The Women's March

As I've written before, I was devastated by the election results.  The day after the election I was pouring over the many posts in Pantsuit Nation to try to make sense of the new reality I was living in.  It was there where I first heard about the Women's March.  I'm not much of a marcher, unless it's a Husky championship parade, and I try to avoid politics for a variety of reasons, but I responded "going" without even blinking an eye.  It felt like a glimmer of hope in a really dark time.

As the march grew closer events started popping up to make signs.  I attended one at my local rock gym the Monday before the march and it was then that I realized just what might unfold at the march.  There were fifty of us, bonding over sharpies and poster paper and lots more people waiting to get in the room.  As the days counted down my feed started filling up with the posts of fellow marchers uniting us together.  My cousins in Seattle were talking about their march, my friend in Portland was headed to hers, and I had friends headed to DC.  Friday night, I put the finishing touches on my poster, picked out my outfit, and went to bed early to prep for Saturday.

On Saturday morning, JO and I watched the pictures coming out of DC, of train stations packed with people in pink pussy hats.  We saw the signs, the hope, the unity and we felt so inspired.  We started getting reports that the T would be way too crowded for us to use, so we marched to the March, over the Longfellow Bridge with hundreds of our fellow Cantabrigians.  As we walked over the bridge cars honked at us and gave us thumbs up I started to get chills.  As we all streamed down Charles Street towards the park the energy was amazing.  Then, we walked through the gate into the Common and I cried upon seeing the thousands of people already congregating on the Common.  I remember thinking to myself, maybe we are far more united than we really ever knew.

The speakers were inspiring, especially Mayor Marty Walsh, who spoke with such passion and determination it was like a window to his heart.  He was speaking from a political angle, he was speaking as a person who wasn't backing down.  Attorney General Maura Healy was steadfast in her determination to uphold our civil rights and Senator Warren was in her typical attack dog stance.

After the speakers it was time to March.  JO and I waited over two hours to get out of the park and onto the street, that's how many people were at the event.  When we finally made it into the street, I proudly hoisted my sign in the air and joined with my fellow Marchers to stand up for what is right, equal treatment for all, women's rights, minority rights, LGBQT rights, respect for people who are different from you, etc.  I have never, ever felt like I did walking down those streets and I have never felt more unified and aligned with my city!  Chanting, singing, and standing in solidarity with all of these people gave me hope.  We can get through the next four years by sticking together and standing up when we know something is not right!  The Nasty Women, and all of the other amazing people who marched, have been summoned and we will fight back every day if we have to!