“Rise Up. My Body. My Choice,” a crowd of 500,000 protesters in Washington D.C. chanted on Saturday the 21st in the country’s largest protests since the Vietnam War. January 21st, 2017: A single day after Donald J. Trump was sworn into office as President of the United States. His inauguration and step into the presidency sparked widespread opposition from minority communities and especially female citizens. This day marks the renewal of the Women’s March in Washington D.C., which has expanded to sister marches in cities around the world like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, New Zealand, London, Paris, and Ecuador. The Women’s March is a global movement.

Just as President Trump’s anti-women sentiment and statements have not ceased, women and their allies have not stopped opposing his rhetoric through action. The 2020 Women’s March, held last Saturday, the 21st, brought protesters to the streets once more in the lowest turnout since 2017. Despite the difference in turnout, the issues prompting this year’s march remain very similar and as important. Protesters are marching for abortion rights, climate change, the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals, and the rights of all women. This year, the march was mainly fueled by the November 2020 election and possible reelection of Donald Trump.

In Washington D.C., the march began at 11:00 AM around Freedom Plaza. A decreased turnout from previous years, the protest saw about 10,000 marchers participating. The event began with a moment of silence which then proceeded to be led by the Chilean protest group, Las Tesis, in chants and a global protest song entitled “Un Violador En Tu Camino” or “A rapist in your path.” The song condemns violence against women.

Specifically, in the city of Chicago, protesters walked from Grant Park, and some spontaneously marched to Federal Plaza, the site of the Trump Tower. Last year, there was no formal march in Chicago, so this year’s march gathered a procession led by Mayor Lori Lightfoot of about 10,000.

Senior at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, Illinois, Molly Maloney, attended the Chicago march on Saturday. This was Maloney’s first time at the March, as it has been difficult to plan a time to protest outside of her schedule.

And it’s not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed.

And it’s not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed.

And it’s not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed.

And it’s not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed. #WomensMarch2020 #WomenRising pic.twitter.com/h6Za15iXmg — Women’s March (@womensmarch) January 18, 2020

Maloney’s incentive to march highlights the concerns of many attendees when she stated, “Women are discriminated against in every line of work and have less leadership positions in their fields even though more women are educated.”

Her group even encountered another woman protesting who had missed her train home. Maloney and her group offered an Uber ride to the woman, who explained she has dealt with unpleasant experiences with men in her workplace for a long time. She has attended every Women’s March in Chicago. Maloney explained that “Even at 60 something, she continues to march despite the bitter weather.”

Maloney is exhausted by the inequality she has seen and experienced in recent times saying, “I am marching for the women incarcerated who have gotten their voting privileges taken away. I am marching for the girls walking around the same campus as their rapist, because they could get away with it.”

Kali Sunde, a resident of Charleston, South Carolina who works in Sales, has attended the march in DC for the past 4 years. As an avid protestor and activist, she says, “The March gives you a sense of unity. It makes me feel there is hope for change if we all work together. It’s a huge group of likeminded people all working towards a shared goal.”

Source: Nathan Posner



















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