An estimated 2.5 million people, mostly women, marched today against Trump worldwide. Others protested yesterday. Were you one of them? Share your story, share your pictures and videos in the comments! Or any good photos and videos you’ve run across online.
I think what we’ve got here is a real mass movement.
No trolls or Trump fans in this thread, please.
@Schild
@Kupo
Thank you. FWIW I had the cold weekend before last, my hormones went ‘Yay!, let’s make her super depressed!” for a delightful week after that, and my meds are making me a bit loopy ATM. The past few months have been hard on me mentally too and I’m a chronic introvert as is the hushuman. Still. Here’s hoping the sleep clinic I’m going through this weekend finds out if my tendency to vampirism and super long sleeping times is because of apnea like him. :/
And I just can’t fucking believe people think garbage people like them are normalized. I’ve had to bite my tongue last week and shrug noncommittally because I’ve had two separate customers shove The Yam and how wonderful they think he’s going to be down my damn throat. Of *course* they ram this down the throat of someone who can’t respond in any way contrary if they want to keep their job. Oh god, if I hadn’t been on the clock…. *grinds teeth*
I marched in Lexington, KY right after work – my sister and her wife did too. My sister went to her 12 hour shift as a nurse right afterwards. My favorite signs: “We’re not just nasty; we’re revolting,” and this huge rainbow sign with a line for each stripe from “Black lives matter” down to “Climate matters.” Then there was a church group wearing hijabs with tolerance signs. I’ve been emailing my reps because the telephone area code is 202 and long distance : /.
Long time reader, first time poster.
I went to the Portland, OR march with my wife and our 6yo son.
I won’t lie, it was a slog. Public transpo was so packed, we got back in our car and drove to the end of the line. When we got there, I could tell it was WAY over the 30k predicted and amazed to find out it was 100k! We couldn’t get within two blocks of the event itself and just moved toward the front of where the march was supposed to happen.
Oh, and it was pouring rain from the moment we got off the train. Not a drizzle, just DUMPING.
By the time we got there (about half an hour), there were thousands of people in front of us, and even though it wasn’t supposed to start for another forty five minutes, it had obviously started moving. At one point, I could see down a street to way ahead in the march and I just couldn’t believe how many there were for blocks and blocks ahead when I couldn’t see the end blocks and blocks behind.
The rain finally let up and I put the kid on my shoulders and his perspective on the whole thing changed. He didn’t have fun, but we told him that some day he’ll be our age and will get to say he was there.
The signs were great, the crowd was having a blast and everyone was there.
I’m proud of my state. We are known for going blue, but it’s really almost 50/50 with the urban centers tilting the state in elections. And very, very white. Still, we had protests here, in Eugene and the Capital, Salem.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this and it was beautiful. I am absolutely exhausted, physically and emotionally. Several times I looked around and nearly cried at the hope and resistance on display. We’re going to get through this, and the whole world has put him on notice. He is their last gasp.
My confession: I lured a community organizer out of town to go skiing in drizzle and fog. We’d been planning to ski for weeks; the weather (wtf? Drizzle and fog and 3C in the dead of winter in Montreal?!) and realizing it was a march day made us reconsider… but we skied anyway.
But I kind of regret it given the huge turnout.
I’m particularly excited for the first-time protesters. My first march was liberating; I’ve been to quite a few more since. The media tell you how violent it all is, but the big and well-organized ones rarely are (by virtue of being well organized).
@Banananana dakry What scildfreja said. And also, I’m sure there will be many more chances.
I took part in the march in Whitehorse YT. About 200 showed up in -35C weather. Hey, better than tear gas any day! 😉
Here’s an article with pics:
Northerners march in solidarity with Women’s March on Washington
The speakers at the Association franco-yukonnaise building were a lady from the Phillipino community who works with the RCMP, Chase who is a transman who works locally for trans rights, Melissa Atkinson, a first nations lawyer who recently ran for Yukon MP (lost, sadly), and another woman who works for UN human rights council (I wish I could remember the names). Wonderful speeches.
We also made buttons and signs. Got to meet friends I hadn’t seen in a while because of my ongoing depression battle. A good day was had. 🙂 🙂
More pics:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1877082902523272/
I went to the march in DC. The speeches were kind of a wash. The speakers (not the people, the electronic kind) were totally inadequate, and no one who wasn’t right by the stage could hear anything, so we spent about 2 hours fighting our way into and then out of the crowd. The Port-a-Johns were mostly padlocked for some reason, and there were huge lines to use them, so some butch biker ladies showed up with cutters to remove the locks while someone hid them with a big sign so authorities wouldn’t notice. Thank you, biker ladies. Apparently the formal march never happened; there were just way too many people to accomodate it (about 500K), so people mostly wandered around and went where they liked.
However, everything else was great! Great positive atmosphere, completely supportive. Despite huge crowds and dense crowding, everyone was polite and smiley the whole time, even when we all struggled to jam ourselves into the Metro afterward. I wondered if the signs were all so wonderful because this is the age of Twitter. A lot of kids and old people, though perhaps not as diverse as I had hoped. Could explain the politeness of the police– no one wants to arrest a bunch of middle aged white ladies. It also helps that only 4% of people in DC voted for Trump, so most police probably supported the march’s cause. At least one policewoman was giving everyone a thumb’s up from her vehicle. Someone tried to start an All Lives Matter chant and got shouted down by some PO’d white girls.
Anyway, I saw the Shepard Fairey posters everywhere, especially the one of the Muslim woman. I thought of how wonderful it was, to have her face as the primary face of the March. What a striking image it is.
Anyway, here’s a collection of many marches throughout the world. Definitely made me tear up. Nice to know that when something truly awful happens, it can kickstart something big and positive.
@bananananana dakry
Internet hugs if you want them.
You will have so many more opportunities to make your views known to President Trump.
PS: I showed up at the ACA rally last week when it was all over.
@Kat @Fishy Goat
Thanks. *hugback* Well, as a friend who attended the Laguna Beach March and my hushuman said, there will be plenty more times to protest. Gotta keep up the pressure!
…I procrastinate too.
I meant to go only to the San Francisco rally, but I was late and ended up going only to the march.
The official estimate of the crowd size for the march was 100,000.
Before I left I ate only a cup of yogurt, but the energy of the crowd was so strong and confident and upbeat that I didn’t feel hungry until after the march. (That’s not like me!) Sage was smudged at two or three points along the route, and the smell enhanced the uplifting energy.
I saw no Trump supporters or anything that could be construed as even impolite behavior–unless you want to count chants of “Not my president!”
And it rained! Luckily, there wasn’t much wind to speak of, and I had my umbrella. But my socks got soaked.
I went alone but saw signs that said “I’m with Her and Her and Her and You,” so I didn’t feel alone. After all the digs and taunts from Trump and Trumpsters online, it was so nice to be in a crowd of like-minded people!
I went to the London march with my partner. I was keeping an eye out for Weatherwax and her amazing hair, and for rugbyyogi and her sign, but didn’t see either. (I did stop three different people with Down With This Sort of Thing signs and ask them whether they hunted mammoths, then apologised to them when they looked confused.)
Lots of my other friends attended, but we couldn’t find any of them there either – it seemed like a bad day for meeting up with people. Next time we’ll have to meet up beforehand or something.
I can easily believe the reports of 100,000 attendants. Grosvenor Square was just a solid mass of people, and it took us two hours to get as far as Marble Arch. It felt like the biggest march I’ve been on since the 2003 Iraq War protest.
As we walked we saw:
– a marching percussion band who were playing awesome tunes and getting everyone to dance along with them.
– two different Statue of Liberty cosplayers, who must have been freezing cold.
– Groups of veteran lefties with American flags (politics makes for strange friendships.)
– A person with a “Pro Globalisation” sign chatting happily to a person with a “End Capitalism” sign (politics makes for very strange friendships.)
– Lots of signs quoting Jo Cox and HRC.
– A group of burly, bearded bikers in black leathers and pussy hats.
– Enormous numbers of people for whom this was their first march, carrying kickass homemade signs.
– Lots of families. Many people had brought their children, and we passed one group where a teenager had brought her parents along. (We chatted with them for a while; they said that they don’t normally do this sort of thing but she got them out. She was busy taking pictures of the signs and posting them on tumblr.)
– One incident where a child required a nappy change, and everyone who walked past gave the mother a thumbs-up and made a witticism about the White House needing one too.
– My new hero, whom I mentioned in another thread and will quote here:
Sadly my partner was feeling quite ill by the end, so we left when we got to Trafalgar Square.
I went to protest in Madison, Wisconsin where the total estimates were 75 to 100 thousand! It felt good to see crowds that size again. I remember our large protest against our governor in 2011 that went on for weeks and was said to inspire the Occupy movement in New York. It seemed like my home state had really let me down in this past election, but I try to remember that we’ve been dealing with a shameful and despicable degree of voter suppression and sometimes outright cheating in my state. It’s been an uphill battle for us, and the turn out I saw today was vindicating.
For me, the most poignant protest sign said “44 years later I march for my 3 daughters and 2 grandsons.” She’d been fighting for equal rights for decades, only to have to fight on. There were old women in wheel chairs, being pushed by their daughters and granddaughters. It hurts to know that they deserve to have seen equality by now, we all deserve equality by now, but it’s inspiring to see a continued will to resist even in people who have been standing up for their rights longer than I have been alive.
I knitted two pussyhats for the protest in Washington DC and paid for one day shipping to get them there on time. I included my business card so they’d have my contact information, and the women who got my hats happened to be sisters, so my sister hats went to actual sisters! They sent me a picture of the two of them wearing my hats, which really moved me.
Then I had to mod my old felt cat ear hat for the Madison protest that I joined at the last second, because I didn’t have anything to wear. It turned out well for a last minute project, though.
Me and my hat; http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff505/PowellAJ13/Protest%20Selfie%20Dont%20Grab%20Pussy_zpssh0aiqkg.jpg
And, for fun, the silliest thing I saw at the protest was this golden shower prop; http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff505/PowellAJ13/Protest%20Prop%20Golden%20Shower_zps1pt0ip26.jpg
@Lord Pabu
The hat is cute. And the golden shower? EPIC.
@Banananana dakry
Why thank you! I tried. I live with my grandparents, and I’ve got to say they didn’t know what to think of me as I left the house in that get up. XD I got a laugh out of my grandpa, though. My grandma just looked exasperated, but that’s her general go-to expression. She was curious enough to follow my Facebook feed throughout the day.
As for the golden shower prop, I thought I was witnessing a miniature circus tent walking my way when I first glimpsed it. Took me a moment to make the connection. I love props like that; you can just tell that the person making it had a lot of fun.
I was at the London march and boy was it incredible. The speakers were too quiet at Grosvenor Square, apart from the incredible Muslim woman who spoke up. When things got moving it was brilliant though, and the crowd just started spilling through the tape barrier set up so they just cut it down when it was getting close to Trafalger Square.
I was on my own so I didn’t get as much out of it as I might have liked, but I’m proud to be one of many men who added their numbers to this march.
@Lord Pabu
Love your hair.
@Scildfreja
Not healed yet, but I just removed the wrapper and washed it off. 🙂
http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo188/dhag85/20170122_124413_zps5ettmmvq.jpg
Our march in Long Island stretched over half a mile. I was genuinely surprised to see that many people active.
@numerobis – Unfortunately I didn’t get to the marches in Montreal either. Friday evening I was working. I meant to go yesterday morning for the Women’s March, but my stomach was sore.
The reason was my own fault – I was stressed out from work, so I ate four chocolate bars. They’re milk chocolate, and I’m lactose intolerant, so WTF did I expect?!? Grr.
So I’m kind of frustrated with myself, but I’ll keep a lookout here for things I can participate in, and it was great reading everybody’s stories. @Lord Pabu, that is one awesome hat!
I spotted a woman who used to be a feMRA type at the local march. Her sign suggested to me that she’s had a change of heart.
That made me smile.
There was a huge turn out. Some people cheered us from their front porches and businesses. It was a nice way to kick off the resistance.
I marched with 2.500-3.000 lovely people in Naples, FL, which is very very red. Huge crowd for a tiny down town, we stopped traffic (peacefully) because there were so many people. It was mostly women, and multigenerational. One woman told me she marched in the 60s and 70s and she couldn’t believe she was still having to do the same thing now. Most of the women had never marched before. Lots of young girls and teenagers with homemade signs. We had lots of support from non marchers, lots of horns honking and cheering, and waving from folks working in the shops and cafés. It was warm and loving and it has given me great hope for democracy. We can push back against small minded bigoted rightwing nationalism. It doesn’t have to be an eventuality. They have the power in the offices, but we can take it away.
There are lot of people committed to action now, much more than before. We are witnessing a new era of grassroots activism, women-led activism. It’s beautiful and heartening and for the first time in a long time I don’t feel such existential dread.
http://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/2017/01/21/marching-more-naples-women-take-streets/96740110/
@Imaginary Petal: That looks really nice! Your Otter designs nice tattoos.
I want to share something I haven’t yet heard/seen anyone point out–it’s kind of a two-fer response to ‘why are you marching? T-p isn’t going to affect your life’ and ‘why should I, a man, join the WOMEN’S march?’
‘Of course women protested the war even though they wouldn’t be drafted! They had husbands, brothers, sons, fathers….’ Ah, I see.
I was in Portland in the cold rain too, me and my little “Protect the CFPB” sign. It was a little off topic for the women’s march, but Trump is counting on people not being aware of the CFPB and how much good it’s done so that he can quietly axe it. I won’t be silent about it, and neither should you.
I live in eastern Washington state, the more conservative part of the state where Republicans outnumber Dems 2-to-1. Last weekend I went to the ACA demo in Richland, the next town over from mine; partner decided at the last minute to come with me. He was saying, “I’ll be surprised if we get a couple dozen people,” partly because it was 15 degrees and snowing. Instead we got 200 people shuffling along on the ice like penguins so we wouldn’t fall down.
Yesterday, we went to the Women’s March in Spokane. 2,000 people were expected, but we saw more than that outside the Convention Center when we drove by looking for parking. A woman we met said that she couldn’t get into the rally inside the Center because the cops would only allow 5,000 people in. Great event, great energy, lots of nice people. I was expecting counter-protestors, but the only ones were 4 dudebros near the start shuffling around and smirking and obviously intimidated by the huge crowd. One of them said something about “making it great again,” but I’m pretty sure I was the only person that heard him. I turned my sign toward him (“A woman’s place is in the White House”) and ignored him. A few moments later, I looked back and they were gone.
Oh, and I found out when I got home that the Women’s March in Richland, despite being thrown together at the last minute, got 1,000-2,500 people. Easily the largest demo here ever.