It began with a blurry but happy photo of myself and my sister, (who came all the way from Texas) on the bus at 6am, excited to begin.
After arriving, we all walked to the metro which would get us to the march and the speakers. On the way we passed this amazing woman who joyfully reminded us of the strength and ability that so many women of this world possess.
Here I am with my wonderful daughters and my one daughter's good friend. All three of these young women are shining examples of strong, intelligent, creative, kind, responsible, and passionate people. It was such an honor to be with them and share this experience. At this point we had been standing and listening to the speakers for several hours. There were so many people... old and young, women, men, children... that we actually were unable to march for some time. It took a good 90 minutes, (maybe more?) for there to be enough movement at the opposite end of the march, to trickle down and allow us to unpack ourselves like sardines and begin marching, too. Despite this, the crowd remained kind, peaceful and supportive towards one another. I was in awe.
We now are marching up Independence Ave. These are the folks behind me.
Loved the artistry and message in this political poster.
I wanted to capture the protest with the flag in the background. It's a simple visual reminder that this America belongs to all of us, (as this poster also emphasizes, Wahine being the Polynesian word for women. I had to look that up, but now I know). It is the government's responsibility to listen to, represent and care for all of its people, not just a select few.
I'm not sure where we go from here except that we must keep going. We must stay active in having our voices heard. For some it may mean becoming active in their local and state politics. For others, such as myself, it will be to continually call their representatives, on a daily basis if need-be, and certainly a more then once a week basis, to insure our voices and concerns are heard. The number of people that came out to march yesterday, in DC, around the United States and across every continent brought me to tears. To see such goodness and compassion for our sister and fellow beings gives me great hope in an otherwise very scary time.