This was written after 12 hours of marching and protesting. I can't describe how the march made me feel in words. Marching with so many different women from all over the country gave me hope and getting home and seeing all the marches across the country showed that not everyone was going to stand by and let Donald Trump spread his hateful agenda.
Since words can't describe how I felt completely, I decided to include my favorite pictures from that day.
These pictures show the shear mass of women that went and the effect we all had. D.C. was so packed they had to reroute the march and lines to even get on the metro way down the street. It was a very powerful thing to be a part of.
Now describing all my emotions from that day wouldn't be complete without talking about the things that bothered me so I am going to close the article with two points that need to be discussed more. In all my life, I had never seen this many different kinds of people and different generations all in one place, which was amazing, but it also showed me a lot. It showed me that there is a divide, even between people at the march. There is so much that we all have to learn from each other if we are going to be successful in the next four years and further on into the future.
One: people need to learn to talk about what makes them uncomfortable, race and class especially. Two: people also need to learn how to be an ally and show solidarity properly; not everything is about you. All women, especially women of color, need to be able to have a voice and if women stand in the way of each other, we're no better than what we are fighting against. I saw a sign today that describes it best: "If you think this march is about you, you're not here for the right reason." The march was against hate and to give all women a voice; it's okay to have a reason to march but keep in mind that all of this is bigger than you.
One final closing point: even though the march seemed overall successful, at least in proving that we won't stand for this, and the turnout was revolutionary, there is still a lot left to do and I hope the women that turned out that day left feeling inspired and ready to fight. This march was only the beginning and if this is where people stop, what needs to get done won't happen.