This wasn’t a Trump protest, but a march for women’s (see also: human) rights and dignities. While many of us don’t care for him, we weren’t protesting him. We were showing him, and anyone else stupid enough to think they can continue this treatment of us as somehow lesser that we are organized, powerful, and vast.

Estimated attendance:

My partner illustrated our impact.

Los Angelos, CA: 750,000

Washington, DC: 500,000

New York, NY: 400,000

Chicago, IL: 250,000

Denver, CO: 150,000

Boston, MA: 150,000

Seattle, WA: 130,000

Portland, OR: 100,000

Philadelphia, PA: 50,000

Austin, TX: 40,000

St. Louis, MO: 10,000

Miami, FL: 10,000

Palm Beach, FL: 4,000

…and many more.

International cities including:

London: 100,000, Toronto: 60,000 and, Sidney: 10,000

All of this, without a single reported incidence of violence, theft, or vandalism.

And it struck me that without Trump in office, we probably would have continued our complacency many years into Hillary’s presidency and beyond.

I didn’t vote for her because I liked or agreed with many of her foreign policies, but because I thought she would continue to defend the rights of those closest to me. I was choosing between the lesser of two evils in my mind. She was not my first pick to represent us as the first female president of the United States (off the top of my head, Michelle).

And if any of those reports of corruption hold water (some must, a fuck ton of people refused to vote for her) she wasn’t going to make us look any better qualified for leadership or a good role model for our daughters.

“Yes, well, honey, you see she did some bad stuff, yes, but she was the first female president so that’s cool. No, I mean, I didn’t really know that about her when I voted, I just hated the other guy. OMG, you should have seen this orange clown! Hold on, lemme pull up a YouTube video, you’ll understand”.

And what’s worse, we may have remained complacent, as we have since our early liberation movements. In 2014 it was estimated that gender pairity would not be reached for another 81 years if it continued to move at it’s current rate.

The end of the march took an unexpected detour as thousands headed up Michigan Ave a few blocks north of Grant Park. Marchers blocked traffic for a bit longer as they gathered and dispersed near the Trump tower. A fitting conclusion to the day’s events and excellent vantage for perspective.

As I stared at this phallic reminder of pomp and excess I grew thankful for Trump’s hate. He had unified us and moved us to march. His impotency to draw a crowd at his own inauguration made ours all the more powerful. I began to love Trump’s hate.