Protestors gathered with signs, banners and stories to tell at Albuquerque Civic Plaza Friday evening to protest Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, including Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, when they were in high school.
On Thursday Sept. 27, Kavanaugh and Ford gave testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, each giving their own statement on what reportedly happened in the summer of 1982. The protest occurred Friday, the same day that the Committee voted along party lines to send Kavanaugh’s nomination to a full senate vote that will take place after a week long investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Samia Assed, chairwoman of the New Mexico Women’s March, was one of the organizers of the event.
“If these people have their way, women’s rights will be gone,” Assed said. “Women’s rights, disability rights, minority rights will all be gone.”
Assed said she was outraged by Thursday’s events and worried for the future of the country. She called attendees to action and asked people to come forward and share their stories.
“Protests work. Our voices must be loud, we have to keep showing up,” Assed said. “We must support the front line and our communities. We can’t all be in Washington D.C. But you know what? We can all vote.”
Voting is the way citizens can voice their opinions, and it is the way people can make a difference from their own communities, she said. Assed invited attendees to come forward and share their stories and opinions. Protestors gathered in a circle to listen and sing songs.
“No more shaming the survivors,” Assed said. “If we can’t hold these men accountable as a community and as a country then what do we stand for?”
Candida Jones was one of the protestors at the rally. Jones, who recently moved to Albuquerque, said it is critical for people to speak up for what they believe in.
“This is one day when I am more than happy to speak out. This is a day when we are going to make a decision about which direction our country is gonna go,” Jones said. “51 percent of the population is being represented by a potential repeat predator to women...What have we come to that we don’t hold people accountable for their actions?”
According to Jones, people are desensitized to these kinds of issues. She said it is essential for people to become sensitive and care about the well-being of the women in their lives.
Melissa Homann said she attended the protest to support women who have been sexually abused. She said women aren’t being heard, which is a problem, and there needs to be an FBI investigation and it needs to be thorough.
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“I feel that the hearings were a frightening example of how the white male justice system is overrunning people,” Homann said.
There is a reason that people are polarized, Homann said. This is an issue of right and wrong and it has become a party issue when it shouldn't be one, she said.
“We need to hold each other accountable. We don’t honor our sisters, our mothers, our aunts and our friends anymore,” Jones said. “We are fighting for a reunification.”
Megan Holmen is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @megan_holmen.
