The first March I’ve ever participated in was a Women’s March held at my university of Oklahoma State. It was a march put on by ‘A’, one of the executive members of Feminist Collective, and it was an interesting day for me personally.
A week before, we had a general body meeting that consisted of making protest/march signs for said Women’s March and that was fun! I got to meet some new faces and get to know like-minded people (and catch up on some campus gossip).
As the day of the march approached, I honestly was worried that we may face some backlash from passersby. We had an officer from the campus police follow us in the back for protection so that did help alleviate some of my worries.
There were 14 marchers (including me) who came. Despite the smaller number, we grabbed our signs, blasted some tunes on our speaker, and marched around the OSU campus on a Monday afternoon. It felt powerful to have our voices heard as we marched and it felt more so when we had vocal support from people we passed who also took photos and wanted to be more involved in Feminist Collective.
I had a great time marching and was pleasantly surprised at the support we got from some of our classmates and the OSU community. Several laws have been passed in the US recently that restrict women’s rights to their own bodies. To me, this march was a good way for the campus and the Stillwater community to see that there are people who support a woman’s right to her own body and that they can find support and friendship close to them.