When Women's March Co-founder Tamika Mallory was asked: "People are going to say, wait a minute, there’s a man as the headliner at the Women’s Convention, the first women’s convention in 40 years?" RELATED: 
 
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 "We want to make sure that women know they have the power in unity to come forward and tell their stories, whatever their stories may be, and we have the obligation to protect their voices. The senator from Vermont, an independent who challenged Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, is to address the crowd the evening of Oct. 27, on the first day of a three-day convention organized by the Women's March. “Women ARE leading in the Senate. This is a moment to highlight them.” 
 
 [Women’s March prepares for its first national convention next month in Detroit] 
 
 Sanders is one of only two men among the more than 60 people scheduled to speak at the convention, organizers said on Twitter. In a statement on Facebook, the senator said he is honored to “join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice.” 
 
 “In January, millions of women came out in an extraordinary and unprecedented display of power and resistance,” Sanders said, referring to the Women’s March. “Now more than ever, we must support the leadership of women across the country and fight together to advance our progressive agenda.” 
 
 A number of women leaders will also deliver remarks at the opening event, organizer Carmen Perez said on Twitter. "We are thrilled that Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Sanders will be speaking at the Women's Convention." The Women’s Convention is led predominantly by women of color, Mallory said on Twitter, who defended the Sanders decision to critics: “We announce one man as a speaker among over 60, and y’all start saying he’s our leader? Y'all may not have noticed but we announced that weeks ago...#ReclaimingOurTime — Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 12, 2017 
 
 Organizers said they invited many elected officials to attend the convention, including Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but the event did not work with their schedules. “There are countless women who deserve that stage time.” 
 
 “#reclaiming our time?” another woman tweeted.
– The first national convention by the organizers of the DC Women's March will be held in Detroit starting Oct. 27, but there's already a bit of turmoil over one of the scheduled speakers. The Washington Post reports that Bernie Sanders is set to make remarks on opening day of the three-day Women's Convention, with the Vermont senator writing on Facebook he's "honored to join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial, and environmental justice." But some think that, at a convention dedicated to women's issues and rights, those front lines should be reserved for women only (at least when it comes to prime podium time), and they're grumbling about a selection they don't think should have been made in the first place. "This choice sends the wrong message," tweeted the head of the Emily's List PAC, one of the convention's sponsors. There's even a Change.org petition seeking to remove Sanders as an opening-day speaker, while still acknowledging he's been a "[long-time] champion for progressive values" for which women are "grateful." But Tamika D. Mallory, one of the event's organizers, points out on Twitter that Sanders—just one of two men among the 60-plus scheduled speakers—isn't the day's headliner (Rep. Maxine Waters is), and she points out to the Detroit Free Press that Sanders is an expert activist mobilizer. As for why someone like Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, or even Hillary Clinton wasn't helping to lead opening-day honors, Mallory adds in a statement that "many elected officials" were invited, but that their schedules didn't permit them to attend, per CNN.