Last Saturday, all across the world, hundreds of thousands marched.
You have probably seen the pictures of those enormous crowds in their fantastic pink hats already.
But right here in South Bend, we, too, marched.
Over a thousand women, men, and children marched on Saturday around downtown South Bend. It was a short distance, but still, we marched.
Rewind to Friday night, when a friend of mine found the event page on Facebook and realized that this was really happening in middle-of-nowhere Indiana. I had seen that a women’s march was theoretically happening in South Bend, but I didn’t believe that our red state and our conservative university (that according to the mock election back in November maybe had a different preferred candidate) could actually be doing this. Sure, DC was the real deal, a wonderfully coincidental demonstration date that wasn’t responding to any major event in that city at all, and NYC, and the shocking turnout in LA, and even back home in Philly. But somehow I kept that all distant from my real life, even as my aunt told me of her convent’s plan to travel to DC (Sisters of Saint Joseph represent!).
But my friend’s enthusiasm, planning skills, and purchase of posterboard led to me ending up in a crowd of awesome people marching for what they believed in. Besides the core message of gender equality and everyone’s clear feminist agenda, there was a diversity of signs covering a broad range of issues.
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Science: From posters that declared ‘Science is Real’ to my friend’s stats about women in STEM’s low employment numbers (despite earning an equal number of degrees), science was key. We attend a university with an amazing science department, and we will refuse to live in a world where research and data mean nothing. The environment was clearly on our minds, especially as we enjoyed an unusually warm January day.
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Immigration: I saw a multitude of signs expressing anger at proposed walls, with one referencing the fact that we are pretty much all immigrants to this country.
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Healthcare: From preserving the ACA, to keeping funding for women’s clinics, we clearly want access to care.
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Sexual Assault: The pink hats that have become iconic of the march and the many signs referencing female anatomy made the message clear to the boneheaded people who don’t understand the seriousness to which women are concerned about rape culture.
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Male Allies: the number of men in the community who came to support the cause was inspiring. From college guys in ND shirts to older gentlemen from the area, my heart was warmed, as the march was open to and needed the support of people of all genders.
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Raising Young Feminists: The number of children with signs was heartening, with little girls and boys alike holding simple signs they helped write, some up on their parents’ shoulders. There were strollers with signs, and even a young Girl Scout in uniform.
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LGBTQ+ Issues: From signs as simple as “Love is Love” to those inclusive of trans women to many rainbow shirts, it was a good day. My personal favorite sign was made, I believe by an ND guy: “Mike Pence isn’t even that cute” with a drawing of a rainbow.
The community I observed at this march was amazing, and as the numbers are rolling in, I think I can say with accuracy that it was the largest day of protest in US history. One for the history books, and I was there with some of my best friends.
If you were there: keep the momentum going. We know we are angry and loud and passionate and can make a change. So we must.
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Images 1, 2 (provided by author), 3 (provided by author)