Free America Walkout in Downtown OKC

Tuesday, the Women’s March organization, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, in Oklahoma organized a city-wide walkout and rally to “Free America” in downtown Oklahoma City, drawing hundreds of participants.

The Free America walkout in OKC was part of a larger nationwide protest organized by the National Women’s March Organization. The goal of the organizers was to have participants walk out of work and “away from fascism,” which they believe the Trump Administration has supported, and instead “walk towards freedom.”

The nationwide walkout took place on the anniversary of President Trump’s second inauguration. Over 900 walkouts were organized across the country.

The protesters in OKC marched from the Bricktown Ballpark to the Sky Rink Pavilion at Scissortail Park. As the crowd came towards the park, many held homemade signs as well as signs that were an upside-down American Flag with the words “Free America” on them. Marching, they chanted, “This is what democracy looks like.”

Nicole Maldonado, the organizing manager with the ACLU of Oklahoma, said, “The main purpose is to show in our labor we have power.”

“The immigrant community, we give so much to this country, to this society, and then they keep persecuting us, they keep persecuting our people, they don’t value our labor and force we give to the United States,” Maldonado said.

While protesters were there to speak out against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in the U.S., many were there to speak out against legislation that they believe has negatively impacted Oklahomans. Such as book bans, abortion access, and more.

Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March, spoke at the rally. Beginning her speech discussing the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Said O’Leary Carmona, “What happened here was a tragedy, but it also wasn’t random. The Violence that took place that April was white nationalism taken to its furthest extreme.”

She continued to say, “It is the manifestation of an ideology that glorifies hate and justifies violence, and this city bears the scars of just one person’s actions. So we can’t look away when that destructive ideology spreads farther and deeper than ever before.”

Former Oklahoma educator and organizer with Indivisible OKC, Nina, spoke at the rally as well. She said, “We here in Oklahoma are no strangers to the threat of authoritarianism and what happens when government offices are corrupted by those with a nationalist agenda.”

She continued, “It is an assault on our memory. That is why books are banned, why libraries are defunded, why museums are stripped of the content that tells the full story.”

She went on to discuss that she rembered at time in Oklahoma, “before Republican leadership, when Oklahoma was 17th in education rather than 50th.”

An Oklahoma high school student spoke at the rally, saying, “These aren’t distant issues; they are our lives.”

The Walkout was non-violent, and there were no counter-protestors.

Voting season in Oklahoma is coming up. The Board of Education Primary votes will be held on Feb. 10. The Oklahoma Primaries will be held on June 16. The Oklahoma general elections will be held on Nov. 3.