History made in Women’s March

Hannah Lee, News Editor

The Women’s March was held the day following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, and ended up being the largest day of protests in U.S. history. Though the march was intended to be a response to Trump’s misogynist reputation, millions of people of all genders, races and ages gathered in Washington and every continent—including Antarctica— to march not only for women’s rights, but for everyone’s rights.

If anything, millions of voices were heard, and the march undoubtedly captured the attention of everyone across the nation and the world, including the president himself. The march displayed the extent of the public outcry over our new president. The march paved the road for the Women’s March campaign to take further action due to the attention that it acquired. The campaign began a new movement, “10 Actions for the First 100 Days,” which hopes to work toward “a more democratic, just, safer and freer world.” The second and current action, “huddling,” aims to gather people together to envision the next four years. Close to 4.8 million Americans gathered that day to participate in the march. It was not just an anti-Trump outcry; it gave people voices and empowerment in a time when they felt that their rights were being jeopardized. There is more to the march than hating the new president.

Despite its record breaking title and intention of peace, not everyone stood together to speak out against the danger that “immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault” felt following Trump stepping into office, according to the Women’s March official websites. The march received public backlash as critics claimed that the only thing it accomplished was gathering women to march, which in some cities was not even accomplished because the crowd turnout was so  large, it was impossible to actually “march.”

What the  opposition fails to recognize is that change is not accomplished overnight. It is a process, and this march is only the first step.

The Women’s March was created to be a tribute to women who fought for equality. Though the trigger may have been Trump’s inauguration and his planned policies against women’s health and reproduction rights, the march also illuminates the ongoing battle for gender equality that will continue to be fought, even beyond our new president.