The organizers helped "galvanize a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups." (Photo: Getty)
Apr 05, 2017
The global women's marches that took place after President Donald Trump's election will receive the Freedom of Expression Courage Award from PEN America, the literary organization that champions human rights.
PEN announced on Wednesday that "The Women's March" has won the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award. Bob Bland, a woman who helped organize and served as a co-chair of the march, will accept the prize on behalf of the movement at PEN's literary gala on April 25 in New York.
"The Women's March began as a quixotic idea shared with friends on Facebook. In the hands of 99.9 percent of people, it would have ended there, as a pipe dream. But Bob Bland and the group of women who joined her forged a powerful, diverse coalition that worked with immense drive to win over skeptics and build the support of an extraordinarily broad coalition of which PEN America became part," said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America.
PEN also praised co-organizers and co-chairs Tamika D. Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour for helping to "galvanize a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups."
Andrew Solomon, PEN America president, added that the march "demonstrated the power of women and, in turn, the power of the vast diversity that is America. It was an assertion of human rights and an exercise of free speech in the broadest possible sense."
Indeed, as at least one recent poll discovered, the resistance--to paraphrase a popular feminist slogan--is female.
A survey by Lake Research Polling found that middle-aged women make up a huge proportion of the Trump resistance movement. Of the more than 28,000 people who take part in civic engagement through an app called Daily Action, 86 percent are women, and 66 percent were over the age of 45--with 72 percent saying they'd already participated in a protest against the president, and 77 saying they would likely do so in the future, Lake Research found.
PEN's gala will also honor composer Stephen Sondheim, imprisoned Ukrainian writer-filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, and CEO of Macmillan publishing house John Sargent.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The global women's marches that took place after President Donald Trump's election will receive the Freedom of Expression Courage Award from PEN America, the literary organization that champions human rights.
PEN announced on Wednesday that "The Women's March" has won the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award. Bob Bland, a woman who helped organize and served as a co-chair of the march, will accept the prize on behalf of the movement at PEN's literary gala on April 25 in New York.
"The Women's March began as a quixotic idea shared with friends on Facebook. In the hands of 99.9 percent of people, it would have ended there, as a pipe dream. But Bob Bland and the group of women who joined her forged a powerful, diverse coalition that worked with immense drive to win over skeptics and build the support of an extraordinarily broad coalition of which PEN America became part," said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America.
PEN also praised co-organizers and co-chairs Tamika D. Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour for helping to "galvanize a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups."
Andrew Solomon, PEN America president, added that the march "demonstrated the power of women and, in turn, the power of the vast diversity that is America. It was an assertion of human rights and an exercise of free speech in the broadest possible sense."
Indeed, as at least one recent poll discovered, the resistance--to paraphrase a popular feminist slogan--is female.
A survey by Lake Research Polling found that middle-aged women make up a huge proportion of the Trump resistance movement. Of the more than 28,000 people who take part in civic engagement through an app called Daily Action, 86 percent are women, and 66 percent were over the age of 45--with 72 percent saying they'd already participated in a protest against the president, and 77 saying they would likely do so in the future, Lake Research found.
PEN's gala will also honor composer Stephen Sondheim, imprisoned Ukrainian writer-filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, and CEO of Macmillan publishing house John Sargent.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The global women's marches that took place after President Donald Trump's election will receive the Freedom of Expression Courage Award from PEN America, the literary organization that champions human rights.
PEN announced on Wednesday that "The Women's March" has won the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award. Bob Bland, a woman who helped organize and served as a co-chair of the march, will accept the prize on behalf of the movement at PEN's literary gala on April 25 in New York.
"The Women's March began as a quixotic idea shared with friends on Facebook. In the hands of 99.9 percent of people, it would have ended there, as a pipe dream. But Bob Bland and the group of women who joined her forged a powerful, diverse coalition that worked with immense drive to win over skeptics and build the support of an extraordinarily broad coalition of which PEN America became part," said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America.
PEN also praised co-organizers and co-chairs Tamika D. Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour for helping to "galvanize a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups."
Andrew Solomon, PEN America president, added that the march "demonstrated the power of women and, in turn, the power of the vast diversity that is America. It was an assertion of human rights and an exercise of free speech in the broadest possible sense."
Indeed, as at least one recent poll discovered, the resistance--to paraphrase a popular feminist slogan--is female.
A survey by Lake Research Polling found that middle-aged women make up a huge proportion of the Trump resistance movement. Of the more than 28,000 people who take part in civic engagement through an app called Daily Action, 86 percent are women, and 66 percent were over the age of 45--with 72 percent saying they'd already participated in a protest against the president, and 77 saying they would likely do so in the future, Lake Research found.
PEN's gala will also honor composer Stephen Sondheim, imprisoned Ukrainian writer-filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, and CEO of Macmillan publishing house John Sargent.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.