This weekend, the Women’s March is returning to cities all across the country. In Homer, this nonpartisan event will focus on women’s rights and getting out the vote. To prep for the march, community members made over 90 signs at the Old Inlet Bookshop.
Almost a dozen women hovered over pieces of cardboard in the backroom of the bookstore. Jan Agosta’s sign was bright pink, yellow and purple.
“I'm writing ‘Believe in Female Love Power” because I believe we are a sex that naturally is filled with love," she said. "We nurture, we are child bearers and we bring people into the world and in order to help those little people grow we give them lots of love.”
Signs like these were an iconic part of Women’s Marches across the country last year after President Donald Trump was sworn in—the Smithsonian even archived some of them. Last year Agosta wrote “Healthcare for All” but this year she wanted to say something different.
“We're in a moment in our country where we're realizing that women have been subdued and that it's time for us to embrace our power and that our power is what we can give in a positive way rather than in a negative way," she said.
That positivity is a big theme this year. Sandy Garity is the coordinator for the march.
“We've asked that this be nonpartisan that all of the signs be family friendly, that we are inviting all men women and children and would like this to be a fun march about rights, human rights basically," she said.
She said they are adopting the national march’s theme of getting out the vote and the name “Power to the Polls.”
"People should get out and vote whatever their choice is," she said. "We all are given that right when we are of age and we need to be responsible and vote, whatever your belief is, whatever your party is.
Garity said the beliefs at the march won’t be uniform.
“Everyone’s got their own reason why they are there,” she said. “I consider that very personal.”
Still, if you would like to share your view, Agosta said signs are a good way to go.
"They're very important in a march because you're not speaking so they are your statement and they're your voice," she said. "Your body is a voice. Being present is a voice but also having a statement that really clarifies what you're standing for is really important."
You can see Agosta’s sign along with the rest of the communities at the Women's March: Power to the Polls on 11:30 a.m. at the HERC building.