By Maya Pottiger
On Jan. 21, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, more than 500,000 people marched on Washington, D.C. as part of the Women’s March on Washington.
After a morning full of speeches and performances, the march was set to begin at 1:15 p.m. However, the organizers declared that there were too many people to go through with the march, as everyone was already standing on the route.
Along with the Women’s March on Washington, many major cities around the world held sister marches, including Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, London and Paris.
Kat Filipov, 20, Salisbury, MD
“I always felt super passionate about women’s rights, and I feel that now that we have someone in office that’s made a lot of women feel scared and threatened and that those rights don’t exist, it’s very important to remind everyone that we are still here despite a misogynistic leader that might want to insinuate otherwise.”
Molly Chehak, Silver Spring, MD
“I came because I can’t stand by while someone who denigrates women and who is elected to the highest office in the land and everything that represents has to be resisted. I feel like I am marching right now for every time I have experienced sexism in the workplace, and I see the higher qualified, more experienced, more insightful woman not be empowered in favor of, in this case, a dangerous person, but in many cases, a less qualified, incompetent person.”
Kelsey Ryland, 32, Washington, D.C.
“I came out here today because I believe in abortion access for women no matter how much they make, where they live or where their insurance comes from, and I wanted to be out here with my friends to all be together and to celebrate something that feels hopeful.”
Nancy Strauss, 70, Santa Fe, NM
“I saw it online and I said to a friend in New Mexico, ‘Let’s go. Do you have a place to stay?’ She said she has friends in Baltimore, and she has a school. The kids at the school helped make us our signs. The idea came from people we admired. They carried us, we carry them.”
Michelle Wilson, 60, Saint Louis, MO
“Liberal democracy is at risk. Women especially are at risk in this administration. I feel like we can make a difference if we all stand together, and we’re gonna send a pretty powerful message today that he better watch himself.”
Sergio Waisman, 49, Montgomery County, MD
“To join the march at the protest against the illegitimate Trump presidency, and to show support for all of the women, immigrants, Muslims and threatened minority groups, and to start the resistance.”
Mehreen Tanir, 40, Washington, D.C.
“My daughter has been really upset about what she’s been hearing about Donald Trump, and I hope this way she feels a little empowered that she’s sending out a message and that she’s doing something about the fear that she’s been feeling. I thought it was very important for her to feel like she can fight back all the negativity that she’s been hearing at school. For her, I really wanted to bring her out and see how many people feel the way she feels.”
Rachel Roza, 30, Cleveland, OH
“We’re just here for solidarity of all these women and hoping that something will come out of this and that people will get more involved in their community.”
Audrey Mader, 15, Olney, PA
“This march is important to me because I don’t think our new president doesn’t support what I believe in, and I think that women and LGBTQA+ is being ignored by that … I think it’s really important.”
Larry Maloney, 54, Phoenix, AZ
“I’m here with my sister and my daughter and my niece, and I feel it’s important that, no matter what this election was about, it’s not about how Donald Trump believes women should be treated.”
John Powell, 48, Clint, NY
“I came to support women in the wake of what our new president has said. I thought it was important to come out and counter that.”
Featured Photo Credit: On Jan. 21, more than 500,000 people attended the Women’s March on Washington. (Maya Pottiger/Editor-in-Chief)
Maya Pottiger is a senior journalism major and can be reached at mpottige@terpmail.umd.edu.
