Opinion
Positivity at march points to constructive steps forward
By Genevieve Shuster ’20
January 26, 2017
Tags opinion
I had the enormous privilege of marching in the Women’s March on Washington in D.C. this past Saturday with my mother and hundreds of thousands of other women while millions more marched around the world. It was a life-affirming experience that I would repeat ten times over. However, I was not feeling quite so positive about the March ahead of time. Protests with the best of intentions often get out of hand and crowd control inevitably falls by the wayside. Prior to leaving campus I had been told to write my parent’s phone number on my arm in case I was trampled, to bring goggles in case I was pepper-sprayed and to text my friends and family that I loved them beforehand in case somebody opened fire in the crowd. My mom and I were both feeling a little shaky on the train ride over. While we knew that this vital step in the fight for equality for all people throughout the next four years was our duty, the numerous ominous warnings I had heard let cowardice begin to take over and I thought maybe we weren’t cut out for the revolution. Maybe it made sense to turn back.
Upon arrival, we were proved wonderfully wrong. From start to finish, I experienced and observed nothing but kindness on behalf of fellow marchers and law enforcement officials. Police and military officers answered people’s questions clearly and marchers complied with their orders. People scooted out of the way as best they could for elderly people who needed a break from the crowd or mothers who needed to tend to their small babies. And businesses opened their doors to marchers who needed a restroom. Sights like these peppered the entire March but a few moments stood out to me as truly extraordinary.
My mother and I didn’t bring signs which I was internally kicking myself for a little bit as we marched alongside some Grade A signage. Luckily, shortly into the March a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I wanted a sign, which of course I responded to with an emphatic yes. She handed me a beautiful sign that read, “Women Are Perfect” with a graphic of a smiling little girl on it and said to me, “You Win!” My mom and I alternated carrying the sign with pride throughout the March and now it is hanging in my dorm room.
There were many families with young children at the March and a few times I had worried for the kids’ safety if anything was to get out of hand. At one point I saw a child walking along holding his mom’s hand in a dense crowd with an index card safety-pinned to his jacket that read, “My name is Wyatt” and had several phone numbers to be called in the event that Wyatt was separated from his mom. Wyatt’s mom trusted that if she was separated from him somebody in the crowd with good intentions would step in to help her son before somebody with bad intentions entered the picture. And she was probably totally right. I felt such a sense of camaraderie with the people I was marching with, like we were all taking care of each other, there was no need to worry for Wyatt or the other little ones. They were absolutely swarmed with good people who care.
A law enforcement official who was taking care of crowd control was standing atop a car parked on a busy street of the March. Clearly he was not supposed to participate in the protest by joining in the chants or holding a sign, which he wasn’t. When I happened to look over, somebody chanted near him and pointed at him in a call-and-response fashion and although he could not reply, he raised his fist in a short and defined mark of solidarity. The simplistic subtle gesture demonstrated undeniable respect and unity with the March.
The sheer magnitude of the Women’s Marches that took place all over the world this past Saturday was a firm leap forward in demonstrating that Americans will be vigilant in demanding just leadership, empathy and equality in the four years to come. I was honored to play my role in creating early proof that Americans will not sit idly by while countless groups of people have their rights revoked. My nervous pre-March self knew this demonstration was important to the greater good but I wasn’t expecting it to restore my personal faith in humanity in dark post-election times. It did just that. The people I encountered at the March far surpassed dedicated civilians. Their willingness to show boundless respect and kindness to perfect strangers surprised me in the very best way. I can’t help but think that if so many strangers in the street can be kind to one another while working towards a common goal, then the American people have the resilience to help one another through a tumultuous presidency and the strength to demand justice.