Encinitas group participates in SD Women’s March

Nearly 40 Encinitas women formed an advocacy group called The Wagon Circle last year and came together Jan. 21 to participate in the San Diego Women’s March.

Group organizers said The Wagon Circle was founded after the Nov. 8 election when like-minded people were left wondering what to do next.

They first gathered in a peaceful protest in downtown Encinitas in the days following the election and have since met every Sunday to discuss national and local issues.

Lisa Nava, an Encinitas resident who has been considered the group’s leader, said the group’s message is to “do whatever it takes to protect and support those that are marginalized and targeted by any policies of our new administration.”

The group joined the Women’s March in downtown San Diego on Jan. 21, marching from the San Diego Civic Center to the San Diego County Administration Center, Nava said.

About 40,000 people in San Diego — including women, men and children — marched in support of issues like respect for women, access to health care, reproductive rights, race and gender equality, and immigrants’ rights, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Across the country, millions of activists participated in hundreds of similar marches.

“We are proud to be Americans and will stay engaged over time to be represented,” Nava said. “We will not go back, and women will find a way to heal our country.”

Wagon Circle member Karen Abrams said she marched because she believed it wasn’t enough for people to vote; they had to express their concerns through action.

Group member Jennifer Haskett agreed.

“I want my voice to be heard,” she said. “We’re not going to relinquish our power to politicians.”

Nava said everyone Wagon Circle participants interacted with were curious as to why they were marching and were generally supportive.

Some people shouted differing views, and Nava said she entered civil discussions with many of them to discuss their viewpoints.

“I was actually able to dialogue with someone who was shouting about his support of our president, and I answered that he is my president too,” she said. “We are Americans first before we are queer, women, men, black, brown or anything else. I am a patriot and we are more the same than we are different. We just need our president to see us too.”