On Women’s Equality Day, Springfield residents joined one woman’s relay to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the progress still needed for justice for women to be achieved.
Emily Waugh walked with a steady pace and carried one end of the banner that read “Women’s Walk Across America.”
The 40-year-old and mother of two began her walk in March from her home state of Oregon. She’s covered over 800 miles so far.
When IT caught up with the group, they had about a mile left to arrive at the steps of the Statehouse.
“I’m getting a little sore, but I’m doing OK,” Waugh said.
She said it was the state of national politics that spurred her to do something – walk. It’s what she called her “Forrest Gump,” moment, referring to the 90s movie character who ran continuously throughout the U.S.
“I had reached my capacity for what I could witness and process every day in terms of the dismantling of our democracy,” Waugh said.
She recalled reading the news about the passage of the SAVE Act in the U.S. House. The bill would require individuals to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Reports conclude that voter fraud is very rare in the U.S. and current law already prohibits noncitizens from voting.
“It threatened to disenfranchise millions of married women who’ve changed their last names,” Waugh said.
Pro-democracy and civil rights groups say if the bill passes, it would likely lead to millions of Americans not voting because they don’t have access to the required documents, such as a birth certificate or passport.
The League of Women Voters, in a paper released in April, said if the bill passed, it would create obstacles for women in abusive relationships whose access to personal documents may be controlled.
The Senate didn’t bring up the legislation prior to leaving on recess earlier this month.
Another issue Waugh wants to draw attention to is the lack of accountability in cases related to Jeffrey Epstein — the wealthy, politically connected sex trafficker who died in prison in 2019.
“The Epstein files haven’t turned into the Epstein trials, [and] not a single arrest has been made in the United States since the release of those files,” she said.
“Our government on a daily basis is demonstrating to us that they would rather protect powerful, rich men than the victims of a horrible, violent ring of pedophiles that we know existed, and we’re doing nothing about it,” Waugh said.
Among the people who walked alongside her was the National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Villanueva, a Springfield native.
She said the the Epstein files have drawn a lot of attention to sexual violence “and the fact that women still don’t want to come forward,” she said.
“So, we are trying to raise that up,” Villanueva said.
The Springfield native has lived in D.C. for a year, leading the national organization known for its iconic logo “Keep Abortion Legal.”
She said in addition to violence against women, the organization advocates for affordability. Villanueva said women in particular are in tune to price increases because they are often the ones in their family making the budget and doing the grocery shopping.
“So, they see the price of eggs going up or the price of bologna going up or the price of bread going up, or the price of school clothes for their kids,” she said.
The walk through Springfield coincided with Women’s Equality Day. It commemorates when most women received the right to vote with the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
“It really only gave white women the right to vote because Black women were discriminated against and had to wait for the Voting Rights act in ’65,” she said.
Villanueva said Waugh’s walk across the country celebrates women suffragists’ endurance and sends the message that “women have a long way to go in terms of progress and equality.”
Members of Springfield Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the local chapter of Indivisible Group held a lunch for the walkers and welcomed the group near the Lincoln statue outside the Statehouse.
Among those who walked alongside Waugh during this stretch in the city was Schelle Becker of western Illinois, who covered the full 10 mile stretch. Springfield resident Peggy Cormeny, a member of Capital City Illinois Indivisible and SWAN, and area activist Joshua Leingang joined the walk after attending a lunch organized by a local women rights group.
Leingang carried a large American flag during the last stretch of the walk to the Capitol.
“I will stand with the millions of Americans that say women have rights, just as men,” he said.
State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Sangamon County Board member Sheila Feipel, of District 12, also greeted the small group at the steps.
After the event, Waugh planned on walking to Robins Roberts Stadium to watch a women’s professional baseball game.
Waugh expects to make it to D.C. on Nov. 8 and hopes to be joined by a large rally and march leading her entrance to the city.
“I want people to know that they should not give in to the feeling of hopelessness or believe the lie that they’re just one person and that there’s nothing that they can do,” Waugh said.
Not really sure what killing unborn babies has to do with women’s equality but I agree about the Epstein stuff.