Want to know the best way to unite 5 million people across the globe? Make them feel as though their rights are threatened, and they will assimilate and make their voices heard.
Seventeen thousand of those 5 million men, women and children marched in Raleigh in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington, which attracted over 1 million people. The Raleigh march occurred Jan. 21, along with 673 sister marches around the world, in response to the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
Although many participants of the march held signs protesting Trump, there are false assumptions regarding what the march focused on. This is seen in many tweets and through other social media platforms where march dissenters tell protesters that, no matter what, Trump is president and to accept it and move on.
According to the News & Observer, the demonstration in Raleigh was very orderly and peaceful, despite the fact that the march exceeded the expected 5,000 protesters.
I was unable to attend the protest myself, but I was also not sure how I felt about these protests occurring. I thought they may be a bit divisive in a time when we should be coming together as a country. However, these protesters are not denying the fact that Trump is their president, they are simply stating that they will not idly stand by if he continues to express or promote the sexism and xenophobia that he exhibited during his campaign.
After the election, I was frightened and concerned about how certain rights would be affected. The march stood for the rights of LGBTQIA, workers and immigrants as well as for reproductive, civil and environmental rights, among others. It is comforting to know that so many people care enough about these issues that they are willing to fight.
Therefore, instead of being apprehensive about these protests, I feel unified with all of these other people and hopeful about the future.
Although the response to the march was mostly positive — even Trump admitted on Twitter that he recognizes the peoples’ right to protest peacefully — some people were dissatisfied with how the march excluded certain people.
“There’s a lot of controversy about the march being trans-exclusionary,” said Jordan Greenert, a freshman studying engineering who attended the Raleigh march. “A lot of the focus of the march was around vaginas and not all women have vaginas and not all people with vaginas are women. But, at the same time, it was a step in the right direction; it’s just that everyone’s voice needs to be included.”
The success of this march may seem short-lived, but the Women’s March on Washington is determined to make this grassroots effort a catalyst for change. The effort has four national co-chairs, as well as a national committee that is responsible for organizing the march.
The Women’s March effort is now urging marchers to participate in a “10 Actions in 100 Days” movement. The first action is to write a letter to your senators about an issue that is important to you, alongside listing the steps you will take to fight for that particular issue. Students at NC State who are interested at getting involved can visit the Women’s March website to learn more about the initiative.
This effort is a small step in the right direction but the question still remains of how to channel this anger into action that will generate change. The organizers of the march are definitely trying, which is shown by the four-hour networking session that occurred after the march ended in Washington called “Where Do We Go From Here?”
According to The New York Times, anti-war and civil rights movements succeeded due to the planning that occurred before and directly after a protest. Therefore, meaningful protests should occur once participants are prepared to take the next step.
