The woman’s march was ultimately an inclusive march for human rights but highlighted women’s rights on the front line because of the oppressive nature of women’s status in society. We must prioritize the rights of those who are at risk more than the ones who are secured. The same way, the black lives matter protest was an inclusive march for human rights but highlighted black lives because they are on the front lines, at more risk due to a historic context of oppression, and continued victims of unarmed shootings/police brutality. Yet, one march was deemed peaceful, praised for no arrests, and depicted in media in a very different light than the Black Lives Matter movement. Instead, the black lives matter movement had moments of media coverage emphasizing isolated violent happenings and ongoing debates about the legitimacy of stating “black lives” instead of “all lives”.
Ultimately, all open and organized marches, whether they are for women, black lives, immigration, etc. are known by the city. Yet when I went to the women’s march in LA, which had an impressive turnout of 750K people, I was shocked to barely see any police. I think the only time I saw some cops were when they were navigating traffic in Union station because the metros were so full.
Yet, when the city knew a black lives matter protest were going to happen, cops, dressed in full protective gear, were sent to monitor it. Sometimes within hours of the protest, rubber bullets would be shot. Additionally, the turnout to the black lives matter protests were predominately black people, where the woman’s march had a number of people with different backgrounds and identities, including cis-men, cis-women, the gay community, the disabled community and people of different ethnicities and religions. These factors made me wonder how black bodies are viewed in relation to white bodies or women’s bodies. While the woman’s march was not viewed as threatening in the city’s eyes, black lives matter protests, which carried a similar tone and fight for equality and human rights, were assisted by police. The cities expectations for the marches were very different, highlighting race formations and the different representation of bodies in the media. Ms. Ijeoma Oluo, a writer and activist, reiterated, “The truth is, we are all fighting for very important things, but only certain people get to march down the street and not have to worry about violence from police officers.” While one protest was praised for its peaceful turnout, other protests are depicted as being “disruptive” for theirs. Let’s not forgot black pain in our anti-trump rhetoric.
