As the days got closer to the inauguration of our new President Elect many Americans across the nation feared what may come in the next four years. We were unsure if there would be a nuclear war, LGBT couples feared their rights would be taken away, women were unsure if they would still have the right to choose what happens to there bodies and many Latino families worried about loved ones being deported.
With all of this into play what do we do as Americans to get our voices heard? Since going to the election polls weren’t enough; we can rally, protest; write and call our local congressman and officials to express how we feel, or we can all unite as one. Throughout the week my friends and I discussed this topic in our normal group chat. The highlight of our discussion centered around the upcoming event for Saturday January 21, 2017, the Women’s March on Washington. We all voiced interest in attending and planned to go together. While making our plans, we came across different articles expressing different views towards the March. I remember sending an article from Elle, which discussed how many white women were behind the planning and purpose of the March. The article went on to explain their reasoning for the march on Washington. After a couple of days went by one of my friends shared an article in the chat posted by a young lady, named Jamilah Lemieux. Jamilah writes for Colorlines.com. She stated in her article that she would not be attending the march for numerous reasons, some of which included the lack of sisterhood when it came to the election, how she learned that 53% of white women voted for Trump, and that a majority of the women marching would be white women. Her article expressed her opinion about the name of the march. She concluded that the name “Women’s March on Washington” was derived from the 1995 and 1997 Million Mom March and Million Woman March organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan. These two events were organized Marches attended in majority by black women with no support from white women. Her article went on to state that the marches organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan was being co-opted and erased by clueless white women that went out and voted for Trump. Her article made some very valid points. After reading this article, did it change my mind? Yes it did. It changed most of our minds about attending. Homegirl was stating some real facts and she was speaking to us. I share the article with my mother. She read the article and the response I received from her change my mindset completely about attending. My mom commented, “That is Jamilah’s opinion, she is entitled to it. But when I march on Saturday I am marching for my daughter, sister, nieces, and mother and for all women rights regardless of color.” Back in the group chat each one of us shared our different views on what the article expressed and we thought to ourselves lets continue with our plan to march on Saturday. Remembering the struggles black women have had for years and as young black women we can also let our voices be heard. So, the Women’s March on Washington was still on our calendar. The day arrives for the march; we had our signs and were ready. We made sure we dressed in layers. The train was packed, with many different generations of women. They had their pink pussy hats on and they were excited. You could feel the excitement in the air when we got off at Judiciary Square. Women and men everywhere and I mean so many women of different ages and races it was amazing to see. Once we started walking towards the rally people had their signs up in the air exercising their first amendment rights and expressing their thoughts on the newly elected President. Women had signs that read, “I am a nasty woman” which is what President Trump called Hilary during the campaign. Many had the slogan “keep your tiny hands away from my p***y” which is referring to the comment that President Trump made a sometime ago about grabbing women by their private part. Seeing all these signs and all these women made me realize that I made the right choice by attending. While waiting for the march, everyone walked around on the National mall just viewing and admiring everyone signs. One sign(s) that really caught my eye was the faces of our famous black women who lead the civil rights movement. . Now in our minds we are thinking that one of our black sisters are carrying the signs, but to ur surprise there were four white women carrying the signs. We thought to ourselves why are these women carrying these particular signs? We realized that they are carrying the signs because they realize how many black women have paved the way for certain things that occurred in America. As the crowd got bigger we started to get cold and hungry so we decided to stand in the line to get food. Of course in the line we met different people and we noticed how many people were really out on the national mall. While we were in line we met two women Kentucky. They came all the way from Kentucky just to be apart of this experience. As we joked about how many people attend the inguaration versus how many were at the women’s march we noticed that the time was approaching to start the march. As the march started people were walking in many different directions some going in the middle, some going to the right and some were going to the left. We followed the crowd in the middle marching on the national mall with our signs held high in the air and chanted “HEY HEY, HO HO, DONALD TRUMP has got to GO” as loud as we could and it felt good. Once we reached the street and we approached a new crowd of people that were marching, we joined them and we started chanting with them. I just felt so amazed and proud that I was apart of something that was history in the making. We finally made it to the train station and it was amazing to see as we walked towards the train we could still see all of the crowds of people marching, chanting with their signs way above their heads. As we approached the train station we noticed that people started to leave their signs on the ground creating a collage. Placing our signs with the others, gave an amazing emotional feeling that provide an incredible ending to our day. As I watched all the marches across the world form with many different women, from all ethnic backgrounds and ages. It confirmed within my spirit that what I did on Saturday 21, 2017, that was beyond amazing and we had made the right decision. I was honored to share that expeiernce with my mother and friends. But most importantly, I was honored to share it with all the young children that came out with their parents to witness history. We as women have to stick together and we have to remember that we control everything in the world. No matter what any man says; we hold the power. We have to continue to let our voices be heard and remember that we are just as equal as men. If you don’t stand up for anything, you will not get anything in return. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the marches all over the world….
