It began as a gloomy day, I threw on my warm clothes, grabbed my camera, wrapped my turban and prepared myself to smash the patriarchy. Now I must be honest, I was hesitant about the whole thing, would it turn violent? Would there be anti-protestors? I hadn’t participated in an event of this scale since the protests surrounding Act 10. Wisconsin made international news because it had gained momentum to the point that people Occupied the Capital. It was a time of anger, confusion, and Govenor Walker putting his tail between his legs and running away.
This march in opposition was inspiring. It was filled with love and honesty and power and femininity and everything in between. It was absolutely packed as we made our way up State Street towards the Capital Square. There were children, puppies, grannies, and women of many ethnicities, gender identities, and the differently-abled. It was a community and felt like these were the people who are going to make a difference. It was probably the most polite mass of people I have ever encountered, apologies for bumping into each other, high-fives for clever signs, hugs to strangers who became friends, and smiles and tears shared between thousands. If a large mass of people can channel this kind of positive energy into the world, there is nothing we can’t do. There is no other time but now.
We haven’t made our point, we showed that Trump will never be our president, but simply a place-holder until we get things changed. This isn’t the finale, it’s the beginning. It’s the warm up for things to come. We’ve sat on our hands for too long. I kept asking myself over and over again what I should do. How can one person make a change? I’m going to choose a cause and spend the next four years fighting for it. Don’t get me wrong, if I could fight for every injustice I would, but I would rather use my energy fully and as Ron Swanson stated, “Never half ass two things, whole ass one thing.”
Do I want to work to fund Planned Parenthood? The place the gave me helpful and honest information about birth control and an IUD. Or should I work to help the Black Lives Matter movement to gain more momentum and work towards racial equality while also fighting police brutality? Should I fight for equal pay for everyone? Should I fight for affordable and possibly free education for everyone? It doesn’t matter what I choose, because someone else will choose another. We all have a duty to ourselves and future generations because the government is for the people, not for the rich or for the powerful. It is for the people, by the people and I will not be told that I am not enough.
Anywhere from 75,000-100,000 people attended the Women’s March on Madison. We are all human beings and we will create the change we want to see in the world, not Trump. It is through intersectionality that we will do so. Angela Davis gave a powerful speech at the Women’s March on Washington where she stated, “The next 1,459 days of the Trump administration will be 1,459 days of resistance: Resistance on the ground, resistance in the classrooms, resistance on the job, resistance in our art and in our music.”
I keep seeing posts about people who were legitimately confused about why we marched and why it became global. It seemed like there wasn’t any cohesion, some signs were to fight racism, other to fight rape, others against Trump, or supporting Planned Parenthood, and why was it international if this was to protest Trump? Audre Lorde’s quote is devastatingly relevant, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” It is because we are tired of being divided based on the god we choose to believe in, the melanin in our skin, our physical abilities, and the genitalia between our legs. Every person marched for their own reasons, but it showed that we care, we aren’t going to be trampled upon by someone who’s hate speech is reminiscent of Hitler. Check you privilege and remember that we all have our own struggles and it is not until we are all free that we can be equal. If you can honestly say that you had nothing to protest for, take a hard look in the mirror at see that you have let the white, cis-gender, homophobic, transphobic, racist, bigoted, fascist, and straight up assholes win. The world has never seen the likes of this, and that means we have the ability to change everything and anything.
I don’t care if you fight to legalize weed; stop the incarcerations of people of color for misdemeanor crimes; or simply donate money to the Committee to Protect Journalists in Putin’s name (Hannah great idea) just because we’re saving the world doesn’t mean we can’t be sassy while doing it. But I want you to remember that doing nothing is the worst thing we can do. If every single one of us just picked one issue to fight for, we would do more good than any administration. If you don’t already follow the Women’s March on Washington on Facebook, I recommend doing so, and doing their 100 Days of Action Campaign, just in case you’re not entirely sure what to do now.
I want to end this on a positive note. I spent the end of this legendary day, January 21, 2016 viewing the film Hidden Figures. I cried. It was beautiful and inspirational and made me happy and angry because as a person of color, why the fuck are we still fighting this shit. Not only that, but why is Hollywood teaching me about amazing women in history? These women helped the first American man to circle the Earth in the 1960’s and the first I hear about it is 50 years later, are you actually kidding me. Education is flawed, the government is flawed, shit is fucked up and I’m not okay with it.
Let’s stand up.
Get educated
Be kind
Be vocal
Be proud
Stop injustice
Though it appears that we fight different battles, they are all interconnected because equality is our goal. We will not rest.
Awesome article and your pictures were spot on, I got to see some things I missed. I wanted to hear the speakers and stayed up front, so thanks for your words and your pictures.