On Saturday, approximately 250,000 people gathered in downtown Chicago to participate in the Women’s March. The alarming number of participants forced officials to transform the march into a rally, but that did not stop the demonstrators. They continued to march throughout downtown Chicago anyways.
The march was continuously moving. People from all walks of life gathered together to support the same major goal and voice what they believe in. The train ride downtown was packed. There was barely enough space to stand, let alone move. The same could be said for the rally. However, the number of people only made the participants feel closer. Tons of people who attended the rally agreed that being there was an experience unlike any other. They cultivated relationships with the people around them and banded together over the same cause. This event brought more people together than it separated, which cannot be said for all rallies.
Photo by Kiah Lynn
Throughout the city loud chanting could be heard. A group of women wore drums around their neck and pounded out a synchronized beat. The demonstrators around them joined in the chanting as they admired the collection of women that accompanied the music with a choreographed dance. Although the march was created to battle a lack of human rights, the people who were participating were all in good spirits. The day was unusually warm for a late January morning, the sun beating down on the crowds as if to predict a good turnout and a positive reaction to the march.
The march brought out the creative side of the Chicagoland people, with homemade signs and shirts with quotes, phrases and even the occasional hand-drawn ovaries. Although it was called the Women’s March, a large number of men joined the march sporting signs in support of women. The train from Evanston was packed on the way to downtown, and back from it. People had heard that the march had been “canceled” due to the large number of people flooding into the city, but it wasn’t that simple. Demonstrators still continued to turn up, chant, shout and march across the city. The predicted number of people the Chicagoland march would draw was severely underestimated, reminding the city that people from all over were desperate to help support themselves, their families and their friends.
Photo by Kiah Lynn
The Downtown Chicago Women’s March was not alone. Marches cropped up all over the country in all major metropolitan areas. As one of the first demonstrations after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, this certainly sparked some interest in the media. This march showed that although the country can often be very divided, especially during the beginning stages of the new presidency, it can also have the power to unite thousands of people from all cities across the nation.