By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A demonstration in Palmer Square Wednesday drew a lunchtime crowd of red-clad women with a few men sprinkled in for the “Day without Women” strike taking place on International Women’s Day in cities around the country., Standing in Tiger Park, some held homemade signs saying “Dissent is Patriotic,” “The Future is Female” or “We will not be silent.” Later they walked through downtown to tour women-owned businesses., “What an incredible, incredible turnout,” said Ashley Henderson, a founder of Princeton Marching Forward, the group that organized the event. “It’s so lovely to see all these people here, all this red, all this patriotism, because that’s why we’re here. We’re here for our country, we’re here for our rights.”, Organizers said a crowd of a little less than 200 people had showed up. Princeton Police said they estimated the crowd size at about 40 to 50 “initially,” and then 150 toward the end. International Women’s Day is observed around the world., “And the whole goal of this day is gender equality, that men and women are equal and they should have equal rights,” said Anu Sanghvi, an event organizer. “And so we have to show up, as women, and gather on days like this to show our solidarity for each other, to show the importance of speaking up for our rights and for supporting and highlighting women who are making a big dent in the economy.”, About 17 women-owned stores in town, from Bent Spoon to Labyrinth Books, were offering special discounts for mentioning “Women’s Event.”, “The Women’s Day strike calls for women not to spend money, to kind of grab your wallet today, but to honor women owned local businesses,” said Lindsay Casto., Henderson, the wife of Princeton men’s basketball coach Mitch Henderson, took off from her advertising job in New York to be there Tuesday. She, Casto and Anna Westrick started Princeton Marching Forward after the women’s march in Washington D.C. following President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration. The group of about 150 members is focused on health care, New Jersey politics and science and climate change, Henderson said., “And we just felt that we had to do something to keep the momentum going, it couldn’t end with a march,” she said wearing a “Mt. Nasty” T-shirt depicting animated images of Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Massachusetts., She said the “ultimate goal is to elect people that we feel reflect our” values., “That starts here in New Jersey, in 2017,” she said, ” (and) continues nationally with the mid-term elections in 2018.”, Trump’s name did not come up during the public remarks at Wednesday’s event. Nor was his name found on any of the signs people were carrying., “This is about women,” said Sanghvi, “and speaking up for each other.”
