How To Live The Women’s March Every Day By Allison Pinski

2/1/2017

The Women's March started as a Facebook event, but quickly gained momentum around the globe as a response to issues concerning women’s rights, environmental rights, racism, LGBT+ rights, and the election of Donald Trump. Every continent experienced at least one march, including Antarctica.

What did the Women’s Marches show us?
It showed us that there are millions of people around the world willing to take a stand against fascism, racism, discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, and misogyny.
It showed us more people are dedicated to marching against Trump and Pence than for them.
It showed us how much we value each other and the right to protest, as there were no official reports of violence or arrests during any of the U.S. marches.

"To those of you who experience a feeling of being powerless, disparaged, victimized, antagonized, threatened and abused, to those of you who for the first time felt the pain that my people have felt since they were brought here with chains shackled on our legs, today I say to you, welcome to my world. Welcome to our world. I stand here as a black woman, the descendent of slaves. My ancestors literally nursed our slave masters. Through the blood and tears of my people, we built this country. America cannot be great without me, you and all of us who are here today. Today you may be feeling aggrieved, but know that this country has been hostile to its people for a long time. For some of you, it is new. For some of us, it is not so new at all. Today I am marching for black and brown lives, for Sandra Bland, for Philando Castile, for Tamir Rice, for Aiyana Stanley-Jones, for Eric Garner, for Michael Brown, for Trayvon Martin and for those nine people who were shot at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. We have a chance, brothers and sisters, to get this thing right. We can do it, if women rise up and take this nation back!" — @tamikadmallory #WomensMarch (Photo: @kishabari)

A photo posted by Women's March (@womensmarch) on Jan 27, 2017 at 8:29am PST

A photo posted by Nasty Knuckles (@bruisedknucklesny) on Jan 21, 2017 at 6:39pm PST

The march is over, but the resistance is not. It is very important to maintain the momentum and motivation from the march by calling your elected officials (find your Representatives and Senators), signing petitions, demonstrating when you are able to, and showing Trump and his administration that we will not back down. We have the people, now we need the action.

Get involved in your community.
Volunteer at a homeless or women’s shelter.
Educate yourself on the issues.
Volunteer for your local political office.
Donate to groups like Planned Parenthood, the Environmental Defense Fund, the ACLU, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Fight to protect the environment.
Contact your elected officials if you are unhappy with how they’re representing you (the organization 5 calls helps you find phone numbers to contact your officials, and even provides you with an organized script for you to refer to).
Do something to show Trump we won't back down.
Be loud. Be aggressive. Be present.

We have a lot of work to do.
Follow the Women’s March official accounts here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Read about the Denver march here, and see some incredible photographs taken by Conner.

Watch some footage from the D.C. march below, or here.