Rising
Still, We Rise. Thank you Maya Angelou for these words: “You can kill me with your hatefulness, but just like life… I rise”.
Today, I joined hundreds of thousands of women; along with our partners, brothers and children to collectively protest Trump’s election with a message of equality and inclusiveness.
When I first planned to go to DC, my daughters, and a handful of friends expressed interest in going with me. One by one, they bailed out, due to a variety of conflicts and ever-rising costs. However, I have no qualms about traveling alone – especially in this day of GPS and Uber.
After a few short hours of sleep at my hotel, I returned to the airport in an attempt to find public transportation downtown. Another marcher gave me a spare ‘pussy hat’, and I shared a Lyft ride with two young women who had just flown in from Seattle: We shared our motivations and our excitement for being at this historic event.
Although I arrived downtown early (8 am or so): there were already thousands of marchers streaming down the streets –The signage and chants were varied and creative! Street vendors were hawking their pins and T-shirts.
Having been denied a permit to use the mall (which was NOT being used), 500,000 women were crammed on Independence Avenue and surrounding streets. It was a veritable sea of pink pussy hats!
The speakers were inspiring and amazing – Gloria Steinhem told us “This is the upside of the downside”… the election of He-who-shall-not-be-named has created a generation of activists. I found myself tearing up several times, in response to the message and the sheer energy of the occasion. I love Gloria – she is an icon who has never wavered in her message – which she consistently delivers with intelligence and humor.
Ashley Judd totally stole the show with her rendition of “Nasty Woman“, a poem by a 17 year old from Tennessee. Hell, Yeah! We are Nasty, but not as nasty as Trump and his cronies… we are nasty like our grandmothers were nasty when they marched for the right to vote.
There were 4 hours of speakers, and virtually no place to march to – since the march route was already a solid mass of people!! After standing in the mild-for-January-but still-gets-chilly weather for 5 hours… I tried to find a way out of the crowd – eventually giving up and seeking solace in the Smithsonian museum. Getting to the bathroom (finally!) I wasn’t sure if I was happier to be peeing or just to be sitting down.
Although I was traveling solo, I was not alone. I met and chatted with many women from all over the country; including 3 generations of a family on the very crowded metro: finding connections between the grandmother who was named Ginger and the young woman sharing the seat – who was named Tina after Tina Louise who played Ginger on Gilligan’s island.
Michael Moore encouraged us to call a congressman every day, to make it part of our normal routine, and that we need more women to run for office. In his words: if you are shy, you have 2 hours to get over it.
I get it — we can no longer afford to be silent or complacent. It is past time to speak up, to get involved. Today – we rose as a group and sent a loud message, and it felt good.