Women’s March
On the first full day of Donald Trumps presidency hundreds of thousands of people crowd into the U.S.capital for the Womens March on Washington a massive protest in the nations capital aimed largely at the Trump administration and the perceived threat it represented to reproductive civil and human rights.At the same time more than 3 million people in cities across the country and around the world held their own simultaneous protests in a global show of support for the resistance movement.During the 2016 presidential campaign the release of a 2005 recording of Trump commenting in crude language about how his celebrity status allowed him to force himself on women prompted numerous women to come forward with accusations about his past inappropriate sexual conduct.Trump dismissively called the recording locker room talk and disputed the accusers claims.But his unexpected victory over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clintonthe first female presidential nominee of a major party in U.S.
historyoutraged and saddened many who objected to his past treatment of and statements about women as well as his controversial positions and rhetoric during the campaign.The idea of the Womens March began on the social networking website Facebook the day after the election when a Hawaii woman named Teresa Shook voiced her opinion that a pro-woman march was needed as a reaction to Trumps victory.After thousands of women signed up to march veteran activists and organizers began planning a large-scale event scheduled for January 21 2017 the day after Inauguration Day.Leading up to the Womens March on Washington the organizers expected some 200000 people to attend.As it turned out as many as 500000 showed up with buses trains airplanes and packed cars ferrying large groups of protesters to the capital from far-flung locations.
Many of the marchers donned pink clothing for the occasions as well as the unofficial uniform of the march pink knit hats with cat-like ears on top dubbed pussy hats in a nod to Trumps unfortunate word choice in the 2005 recording.On the same day millions more people took part in sister marches held in all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries ranging from Antarctica to Zimbabwe.According to later estimates collected by the Washington Post some 4.1 million people reportedly took part in the various Womens Marches across the United States along with around 300000 worldwide.
In New York CityTrumps hometownsome 400000 people marched up Fifth Avenue while in Chicago the crowd grew so large (more than 150000) that organizers called off the march and rallied in the citys Grant Park instead.Los Angeles reportedly saw the largest demonstration in the country with as many as 750000 demonstrators.Despite the size of the demonstrations they remained largely peaceful with no arrests reported in Washington D.C.
and only a handful in other cities.The protesters who took part in the various Womens March events voiced their support for various causes including womens and reproductive rights criminal justice defense of the environment and the rights of immigrants Muslims gay and transgender people and the disabledall of whom were seen as particularly vulnerable under the new administration.Rather than a single-day demonstration the Womens March organizers and participants intended their protests as the start of a resistance movement.After the march in Washington D.C.organizations like EMILYs List and Planned Parenthood held workshops designed to encourage civic participation among women including running for office.And in October 2017 MarchOn a progressive group founded by march leaders from around the country launched a Super PAC as part of its efforts to create political change including mobilizing supporters to vote in the 2018 midterm elections and beyond.SourcesAt 2.6 million strong Womens Marches crush expectations USA Today January 22 2017.Shaded pink womens protest fills the streets of downtown L.A.
Los Angeles Times January 22 2017.This is what we learned by counting the womens marches Washington Post February 7 2017.The March Womens March website.
