Each year, an annual Women’s march is held in Erie Pennsylvania, where women are brought together to march for equal pay, access to health care, reproductive rights, and gender equality as a whole. The march was led by former Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper. Dozens of women gathered in Perry Square in downtown Erie to march for change, with over 400 reportedly in attendance Saturday afternoon. Additionally, dozens of booths were set up in Perry Square to showcase different female-owned businesses in the area as well as other local organizations. The event also included food and several speakers, all of which were located in Perry Square.
The event also included the following speakers, listed
bellow:
• Kathy Dahlkemper, former Erie County Executive
• Kim Clear, current Millcreek Township Supervisor
• Jasmine Flores, Erie City Councilwoman
The keynote speaker of the event was Blayre Holmes
Davis, who is the wife of current Democratic Lieutenant

Governor nominee, Austin Davis. Blayre Davis is the Director of Community Relations at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The event was met with some controversy, after the Erie High School marching band withdrew from their commitment to play at the event. Erie schools Superintendent issued a statement that the change was made due to Erie School District policy regarding political activity. It is unclear why this policy was not mentioned prior to their commitment, although they did follow the schools policy by avoiding attendance. Selena Kind, who was the Coordinator for the event, planned it to coincide with the national women’s march, which occurred the same day in Washington D.C.
“Five years ago was the first one in D.C. and the first one in Erie when the fight for reproductive rights happened,” King stated. “So here we are, five years later in the same fight for that, especially with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.” This event was considered very important by those in attendance, especially with the upcoming election quickly approaching. This rally was meant to address women’s issues as a whole, not focusing solely on reproductive rights, but surely including them. “We’re also looking at this upcoming election and what we have on the ballot,” stated King. “Again, the fight for equal pay, looking at issues in equity and health care as it pertains
to women, and then looking at the insecurities in access to daycare, especially coming off the pandemic.”