In the name of equal rights and treatment of women in our nation and around the world, the Women’s March on Washington was held in our nation’s capital on Jan. 19. The Women’s March on Washington D.C. was the march that headed hundreds of other Women’s Marches across the country, including our very own Indianapolis.
I, along with the over 60,000 others, have been fortunate enough to be able to travel Washington D.C. and experience first-hand some of the beauty that occurs when such a large crowd of women, men and children come together to all share a passion and voice for equality for all, starting with women.
The march itself was a short span starting and meeting back up at Freedom Plaza in downtown D.C ., this is also where the Women’s Wave Rally was officially held. The rally featured numerous empowering speakers from all around the country, including trans women Abby Stein, Ruby Sales and Ana Maria Archila.
The love, energy and power in the air was unlike anything I have ever experienced, every individual I talked to was genuinely excited to be there for such a beautiful piece of history and to support the “Women’s Agenda.” The Women’s Agenda, as defined by the individuals of the Women’s wave, is “a tangible declaration of how we will protect and defend our rights, safety, health and communities.”
Not only was the march and rally to have our voices heard by some of the most powerful political faces in our country, but to push our Agenda for real change in the way women are treated first in our home country, and eventually globally.
I had a chance to interview a few individuals who were also marching in the name of women and what they had to say about what this march meant to them was very touching. The first interviewee, an interesting young lady originally born in Kenya, moved to china and now lives in Washington D.C. with her family, had very simplistic view of equality.
Her name is Sasha, she is 10-years-old and her reason for attending the march and having her voice heard was simply “ I think everyone should be treated the same.” This was a very beautiful response because in all reality equal rights for all should be that simple, but sadly is not. Seeing that such a young soul hopes for equality for all, and truly believes that it can be this simple, provides hope for our future generations to come.
Along with this powerful young lady I spoke to a Muslim migrant woman, whom asked to remain anonymous for personal reasons, about why she felt it was important to be marching in the name of women and what the march and rally meant to her. Her answers carried a strong voice for her country and culture, as she was one of the few Muslim women I saw in attendance at the march.
This anonymous woman marched in the name of “equality for Muslims, Muslim women, and the comfortability for women to wear hijabs in this (the United States) country,” this woman spoke with diction and a voice that was meant to be heard.
For my final interview I chose to ask one of the strong women who attended the march with me, a fellow student here at IUPUI Emilia Barger, 22. She gladly shared some heartfelt words about not only the impact this event had on her, but also the impact that our current president has taken on her and the actions she feels is necessary, as a woman, to gain the rights of equality that we deserve.
Here is what Emilia had to say, "There are too many reasons I felt the need to march this weekend. When the 45th President was elected, my heart broke. A white nationalist agenda had been legitimized by the most respected office in the world. I had taken for granted the trust I had in my country and my government. I had never voted before Trump was elected. But when that reality came to be, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had to do something. I changed my major from theater arts to political science.
For the last few years, I’ve woken up every day and studied politics with the intent of changing the rigged system we currently live under. I have never felt so empowered in my life as I did standing with the thousands of women at the Women’s March. Even though all of us were there for our hundreds of individual reasons, we exuded one message: we reject the state of inequality in the United States and refuse to lower our standards. I am proud to be able to one day teach my children the lesson of peaceful protest and civic duty. We have protested, now it’s time to elect progress into office.”
Each and every individual at the march had their own story, beliefs, and reason for attending, seeing all of these reasons and stories come together gives hope for a time in the future with equality for all.
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