History in the making
The
Women's March on Washington was held on Saturday, January 21, 2017, with its central march in Washington, DC, and sister marches held all over the country and the world including on each of the seven continents. The vision and the mission of the march and the subsequent movement are simultaneously simple and complex-- simple to me in that the concepts seem so basic and logical, but complex in the recognition of the multiple levels of intersectionality that need to exist in such a movement. Rather than attempt to put it in my own words, I want to record the vision and mission directly from their
website:
OUR VISION
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.
OUR MISSION
The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us - immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault - and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.
In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.
We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.
HEAR OUR VOICE.
Being a part of the movement
I was there in Washington, DC, thanks to some great friends who provided transportation, housing, and camaraderie. It's been two weeks since the march, two weeks full of kids' basketball games, a new job, laundry piles, mounds of dirty dishes, Girl Scout cookie selling, and family laughs and tears. In other words, it's been two weeks of normal life in my insulated world, all while hell has apparently broken loose in our country's government.
I've spent these two weeks thinking about the experience and wondering how I'd be able to put into words what it meant to me to be there. As always, I long for a better way with words to feel like I could adequately capture the emotion, the weight, and the impact of the day on my heart. I've read and listened to news stories and personal accounts of the day in DC and in other cities in the U.S., and I found myself nodding in agreement again and again. It was a day of unity and friendship, a day that should have left me on the edge of a panic attack considering the size of the crowds I found myself squeezed into, yet all I did was smile and breathe it all in, with nary a racing heartbeat in sight. I found myself surrounded by people mostly going out of their way to be polite and accommodating, which isn't usually the case in big crowds.
Serendipity was in full force, as well. With over a million people estimated to have been in the crowd in Washington, DC, I just happened to be standing in a spot by which a parent of a former student would march. What a happy coincidence to be in the same exact place and to be able to give a hug to a woman I truly respect as an educator and a parent.
On our way to the march, my friend
(who lives in our new town but who we know from our many years of living in a DC suburb prior) and I stopped at a Starbucks in West Virginia for a bathroom and snack break. We began chatting with two women who stopped in, also on their way to the march coming all the way from St. Louis, Missouri. They happened to mention that they'd be stopping in Ohio to visit the town in which they grew up- Greenhills. This just happens to be one of three
"green towns" built in the U.S. during the New Deal, and of course, my friend and I lived in one of the others in Maryland for many years. Seriously, I couldn't make this up.
So what did it mean to me to be in DC for such a historic experience?
feeling connected to hundreds of thousands of individuals
a show of how powerful a united effort can be
sharing physical space with strangers who understand my emotional space
hoping for a future that recognizes women's rights as human rights
recognizing a moment that will be a highlight in history books for years to come
At one point, I took a minute to close my eyes and just be immersed in my other senses. Listening to the chanting, hearing the speakers' powerful calls for unity, feeling the closeness of strangers' bodies and being amazed at not freaking out about it. I breathed in slowly and acknowledged that I could say the words I was there.
Through my eyes
As is usually the case, this post is primarily for me. The photo sharing part of the post will now commence, and this probably-too-large-of-a-collection-of-cell-phone-photos represents a culling down of the total number of pictures I took. Each pic has a particular feeling for me, as I remember just wanting to document every sight I saw. I took a few videos-- that I won't share because of my shaky hand syndrome and my inability to orient my phone the correct way-- that I will nonetheless always treasure simply because of the audio captured. These images tell the story as I saw it on 1/21/17.
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| what better socks exist for living in a time like this? |
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| oh, Metro, I've kinda missed you! |
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| coming out of the Judiciary Square station at 8:30 am, it began to feel real |
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| what better role model to embrace on a day like this? |
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| the Capitol has been the background of many pics I've taken over the years living in the area, but this is my fave |
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| our group getting settled into our spot near the corner of Independence and 6th, behind Air and Space |
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| the view of the screen from where I stood for over 6 hours |
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| looking to my right onto Independence Ave |
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| looking behind me down Independence Ave |
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| taking a moment of breathing room to put myself in the picture of the crowd |
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| clockwise, from bottom left: Charles Brotman, announcer extraordinaire, opening the program after being denied the inaugural duties he held since 1957; Gloria Steinem, feminist movement leader and impassioned speaker; America Ferrera, actress, speaking about immigration and human rights |
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| clockwise, from top left: Michael Moore, filmmaker and activist, speaking AT LENGTH about Flint, Michigan and how we must resist; Ashley Judd, actress, reciting/performing the powerful poem "I Am a Nasty Woman" by 19-year-old Nina Donovan; Scarlett Johansson, actress, giving a compelling argument for the need for Planned Parenthood services; Van Jones, author and commentator, calling on liberals to be better |
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| clockwise, from top left: Sophie Cruz, 6-year-old activist who was the first speaker to make tears stream down my face calling for love and peace; Angela Davis, civil rights activist, giving a rousing speech connecting the many human rights issues at the heart of the march; Linda Sarsour, one of the national co-chairs of the march; Tamika Mallory, another of the national co-chairs of the march. |
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| clockwise, from top left: Alicia Keys, musician, whose adaptation of "Girl on Fire" for the march was perfection; Madonna, musician, whose speech was fiery and emotional but not necessarily the most appropriate for the movement; and Janelle Monáe, musician who got the crowd to say the names of black women and men murdered by law enforcement. |
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| a little sparrow alighted on this branch above us and proceeded to serenade the crowd, its song joining in the chanting and moving me beyond explanation |
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| and then we began to march, during which I took fewer pics because we were on the move, and instead just tried to record in memory every sight and sound |
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| not sure if this guy was videoing or taking photos, but I'd love to see what he got from that angle looking down at the marching crowd |
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| the view we were greeted with upon entering the Gallery Place/Chinatown station |
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| I spent a couple minutes near a family with Cadette and Junior Girl Scout who were at the march, and I had a lovely conversation with the older girl about the Girl Scouts' participation in the Inaugural Parade in this year of anything but a normal election |
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| back on the Metro, only a bit more squished this time! |
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| the view down the shiny new and uber-crowded Metro card |
Signs O' The Times
If you thought that the previous 20+ pictures was a lot, be thankful that I'm opting to put the 59 pictures of signs in a slideshow rather than individually! Honestly, the signs in the crowd were the absolute best. I wanted to document every single one that I saw, and even with the many that I got, there were a ton that I missed, too. Some were more lighthearted, some were intentionally provocative, some were thoughtful and serious, many included Hamilton references (to my delight), and each and every one showed the care and thoughts one person wanted to express.
Now what?
What do I expect to happen in the aftermath? I honestly don't know. Even in the last two weeks, the state of affairs in our country has gotten unimaginably worse... a friend and I were darkly joking that we miss the innocence of two weeks ago. Sigh. I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse-- much, much worse?-- before it gets better. But, I know that I'm not alone, and the feeling of being on the right side of history with millions of others is reassuring and empowering on its own. I'm trying not to fall into the pit of
"Well, I marched, so I'm a good activist and now I can sit back and wait for things to fall into place." I'm following the
10 Actions in the first 100 days suggestions
, and I've made phone calls and sent tweets, emails, and postcards to my representatives asking them to stand for women's rights in specific pertinent issues. I'm still trying to connect with local people in these activism efforts, but it's been a busy two weeks with family activities. I won't give up! We need to address the inequalities in our society for people of color, members of the LGBTQIA community, immigrants, people of all faiths or of no religion, Native Americans, people with disabilities, and survivors of sexual assault and rape. This is a time in the history of our nation that will be analyzed and discussed long, long after I'm gone. But I want my children's children and on down to know that I was a part of it. I was there, and I kept showing up.
In solidarity,
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