ADRIAN — Nearly 250 people gathered in front of the old Lenawee County Courthouse Saturday to rally for equality, social justice and over concerns about governmental affairs.
The “Women’s March 2018: Power to the Polls,” hosted by Lenawee Indivisible, covered a wide range of current topics, including Dreamers, women’s rights, the LGBTQ community, the scientific community, environmental science and investigative journalists. Its Facebook event page also invited people to attend and rally for “communities, causes or policies currently being attacked by the (President Donald) Trump administration.”
The rally paralleled other events across the country on the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March in Washington.
Former Adrian Mayor Jim Berryman attended Saturday’s rally with his family.
“I’ve always been in support of women’s issues, supporting my wife, daughter and granddaughters who are here today,” Berryman said.
Berryman said he is focused in particular on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an immigration policy being challenged by President Trump.
“I am pro-DACA,” he said. “We have families right here in Adrian and Lenawee County who have been adversely affected over the past year. They should not have to live like that.”
Those people who were brought to the U.S. as children by their parents are referred to as “Dreamers.” That term comes from the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that was first introduced in 2001 in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Orrin Hatch, R- Utah, but has not passed.
Berryman said he is pleased the Adrian City Commission passed a resolution supporting DACA while he was in office.
The former mayor said he is discouraged at what he called a lack of compromise in politics, citing that as the main reason U.S. government funding was shut down early Saturday morning.
“Politicians in general have lost the art of compromise,” he said. “We have a two-party system when it comes to state and federal government and both sides have lost that art.
“That has always been the strength of our democracy, and we need to regain that.”
Adrian High School junior Shane Shananaquet, a former youth ambassador for the Women’s March, said the social justice issues of the day affect everyone in some way, not just women.
“We march today not only for women, but for every marginalized group,” Shananaquet said.
Gretchen Driskell, who is running to challenge U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, for his seat in November and was at the march in Adrian, said she fully supports the issues being discussed at the rally.
“I saw one poster that says, ‘Respect existence or expect resistance,’ “ she said. “A lot of people are struggling financially today and are concerned with the policies being passed in Washington. People are looking for a representative who will address their issues.
“And we really need that right now,” she said. “We are really concerned for our children’s future.”