Millions of marchers use weekend event to ensure their voices, political issues will not be marginalized

“Show me what a democracy looks like!” one woman shouts.

“This is what a democracy looks like!” a crowd of over 75,000 passionate people who won’t let their voices go unheard, shout back.

Signs are up in the air and fury and drive is displayed on individual faces as they march forward to the capitol to the beat of their determined minds.

State Street in Madison, Wisc., was packed full of dads, moms, teens and children of all different nationalities and sexual orientations who were all trying to get their voices heard in what is going to become a changed nation. Cops who had been outside for hours were scattered around the streets making sure the scene stayed non-violent and under control.

“The lines have been this thick for an hour and a half,” one said. “There is probably over 100,000 people here.”

People who marched on Jan. 21 wanted a change in the results of the elections. They weren’t going to stand for the outcome, and they were willing to work for it. According to an article in Business Insider, “More than a million protesters marched in cities in the US and around the world, making it one of the largest one-day protests in American history.”

People marched to show their support and belief in equality for all groups including immigrants, those with disabilities, people of color and sexual minorities as well as the fact that they don’t support Trump. “Today is about showing solidarity around the country. Today is about recognizing how many people are behind the sort of movements we are representing today. My personal opinion is not much change will happen from today. There is a lot more work that needs to be done coming out of this. The future is not simply something that is going to happen to us. It’s something we all have to take responsibility for, so today we show how many of us who are willing to stand up and take that responsibility, to be part of the future,” said Nick Schmitz, a marcher in Madison.

While Schmitz marched, he held a sign in one hand that said “Smash the Patriarchy” and his daughter’s hand in the other. He explained that he was marching for his daughter’s future, that he was worried for it.

People will do anything to get their voice heard, whether it’s hiding behind a phone and/or computer screen and posting hateful tweets about our new president or marching in a peaceful protest in Madison or Washington, D.C. “I think it’s important to voice your opinions, your political opinions, your beliefs. That’s the whole point of democracy. It’s the most American thing you can do, is question your government. If you are not happy about something, act, get loud, organize in a positive, peaceful fashion,” said Lieth Thronson, another marcher in Madison.

All marchers had different reasons for marching. Some were marching for “No budget cuts to educational and social services!” according to the Socialist Alternative paper. “I’ve been a feminist for 50 years, seriously, and I have been in protests all throughout that time, and I just want people to know that the government is taking away a lot of the rights we have fought hard for. And [Scott] Walker, our governor, has already done that. I am a retired teacher, and I was here for the protest back in 2011 when he took away all of our unions, and it’s just not right,” said Julie Chamberlain, a marcher in Madison.

Some citizens were marching to unify the country “because we need to let our new president know that he can’t just be for white straight men who are Christian, that he needs to be for everybody,” said Brittany Johnson.

Some were marching to prove a point to the new president. “I am hoping that Trump will realize that the popularity that is in his head, isn’t the popularity that is out here,” said Larry Gaboda, a marcher in Madison.

And some were marching to get their ideas heard. “Maybe people will go and try to do things about money and politics, voter suppression laws, gerrymandering and the electoral college being kind of based on slavery,” said Ann Kunitz, a marcher in Madison.

No matter what the cause of the marching, one this was clear, they are not going away.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.