"I know something is happening": Voices from the Women's March
A grey sky was the only subdued element of the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets, many with men in tow, to speak their voices and realize community and inspiration in one another’s’ determination -- and to send a message to President Donald Trump.
While there were no official numbers from the march, it appeared to be more than the 200,000 expected. The Metro tweeted that by 4 p.m., it had recorded 597,000 trips on the system. A Metro spokesman told the Associated Press that it looked like Saturday was on track to top the busiest Saturday of all time, the day of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in 2010.
“I am a lone pioneer sometimes. We live alone. You do your work and you come home. And you go, how did the world come to this when we are not this. How did it happen? Now we are coming out here and I know something is still happening. We are in change,” explained Laura Jane Mellencamp, a therapist and meditation teacher who came in from Chicago.
When Michael Moore took the mic and exclaimed the number to call Congress, Mellencamp meticulously typed in the digits into her phonebook under the name “State Rep.” She said she will be calling Congress every day to reveal taxes of members of the administration and to get the public sector out to work. As a therapist, she says she has seen Mr. Trump’s language lead to an uptick in distress from young girls. Along the protest route, many women expressed this rising anxiety.
“All of the girls in law school terrified about the Supreme Court. And it is hard in law school where everyone is very conservative,” said Clair Hollingsworth, a 24-yr old law school student in South Carolina, who drove over 7 hours to be at the march. “Being here allows you to feel that you are not alone, it shows I’m not the only one who is afraid.”
In streets where no one could move without meeting a new friend -- and grasping onto an inspiring or humor-filled sign -- it was impossible to feel alone. The signs called for love, unity and Trump’s demise. They read things like: “Be brave choose love,” “Nasty Enough,” “Trumpity Dumpity,” “We Love Women,” and “Free Melania.” Many were decorated with images of women and women’s private parts.
Pink dominated. Many women sported knitted pink “pussyhats.” But men also wore those hats. “I love women,” said one father who was at the march with his daughter. The duo had picked up their fuzzy pink decorations in Virginia from one of the hat distribution centers where women from around the world sent hats they had made for marchers to sport on the streets.
“It is her first protest,” said Meredith Monroe with a smile on her face as she looked at her 8-month old wearing a puffy pink getup. “We have three generations here,” Monroe added, pointing to her mother.
Children were a big part of the day. When demonstrators got stuck in a standstill for an hour and a half, a 9-month gnawing on crackers old kept a small crowd entertained, detracting their minds from a sense of overwhelming claustrophobia.
With marchers from all over the country, the LGBTQ community was also a vocal presence on the streets. Some women wrapped their bodies in rainbow flags.
“I am here because I have seen too many women taken advantage of by men. I don’t want to live in a country where I feel unsafe and have to look around look over my shoulder when I walk to work. I am terrified for my own life became I’m gay,” explained 20 year old Delaney Sandlin who flew to came from Jacksonville. She said she feels that more with Mr. Trump as president -- yet knowing that sister marches were happening worldwide gave her a sense of peace.
Here are the voices of four of the marchers, explaining why they came out to march:
Helena Beyersdorf-Cottle
“I came here with my sister-in-law and my friend from North Carolina. When I first heard about this, I knew I had to attend. I’m a first generation immigrant. My dad came to this country from Germany right after World War II. He was terrified when President Trump won the election. I wanted to come here because I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to have my voice here. The mood at this event has been very positive. It’s energizing and inspiring (She been at the event since 8 am) I’m hoping that through this march our president and Congress will see that they can’t mess with us women, and that we don’t want to go backwards. I feel like the political rhetoric from Trump is setting us back (referring to women’s healthcare, education). The mood of the whole campaign, seems like going back in time, but we don’t want to go back, we want to move forward. I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime, that’s why I’m marching.”
Stephanie Moore and Ike Ashley Obi
Ike: “Personally, what made me want to come to this march is that I wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than me. I hope Trump does not do something crazy, especially when it comes to women’s rights. I’m here because I want to support my girlfriend, and other women, who want to have control of their own bodies. I’m from Indiana, and I know what Pence has been doing there with Planned Parenthood. I want to make sure that my girlfriend (Stephanie), and every woman, is OK and protected. I felt like I had to. Honestly, after the election I was very angry and even depressed. But coming here has sort of changed that. I feel energized, like I’m joining people who feel the same way I do, and it feels like what I’m feeling makes sense, that other people were worried too, but we’re here to have our voices heard.”
Stephanie: “I’m here because I want to support equal rights and women’s rights. And being here, I can tell that everyone around me feels the same way.”
Ebony Williams, Luzette Andrews
Ebony: “We came down here this morning, from New York City. We hit the road at 6:00 am. I know there’s a march in New York City, but I felt like I had to be here, in D.C. It feels like this is where the grassroots movement is happening, it had to be here, I had to be here. I’m here because I am defending women’s rights, equal rights and LGBT rights. I’m really happy I came here, the mood here has been so positive. I really believe this is the start of something big.”
CBS News’ Jareen Imam contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.