On January 21, 2017 millions of people around the world came together to have their voices heard. Women's Marches took place in almost every major city across the entire United States as well as cities outside of the country. The motto of the movement being " We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country." Not being able to attend a march myself, I wanted to get the inside scoop on what it was like to attend one. I took it upon myself to reach out to members of the community who attended a march to receive feedback on their experience. (Some participants chose to remain anonymous or leave out last names).
How old are you?
Anica: 31
Taylor Bartlett: 21
Jake Sanders: 23
Location of the march you attended.
Anica: Washington, DC
Taylor Bartlett: West Palm Beach, FL
Jake Sanders: West Palm Beach, FL
Why did you decide to attend a march?
Anica: I was originally planning to travel to DC that weekend for Hillary Clinton’s inauguration. I was excited to bring my daughters and together witness the inauguration of the first female president of the United States. When it became clear that Donald Trump would be inaugurated instead, I was crestfallen. When I heard about the Women’s March on Washington I decided it was a concrete action I could take to express my outrage about the direction we were headed as a country. I didn’t get to fulfill my hopes of witnessing a woman make history in DC that weekend by assuming the highest powerful office in the nation, but I did witnessed hundreds of thousands of women making history in a different way
Taylor Bartlett: Our society marginalizes anyone who is not a rich, white, heterosexual male and our current president, Donald Trump, has repeatedly and publicly made statements that demean these marginalized groups. This behavior, I fear, will create an air of normalization around sexist, homophobic, racist, and islamaphobic conduct in our country. Because of my strong beliefs against normalizing these behaviors I chose to march to hopefully send a message to our government that we, the people, are united, strong and loving, and that we are watching what they are doing, and we will continue to fight for equity for all people.
Jake Sanders: I felt it was important for allies to come out, march and show solidarity with women across the country. I wanted to send a message loud and clear that a man has no right to decide what a woman does with her body. As a male, I have an opportunity to show that you don’t have to be a woman to be a feminist.
What issue/issues are you most passionate about in terms of women’s right’s or right’s in general?
Anica: What is most important to me is working toward a country that honors the fundamental dignity of all people. The philosopher John Rawls established a test for a just society: if you were to know everything about it, would you be willing to enter into a place at random? This simple test always reminds me we have a long way to go to reach justice.
Taylor Bartlett: I am most passionate about Women’s reproductive rights/reproductive health in general. I believe that all women should have the right to do with their body as they please, and I believe that reproductive health resources, such as planned parenthood, are vital to insuring the health and safety of women in this country.
Jake Sanders: I think the most important thing we can fight for now is making sure women still have access to family planning services and healthcare across the country. We also need to step up and remind congressional republicans that a woman's right to choose is a personal decision that the government doesn’t belong in.
Did you carry a sign, if so what did it say and what was the meaning behind it?
Anica: I did. One side said “A woman’s place is in the resistance.” I chose this saying because it helped me feel empowered and bold. I also felt it spoke to the need for intersectional feminism, which teaches us that as feminists we must resist not just sexism but resist various systems of oppression that hold back humanity, including racism, classism, and ableism.
The other side said “I’ll bet you think this march is about you.” It’s a play on Carly Simon’s song “You’re So Vain” and I think the lyrics speak for themselves.
Taylor Bartlett: No sign!
Jake Sanders: I didn’t carry a sign, I was there with the Democratic Party registering new voters, helping existing voters update their registration or switch from Independent to Democrat since Florida is a closed primary state.
Did you make an assumption about what the crowd would look like and were your expectations met?
Anica: I assumed it would be a large crowd and it definitely was!
Taylor Bartlett: Yes! My friends and I are all between the ages of 18 and 26, so when we arrived we definitely had an expectation for the crowd to be similar to our age group. However, the majority of the crowd was older, 40, 50 and up, and I thought that was absolutely wonderful! We often have a perception that people with more socially liberal ideologies are younger, so it was wonderful to see that stereotype proved wrong!
Jake Sanders: I’m heavily involved in Democratic politics (I spent this last cycle working on Congressional, State and County races and in cooperation with the Presidential Campaign), so this wasn’t my first rodeo when it comes to these types of events. I attended a Hillary Clinton rally in Fort Pierce this October and the crowd was overwhelmingly older women, most of whom were predominantly white. I expected the Women’s March crowd to look about the same, especially in Palm Beach, which isn’t as diverse as Fort Pierce. It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see the intersectionality of the movement. There were a whole lot of men, a lot of people of all ages and a much more diverse crowd than usual. To me, it was exciting to see other men out stepping up to fight beside the women in their lives
Now that the march has passed, what are you doing to stay involved?
Anica: I’ve started calling my legislators. I went to a protest at the airport to speak out against the immigration and travel restrictions that were signed into place over the weekend. I signed up for a local activist training.
Taylor Bartlett: I’ve signed up for the 10 things to do in the first 100 days. It is an email program through the women’s march that emails you a new task to complete every 10 days for the first 100 days of president Trump’s office. They are all really simply tasks, and the coordinators make it as easy as possible for people to get involved and help continue to protest and fight for our rights!
Jake Sanders: As President of the Young Democrats of St. Lucie & Martin County, I’ll be working with our Organizing Committee to make sure we take part in all 10 actions (the first of which, organizing a campaign to write letters to our Congressmen, we completed last Wednesday) planned by the organizers Women’s March Movement. I’m a precinct captain in my local democratic party and I’ll be attending and organizing events to help resist President Trump’s dangerous and backwards agenda at every turn. I plan to help recruit candidates to run for local offices, to be an active ally and mouthpiece for feminism, for LGBT rights, for American Muslims & Syrian refugees, for our communities of color, for criminal justice reform and all the other causes I hold dear. But most importantly I plan to never be silent- to speak up loudly when something is wrong, no matter the cost.
Do you have any messages or lessons you learned from the march that you would like to share?
Anica: Van Jones spoke at the march and he said "They came to this town yesterday. They had red hats on. They were proud of their accomplishment. And they thought they had taken America back. What they never counted on was a million women in pink hats that are going to take America forward." It has only been a short amount of time since the inauguration and so much has been disheartening, but remembering that women show up and speak out energizes me to rise to the challenges ahead.
Taylor Bartlett: This may sound cheesy, but I learned that those of us who believe in equity for all persons greatly outnumber those who choose to trivialize the existence of some people. It made me feel empowered and hopeful for the future.
Jake Sanders: For people that want to get involved, show up. Nobody is changing minds on social media, if you want to take real action to resist Trump’s policies or to change anything for the better, it requires you to be there to do it.
For people that are already involved, get to know your whole community- not just your immediate neighbors and other folks just like you. Spend time learning their needs, being there year round, not just before an election.
For people that don’t care, start caring, because whether or not you vote these policies will affect you and those you love. Vote in every election (yes, the midterms and your municipal elections, where turnout can be as low as 10- 15%), for every race from President to dog catcher. Don’t cede control of your country to people that have hate in their hearts or have destructive goals because one day, you won’t be able to get it back.
