On the cold and grey morning of Saturday, January 21st, hundreds of thousands of women from all over the United States and the world gathered in Washington, D.C. for the post-inaugural Women’s March on Washington. The event began as a Facebook group only a few days following the November 8th election and rapidly gained thousands of attendees within the week, quickly developing into a national event.
Originally, the march was expected to gain crowds of around 200,000 people, according to Newsweek, but the crowd soon surpassed that number. Some sources say at its peak the crowd was anywhere from 600,000 to 800,000 people. This makes it one of the largest marches in United States history, with numbers in connected marches reaching about three million worldwide. In short, history was made.
The march’s mission statement according to the official Women’s March website was, “We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.” The march was intended as a women’s rights rally only, even though some sources believe it to have been an anti-Trump event. Although many present at the march were not in favor of the new president’s plan of action for the United States, the crowd consisted of a diverse group including democrats, republicans, independents, people of color, men, people of all religious backgrounds, those with disabilities, children, the elderly, immigrants, LGBTQ+ identifying persons, and more.
I was lucky enough to be a part of the Washington D.C. march, and proudly walked the length of Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues fighting for my rights as a woman beside a mass of others who support the radical idea that women’s rights are human rights. Much of Saturday morning consisted of confusion and packed streets of meandering protesters, as the space and route originally allotted for the march quickly surpassed capacity and new steps had to be taken– literally. The crowds poured onto Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues from all sides as rumors of the march being “cancelled” circulated. Nobody was stopping this unified group of pink “pussy” hats and passionate citizens.
If there’s one thing I took away from my time in D.C., it’s that the fight is far from over. The march gave me passion and committment to fighting for women’s rights (and the rights of minorities), even if the high from the day was temporary. There is still work to be done and even if the new government tries, the people will resist the rescindment of our most basic human rights. Fighting for what you believe in isn’t always easy, but who ever said it was?
The views of the writer does not reflect the beliefs of the UNCW Her Campus chapter as a whole.