Not Just a Moment, But a Movement: The Women’s March on Washington
653 cities, 4.7 million people, and many different faces. All marching together for one purpose. That was the legacy of the Women’s March, which took place mainly in the nation’s capital, Washington DC, with many sister marches all around the country and the world. I had the privilege to be one of the half a million people marching in the nation’s capital, and being among speakers such as Linda Sarsour, an influential Palestinian-American Muslim speaker and activist who grew up in Brooklyn, and Emma Watson, a British actress and women’s rights advocate. In addition, there were 750,000 people marching in Los Angeles; 250,000 in Chicago; and 200,000 in New York.
The day of the march, we found out that all the marches planned had exceeded the expected turnout. The march in Washington had twice as many people as had attended the presidential inauguration the day before. In addition, there were large marches in London, Ottawa, Sydney, Stockholm, Paris, Toronto, and many other cities around the world. Senator Bernie Sanders attended one of the marches in Vermont and spoke there.
Before the march began at 1:15 PM, there was a rally that featured speakers as well as live music. Among the speakers were the women of color in charge of organizing the women’s march: Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory. The trio gave impressive, inspiring speeches at the rally, and the crowd was attentive and took in everything. During the rally, there were so many people, that I was not able to hear Linda’s speech; however, after coming home, I listened to it. It really touched me because she spoke about the realities of living in the United States as a Muslim woman after the election of Donald Trump, and her words were eloquently true.
After the rally, the march began, and there were many people marching together side-by-side, chanting as one. In addition, many people were carrying signs that centered around Donald Trump’s violation of women’s rights, as well as the other causes the march was about, such as Black Lives Matter, Native rights, and immigration rights.
In addition to marching, there were news cameras interviewing and filming the marchers. One of the photographers at the women’s march made a still video which included people involved in the march talking about why they march. It captured the heart and soul of the march, and it showed the diversity of the people at the march and how they all joined together as one when they marched for justice.
