I reported on the Women’s March in Lansing on Jan. 22 for CM-Life, while they barely used anything I wrote, I’m glad I went.

Over the course of that day, I learned a lot about how the political changes in this country are affecting women.

While I have been critical of this administration – just glance at my Twitter – it was impossible for me to put myself in the shoes of American women and minorities, groups who have been directly attacked by the president.

I talked to people from every walk of life. Some even brought members of their family.

“I came with my daughter and two sons to demonstrate that our country needs to be changed … this country is all about hearing our voice heard,” Polly Synk, a resident of East Lansing, told me.

While her daughter was resting on her shoulders, sign in hand, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride emanating off her.

I couldn’t shake that feeling all day.

Thousands of people, all standing up for what they believed in, no matter what it was.

One group of people caught my eye in particular.

On a sparse corner across from the capital stood one man, alone for hours, who was pro-choice.

His name was Loren Darling.

While he made it clear to me he wasn’t a Trump supporter, his opinions were dramatically different from nearly everyone else in the area. By they end of the day, several people who shared his opinion joined him.

I didn’t and don’t agree with this man, but I couldn’t help but credit him for his bravery.

“[I came here to show] love for pre born people who don’t have a voice” he said.

Perhaps the most impactful person I talked to was Pilar Gonzales, a 63 year-old Native American woman from Port Huron.

Sitting in a wheel chair away from the mass of people, she told me something I will never forget.

When I realized my unique opportunity to ask a Native American person how she felt about an administration that has continually disrespected her people, I stumbled over my words, grasping for a question that could give me insight into how she felt.

What I eventually came up with was: “if you could sit face to face with Trump, what would you tell him?” (but in a much less graceful way)

To her credit, she decoded my jumble of words and responded with a beautiful quote:

“If I could look at him face to face, I would tell him to walk a mile in my moccasins… I would ask him to feel what is is like to have no security. I would really like to do that.”

That stuck with me.

That is what the Women’s March boils down to, I finally understood why anyone was doing any of this.

People just want others to feel what it is like to be undervalued, to be disrespected and to be hurt by people who don’t know how you live.

Read the full article here

You can see video from my new friend Josh Barnhart here