Looking at a sea of 500,000 women on January 21st in Washington D.C., rapper MC Lyte proudly proclaimed “I am woman, hear me roar!”
And roar they did.
Over two million men and women marched in the Women’s March on Washington and nearly 600 sister marches across the world, marking the Women’s March as the largest protest in U.S. history; and thanks to sophomore Carli Schwanebeck, many Augustana students were able to be a part of it as well.
“This march offers women in college a voice. It offers an opportunity to be heard, to be an activist, and to get involved,” says Schwanebeck.
Schwanebeck, a WGST and Environmental Studies major, organized the trip to Washington D.C. for those who were interested with the help of the WGST department and OSL. “This march means a lot to me,” says Schwanebeck, “I see it an opportunity to bring (fourth wave) feminism to the public.”
However, the March was not just a show of feminism; it served as a way for every marginalized group to speak out about their struggles, their fears, and their hopes for the future. Men and women of various walks of life participated for their rights, and more importantly, the rights of others. “People are marching for climate change, reproductive freedom, religious freedom, minority rights, women’s rights, etc,” explains Schwanebeck. Various women also spoke up about healthcare reform, police brutality, and white supremacy.
When thinking about what the March means for many men and women, Schwanebeck reflects, “The message [of the March] is that we will not be silent. We will not have our rights taken away from us quietly.”
Throughout history, there have been two groups of people: those who have always had basic human rights and those who have had to fight for them. The Women’s March served as a way for people across the world to consider the history of their ancestors and thus truly consider what it means to have one’s rights threatened by those who cannot even begin to understand the struggles and tragedies that such marginalized groups have lived through.
Though remembering the lives of their ancestors was heartbreaking to remember for many participants, National Co-Chair of the March Carmen Perez reminded the crowds that “injury to one is injury to all.” The men and women who marched on Saturday dedicated themselves to solidarity between intersectional identities. They dedicated themselves to carry on the fight of their ancestors. But above all else, they dedicated themselves to create a new history.
Or rather, herstory.
“I am participating in history here,” says Schwanebeck. “I honestly think that this event will be something that goes down in history books, on a similar plane to that of the Civil Rights March on Washington.”
When we think about the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Suffrage movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Dakota Access Pipeline protest, and countless other acts of peaceful resistance throughout history, we are reminded that change is not something we can wait for; in the words of Perez; “We are the ones who we’ve been waiting for.”
The Women’s March has shown the entire world that marginalized groups will be marginalized no longer. It has shown the entire world that unity is possible. That peaceful political discourse is possible.That our differences can bring us closer together. That the pain of our ancestors have fueled the call for change today.
History has been made. Herstory has been heard. Men and women across the world have dedicated themselves to planting the seeds of change, and they are not stopping until they create vast forests of opportunity, equality, acceptance, respect, liberty and—most importantly—solidarity.