Women's March on Washington DC
The Thursday following the election, I made hotel and airplane reservations to travel to Washington, DC in order to gather with other like minded people to protest the platform which DJT ran on. Two hundred thousand people were expected and the official count is now 1.2 million.
It was an amazingly positive experience. I feared that detractors would be there to shout or do worse to us so I came prepared to hand out American flags and flag pins as a sign that we both love our country.
In this photo, we are on the way to the rally. The two women in the back were from Colorado and we shared a taxi from our hotel that was close to Dulles International Airport - you can imagine it was a pricey ride. As we got out to pay, one of them footed the bill for us all! It seemed a miracle that we got a taxi and that we were dropped off close to the rally site. The police were beginning to close off the streets after we arrived. We split up as they were looking for a Starbuck's and we were to meet friends at the Holiday Inn, a designated warming spot.
Our friends had a difficult time finding transportation so my friend and I decided to find a good spot to watch the rally. We were about a block away from the stage and were comfortably situated near a Jumbotron. My friend, diminutive in stature, was perched on a platform and was able to view the speeches. However comfortable we were, it was still difficult to stand for over 5 hours. At some point towards the end, the crowd got restless and started chanting "let us march". People began to form a single file path to move towards the back. As Madonna sang, we decided to begin the trek towards the back and that's when we realized the immensity of the crowd. We had no idea that there were so many people present.
Miraculously, we met with our friends on our way out to march. We formed a human chain so we could stay together. Everyone in the crowd was kind and warm. There was no identifiable march, just people moving down any street/path towards the White House.
The plan was to meet at a friend's home which was a few blocks from the White House which conveniently, was the direction of the march. I didn't know where we were all going or who was leading but we broke off to continue our journey. We enjoyed food and drink and most importantly, a rest before finding a place for dinner. Afterwards, friends went back to their hotel and took these lovely images of the posters.
photos by Lisa Moresco
To prepare for the march, I bought a long coat which I promptly forgot at home. Luckily the weather was temperate, in fact San Francisco was colder than DC. My two sweaters and thermals kept me warm.
No backpacks were allowed and bags 8" x 6" x 4" could be used. Clear plastic backpacks were allowed. I gave away a several flags and only a few pins and all to marchers. The little "poles" had to be removed from the flag as per the instructions from the March organizers. No DJT supporters were seen by me at least, although there were several supporters at our hotel because they attended the inauguration. No trouble anywhere. It seems amazing that with the millions of people demonstrating in the US, there was not one arrest. I would also like to express my appreciation to the men and women of the police department who kept us in order with smiles and kindness.
Well done everyone.
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