As a college student, making the long journey to D.C. for the Women’s March on Washington isn’t possible. It would drain my savings and I’d probably end up missing some classes. After searching twitter to find if there was a closer march, I stumbled upon one right here at home. When I first saw the post about the West Lafayette Women’s Sister March I was so excited that I was going to be able to join many of my fellow men and women in protest.
The weekend of the march started off pretty awful because of Trump’s inauguration into the White House. Not only are we losing a classy first family, but we’re gaining an orange, sexist idiot. Although there is some light to the situation, considering how many people actually showed up to the inauguration. If you haven’t guessed yet, Obama’s inauguration is on the left.
When the day of the march arrived, I heard that many people were scheduled to go to the marches around the world. In fact, the Women’s March on Washington turned out to be the biggest peaceful protest in US history. My roommate, boyfriend and myself all attended the march in West Lala together. We made signs and dressed in pink for support.
On the way to the Tippecanoe Court House, we kept thinking that the march wasn’t going to be very crowded, considering how little we heard about the sister march. To our surprised, we found that traffic past the bridge was backed up. After driving around for 25 minutes trying to find a parking spot, we made it to the court house later than planned. The crowd size was extremely big with people holding signs and cheering. There were all different kinds of people there, too. Different ethnicities, genders, disabilities and many more gathered together in a peaceful protest to protect the rights of women, people with disabilities, POCs, and the LGBTQ+ communities. Personally, my favorite part was listening to the concerts and motivational speakers.
Here are some things that the march taught me:
1. Even though the weather said it would be very warm for January, bring a jacket just in case.
The temperatures were in the 60s, but the entire march was behind all the buildings in downtown Lafayette. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough sunlight to keep me warm. Seriously, if you’re going out to protest, take the weather into consideration and dress appropriately, otherwise you’ll be miserable.
2. Feminism isn’t just for women
Okay, I already knew this one, but seeing this march filled with men and women from all different kinds of backgrounds strengthened this idea. Remember, feminism means equality, not that one gender is better than the other. From an evolutionary standpoint, neither gender would survive forever without the other.
3. In addition to equality, there are numerous other problems out there that people are fighting for.
Equality is important and I think it’s one of the first steps that will lead us to fixing many of the issues in our society. However, we have to remember the other issues that people are fighting for. With Trump in office, many people may lose access to healthcare and Planned Parenthood may become defunded. Reports say that this will kill 43,000 people annually. Also, let’s not forget Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education is unqualified, and has never had to go through, or put her children through, the public school system. She’s also never had to apply for college loans and neither have her children, which is the majority of the college population has had to do.
4. The march was an amazing start, but there’s still much more to be done
A phone call, letter or email to your representatives is great, but you’ll probably just be added to a stack of other complaints they’ve received. Visit your town hall meetings and directly question why your reps have voted in a certain way. Make sure you let them know that their choices do not reflect the views of whom they are representing. Attend more peaceful protests, share valid information, donate to organizations who share your values, and contact your representatives.
All in all, the march was absolutely a success. We exercised our right to free speech and to protest, before it will be limited by the Trump administration. Some states have already established bills that give the right to kill protestors if they are blocking traffic, including peaceful ones. Keep fighting the system, collegiettes!