I marched this weekend, as did more than 2 million of my closest friends around the world, in a massive show of solidarity and protest at Women’s Marches in cities across the globe.
Living in Baltimore, it seemed reasonable to attend the march that started it all: The Women’s March on Washington. (The Baltimore sister march didn’t seem to suffer my loss too much, with 5,000 people turning up.) And though getting to Washington, D.C., had a few minor frustrations (getting out of the Capitol South metro took us at least a half hour), nothing could dampen the mood of the pussy-hatted, sign-waving women (and men!) around me.
I was more toned down in my approach—no hat or sign, but my “Feminism: Back by Popular Demand” button pinned proudly on my jacket. The plan for the March got off to a bit of a rocky start in the early days post-election (first appropriating the name of the black women-led Million Women March before changing it, difficulties in some of the logistics early on), but brought on some powerhouse organizer/activists who were able to pull off what was one of the largest intersectional demonstrations ever. It’s one for the history books. (Literally—I can’t imagine Donald Trump’s inauguration will ever be talked about without the caveat of the next day’s Women’s March from here on out. Good job, ladies.)
Celebrities got in on the action too, both as speakers and participants. I, personally, saw Tyne Daly (oh hey there, Det. Lacey) and Samantha Bee of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. (The latter waved at me, so I’m officially secondhand famous.)
Despite any number of elements that could have annoyed me (the enormously large crowd, not being able to move in a sea of people, only hearing parts of the rally speeches), I could not prevent the smile on my face nor the hope from creeping into my heart. Among the sea of pink hats and witty signs (just a sampling above), it wasn’t hard to feel hopeful for the future and truly excited to be making history.
It was exhilarating, validating, empowering, thrilling, delighting and so many other –ings that I couldn’t possibly think of in this moment.
To quote one of the March chants, this is what democracy looks like.
