According to statistics provided by The Women’s March Campaign, on January 21 over five million people worldwide participated in the Women’s March; over one million of these participants marched in Washington, D.C. This broke historic records everywhere, making the Women’s March the biggest protest in US history.
Not only does this march exude exemplary solidarity, but it also sends the message that the participants and marchers are not going to go away—so make sure you don’t. Now that the march is over and the idea of change on a cultural level has been planted, it’s time to kick it up a notch and plant the seed at a legislative level. It is not enough if your neighbor now sort of believes that women deserve reproductive rights. While educating and mobilizing people in a movement is key, it is not the direct source of change. Posting on social media that Trump looks like a Cheeto isn’t going to affect anything either. Stay angry, and now use that anger constructively.
Look to the The Women’s March Campaign for help on what to do next. Sign up for their “10 Actions for the first 100 Days” plan. The plan is designed to help give the public, and those who marched, ideas of what to do next based on what has worked in the past. The first step (as told by the plan) is to write a letter to a senator in your state. Write clearly and passionately about an issue or issues that you marched for. The website even offers printable postcards with the symbol of the movement on it. Once you have written your postcard, share it on social media in order to motivate friends, family and fellow marchers to do the same. But the most important part is to send it. Ask your senator why they think you do not deserve certain rights.
Make people think.