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@Troy @Pioneer1Yes, the demonstration was a spectacle that made white women feel good about themselves. (And yes, black women have always been "liberated", taking up the slack while waiting for the brothers to "man up".) But the tremendous, world-wide outpouring was also an annoyance to Donald Trump, inasmuch as the message it sent tarnished his image. Anything that doesn't make Trump feel good about himself forces him to confront his inadequacies and this throws him off his game. To combat this, his sycophants have shifted into an alternate universe where lies are recycled as "alternate facts" and Trump's followers accept these lies because they don't want to believe that he is misleading them. For his opponents, an effective defense against this strategy is to become creative nuisances who mock him with the truth. Using the ballot to unseat opponents is also a strategy that is on the Feminist agenda and this is a good thing.

@Pioneer1 , @Troy Are your comments based in facts, local observation and/or is it just how you feel personally? For example, I can't refute the way someone feels about a topic - we all have our beliefs and our beliefs and emotions mirror our observations of our world. BUT if you are purportedly presenting facts then... There was a study done on marching and the number of marches on a single topic are in direct correlation to how legislators vote...(Protest and congressional behavior: Assessing Racial and Ethnic Minority Protest in the District by Daniel Q. Gillion The Journal of Politics Vol 74, No.4 (Oct., 2012), pp. 950-962) Or the Women's March wasn't just a big city thing - there were Women's Marches on all 7 continents - yes even on a ship in Antarctica. For those women, Climate Change is real - and they want to be heard. Several of the most conservative cities including some from Mesa, Arizona (the MOST conservative city in the U.S. according to The Economist) held sattelite Women's March. It's documented - I even retweeted pictures from those unlikely spots. Edit to add the Tampa Bay Area Tampa -St Petersburg boast 20,000 turned out for their satellite Women's March Also, here's the mission and vision of the Women's March - here's the link . The overarching goal is to upend the more than 5,000 years of patriarchal rule and return our culture to the egalitarian culture it once was.

"The African Renaissance is the concept that African people and nations shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve cultural, scientific, and economic renewal." Wikipedia The African Renaissance concept was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop in a series of essays beginning in 1946, which are collected in his book Towards the African Renaissance: Essays in Culture and Development, 1946-1960. This concept seems to be in full force with the emergence of African authors and projects as The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Abouela (Grove Atlantic), The Happy Marriabe by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Translated byAndre' Naffis-Sahely- Melville House) or And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile (PEnguin Random House). And, of course there are authors as Taiye Selasi (Ghana Must Go), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, author of Half a Yellow Sun) and Zadie Smith (author of White Teeth, elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002). Do you think we are in the midst of an African Renaissance? Does this Renaissance include authors as Denene Milner (New York Times Best Selling author of I Am Charlie Wilson, In March 2011, Millner was chosen by Black Voices website as one of 40 Influential Black Female Writers), Paul Beatty (author of The Sellout, awarded the Man Booker Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction) and Ta-Nehisi Coates (author of Between the World and Me,winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction). Why? Why Not? Does this Renaissance extend to other arts as acting, photography, graphic design, painting and sculpting? *Responses/Dialogue might be excerpted, quoted for Huffington Post article - Thanks for your say of what is and is not.

In the case Mel, my comments are based on what I thinking at the moment. This is both; subject to change, based upon additional information; and subject to critique, which I obviously welcome. In the case, I was thinking about the impact marching as on individuals who support Trump and Trump himself. There is nothing I've seen that is capable of swaying Donald Trump's mind other than money and power, none of which the protestors are offering. Indeed Trump and his people are not above making shit up out of thin air and calling them "alternate facts" that Cynique points out. The idea that the media even entertains these lies is sickening. Does anyone think anything that the marcher will effect Trump in a positive way? I don't and that is my point. Since the Trump supporters can easily tune out the marchers are consume media that completely denounces them as out of touch limousine liberals I don;t see these marches affecting them either. Now @Mel Hopkins I had not considered the impact on legislators. I don't have much hope on this front either. The Occupy Movement did a boat load of protesting and Wall Street is more dominant than ever. I'll look at the research nonetheless. With the benefit of hindsight can anyone point to a single piece of legislation that was impacted Occupy's protracted protesting? Surely we can all describe Wall Street increased influence over government, capped by the election of Trump.

In places like NYC and DC, this marching is "a thing" as they say. In places like Tampa, which is part of Hillsborough County (who voted for Hillary), and not exactly the sticks; you don't hear any talk about marching. This is more big city folks from the coasts talking to each other. Maybe holding some demonstrations in the rust belt and other places where Trump had the most influence might be more impactful. It is the same reason the press completely missed Trump's reach, they interact and reported in the very same bubble the marchers are in. The really very crazy thing is that I don't think writing to politicians will have an impact either. They are part the problem. In fact, Trump who ridiculed Hillary as being owned by Goldman has now made these very some people part of his cabinet. I don't hear any Trump supporters complaining about this. I'm not convinced they even understand what this means... You can't complain about the rich when the government is a plutocracy. All you can really do is, do the best you can. You could also fight for radical change, but not enough people have the stomach for it. Youngsters who normally drive this sort of radical change are too distracted by social media; as if griping about Trump's tweets will make a difference. Kinda make what the Panthers, SNCC, SCLC and other organizations did so much more impressive. These organization despite the charismatic Brothers we hear most about, were really were run by women.

I like the fact that women are standing united against Trump's sexism and misogynism but what good is it to hold a march against it then turn right around and go home and sleep with the same type of man you're marching against. Most of the White women out there marching have White boyfriends and husbands who hold the same views the Donald Trump holds...and many Black and many if not most Latina women do also. This has been the problem with the feminist (not womanist) movement for decades. Preaching against sexism while endorsing it through their behavior. American women....especially White American women...more so than women of any other industrialized nation has done more to reverse the social and even financial gains women have made in Western civilization because of the desire to return to old fashioned "family values". Sexism and misogynism is ingrained in the very fabric of Western civilization.

The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival is an annual, cultural arts & music festival that takes place over the course of 10 days in Tampa Bay, Florida. They host an Author Village which I checked out on Saturday and met a bunch of authors. I was only armed with an old cell phone, but I managed to shoot a couple of videos and a bunch of photos.

So glad you kept it up! I didn't know you wrote books too. (ok sometimes I'm in my own world. )

Didn't take to the streets on Saturday but on Sunday, I gathered the names of all my legislators and elected officials (yep even the dog catcher) and I'm preparing to send them all postcards to thank them for their service. I will also add to the note: "I'll stay in touch." If I need to get a clipboard, (#thanksobama) I will. Having President Obama in office did make a lot of us complacent. Not that I missed any votes; I vote in every election even if I'm new to the area. But as soon as we heard folks were being dropped from the voter rolls we should have been out there registering or re-registering them. I won't sit back ever again.

I have not yet read the Diop 's collection of Essays. But I have just ordered it and I will. Yes, the African Renaissance extends to all forms of arts, culture, and commerce. In my mind, it speaks to our agency.