Introduce yourself!
My name is Christina Kamkutis, I am a freshman at West Virginia University studying Human Nutrition and Foods, from Lakewood, Ohio.
What made you want to travel to DC for the march?
I’ve always wanted to get more involved politically but I never really knew how. One day a close friend of mine told me she was going to the march and I pretty much just told her I was coming with her. It is a cause that I am passionate about and I wanted to be a part of history.
Tell me about your experience— who you saw, what you heard, etc.
All I could see were people. So many people and they were everywhere. When I finally came to a place in the crowd that I could see down to the Capitol building, I gasped: the crowd went on for twelve whole blocks. By the time the march was over, I couldn’t even remember what a street looked like without people completely covering it. They would chant lots of things: “This is what democracy looks like”, “Vote them out”, “Shame”, “Hey, hey, NRA, how many kids did you kill today?”, and more that I couldn’t always make out.
What were some of your favorite protest signs, speakers, etc?
My own sign read, “When our children start acting like leaders, and our leaders are acting like children, you know change is coming.”
My favorite signs were…
● “Only thing easier to buy than a gun is a GOP candidate”
● “Actually, guns do kill people. Exactly 3175 in 2018”
● “Trump wears jorts”
● “Enough is enough– end the silence around gun violence”
● “We won’t be the victims of greed and corruption”
● “Hold hands not guns”
● “It’s your choice: your kids or your guns”.
What did you take away from being a part of the nationwide protest?
Being part of this protest resided in me a part of myself that strives to fight for a greater cause. It may not always be on a large scale like this; even if it’s just at school, at work, at home…this protest reminded me of how important hard work and perseverance are in any aspect of life: on a political or on a more casual level.
How would you describe the overall feeling of the crowd in D.C.?
The feelings most noticeable hanging in the D.C. air that day were hope and resilience. You could definitely tell that everyone there was ready to keep pushing this movement forward until the pressure becomes too great and change comes.