Key Women’s March moments: From Power to the Polls to Halsey’s brave performance

Here are key moments from Women’s March events in the United States over the weekend, starting with the Power to the Polls event in Las Vegas:

Las Vegas

The rally in Las Vegas had been designed for politics.

The day’s biggest cheers came when activists thanked Senate Democrats and said that the government shutdown should not end until immigrants brought to the United States as children won legal status.

“Our senators are doing what they’re supposed to do,” said Jo Beck, 70, an organizer with Nevada’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Democratic Caucus. “For the first time, they’ve got some balls.”

The official Women’s March organization — which has clashed with some affiliates and spinoffs — will spend the year focusing on Power to the Polls, a campaign meant to end Republican control of Congress and the states through mass voter registration.

The rally in Las Vegas included speeches from women running for office, activists and performances, including one from poet Jessica Washington.

Surrounded by black women wearing T-shirts saying “#IAmNotATrend,” Washington touched on themes of race and activism. One recurring line in her poem? “I rise.”

Los Angeles

Several women who have been publicly involved in the Time’s Up organization, which supports women who have experienced sexual assault and harassment in various industries, delivered speeches at events in Los Angeles.

Scarlett Johansson publicly called out James Franco, who has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by several women, when she said that “my mind baffles, how could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support to victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?” She added, referring to the Time’s Up pin Franco wore at the 2018 Golden Globes, “I want my pin back, by the way.”

Viola Davis said explained that her “testimony is one of poverty” and “one of being sexually assaulted.” She continued: “I know that every single day, when I think of that, I know that the trauma of those events are still with me today. And that’s what drives me to the voting booth. That’s what allows me to listen to the women who are still in silence.”

Olivia Munn, who has publicly accused director Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct, asked the crowd to “be the team member of every woman in your life,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Refrain from judgment. Be the rock of understanding. Be the well of empathy,” Munn continued. “We all have the power to make sure that our daughters, nieces, granddaughters, great-granddaughters grow up with the mentality that if you come for one of us — you come for all of us.”

Eva Longoria, Allison Janney, Lupita Nyong’o, Natalie Portman and Alfre Woodard also spoke or attended L.A.’s Women’s March.

New York

Singer Halsey recited a poem entitled, “A story like mine.” From a podium in front of the crowd, she talked about her friend’s rape and being sexually assaulted.

Meanwhile, Girl Scout Troop 3484 marched alongside the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition.

Chicago

Organizers estimated 300,000 people attended the Women’s March in Chicago on Saturday.

Transgender activist Channyn Lynne Parker spoke, and the cast of “Hamilton” — now on Broadway in Chicago — even made an appearance.

Women working in trades also brought the crowd to life:

People young and old marched in the Windy City, including Jane Bailey, 15, who said she was marching because since Trump was elected, boys at her high school have become more emboldened to bully girls online. “It really made me angry and want to fight,” she said.

Washington

Amid a government shutdown, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers on the stage at the Women’s March in Washington, telling the crowd they had “transformed the world.”

People in the crowd were upbeat and blinking into the bright, sunny day, with temperatures soaring into the high 50s. Many said they were encouraged by recent Democratic electoral wins in Alabama, which elected the state’s first Democratic senator since 1992, and in Virginia, where a record number of women won state legislative office.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), often mentioned as a potential 2020 presidential candidate, also addressed the crowd.

Participants this year voiced their concerns about the current administration’s policies, including immigration.

“We want to demonstrate that immigrant women have a right to live without violence, without ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] looking for them,” said Dilcia M. Molina, a health program manager at a D.C. clinic. “We all immigrated for some reason, because of violence in our countries, because of poverty.”

Original stories by The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel and Elahe Izadi.