On January 21, millions of people marched in Washington D.C. and in sister marches across the world to show that “women’s rights are human rights”, as well to support other marginalized groups and to protest the election of President Donald Trump. Chamblee students participated in both the D.C. and Atlanta marches.
Sophomore Stella Demer attended the D.C. march.
“My mom had decided when she heard about it, that it would be a good idea for us to go,” said Demer. “I think it was before all of the sister marches were kind of coming out and happening. And I think that we needed to take the initiative to go to the one in D.C., to be a part of it.”
She said that the thing that surprised her most was the amount of people.
“I’ve seen some things, like on the news that said that the march under promised and over performed,” said Demer. “That was definitely shown considering the amount of people. It was very crowded, people everywhere. Even once the march was over, everywhere you went, there was someone in a pink hat.”
Demer appreciated several aspects of the march.
“I really liked the sense of unity that was there,” she said. “Everybody was really nice to each other, because everyone shared the same like minded concepts of equality. There was nothing to not like, there was really no opposition happening, no hatred of any sort, everyone was very accepting of everything happening.”
Freshman Reese Ellis had a similar experience at the D.C. march.
“It was a really positive atmosphere,” said Ellis. “I mean there were like a couple people who were more hasty. But most people were there to just be like positive and get a good message across.”
Ellis thought the march was effective.
“I definitely think it brought awareness to the cause,” she said. “Just to show people that everybody is created equal.”
Senior Alexander Towner marched in the capital as well.
“I wanted to go to the march that would be sort of the main focus where we would be going to his house, literally,” said Towner. “Because I felt like it was something really important to do and to be a part of. And voices needed to be heard that frankly weren’t being heard.”
Towner wants to study Environmental Science, and policy was part of her motivation for marching.
“I think that [climate change] is a policy that right now is not even being believed,” she said. “So that needed to be heard. But also for pro-choice, for a lot of policies that aren’t being supported by him, it was important for all of us to come together in one voice of opposition.”
She was able to hear many of the speakers, who gave advice for further activism.
“Calling your senators every day, writing letters, writing emails, talking to people, getting appointments with your senators and your representatives from the house,” said Towner. “And just having your voice heard, that the constituent body doesn’t support what’s happening in Washington.”
Junior Monica Berg marched in Atlanta.
“I really don’t like Trump and I just feel like he doesn’t respect women all that much,” said Berg. “It wouldn’t be a good idea to impeach him because Pence is terrible. But he [Trump] could at least realize what impact he has on the country and how many people think his decisions are terrible, so he can change them for the better.”
What stood out to her most was the historic nature of the march.
“This will be in the history books someday,” she said. “And I can just say I was a part of it. That’s really cool.”
Berg also had her eye on the present-day wider effects.
“I think it could persuade more women to take action in their community,” she said. “I forget if Trump has said anything about these marches-yeah he was like, “Why weren’t these people voting?” And then people were like, they were voting, you lost the popular vote.”
For many of the marchers, the fight is not yet over.
“The overall message was really positive in that actions need to be taken past Saturday,” said Towner. “That marching isn’t enough, we have to continue fighting for what we’re working for.”
