Women's March in Local Area

Marchers coming together. 
Photo Courtesy of Anastasiia Vorobeva

On January 21, almost three million people marched the streets of the United States to make their voice heard. The March had its own West Virginia chapter, as almost three thousand women marched in the capital to support the nationwide movement. Some Concord students and even professors drove to Washington D.C. or Charleston, W.Va, to walk with thousands of men and women. 

    A huge crowd with pink hats and handmade signs gathered in front of the state capital Saturday around noon, talking and taking pictures. There were people of all ages, gender and color who came to express their hope and love. Some of the people marched to show their disapproval of Trump’s presidency, but the March wasn’t about that. The speakers talked to the crowd about access to education and health care, the ability to make your own choices about your body and being  fairly treated at one’s workplace.

    For the matter of safety, two staff members requested to be anonymous. They will be referred to as “Staff Member One” and “Staff Member Two.” Staff Member One says that she went to Charleston to join the March because women’s rights are simply human rights. “Women should have the right to do whatever they please with their own bodies and it is no one else’s business,” the source says. “I marched for my sister, my mother, my grandmothers, my aunts and all my female friends who have fought for equality all their lives, be it at home or at their workplace and we cannot undo all that just because some privileged people cannot understand it.” Staff Member Two, who traveled to Washington D.C., says “I had many reasons to go. One of the most important reasons to me was to show how well we can mobilize to resist the policies that we disagree with, administration that we disagree with and to show a kind of force in terms of the people power.” The source says “The specific issues that the Women’s March represented to me that I thought were very important are probably access to reproductive health, ability to make choices about your body as a woman, the refusal to accept that domestic violence or a sexual assault is a joke as opposed to something as a crime, and to support LGBTQ, African Americans and Muslim Americans and other minorities out there to show them that I supported them.”

    The popular belief that the March was solemnly against Trump presidency is not exactly true – the idea grew bigger than just an opposition, as people marched in more than 600 cities all over the world to support the fight for equality. The speakers and posters called for access to medical care and ability to make decisions for their own bodies, Plannned Parenthood, protection of Muslims and people of race and even actions for climate change. Catherina Medaglia, Political Science Concord student, who also went to Charleston to march, says “I think that people should raise their voice for what they believe is right”.

    Unfortunately, the subject of  the Women’s March caused a lot of cases of hate speech on social media, challenging the freedom of speech. It is alright to disagree, but it is not right to attack other people for different opinions and different experiences. Yet, there are people who face sexism, racism, mistreatment and are unfairly attacked because of their gender or skin color, and they can and should fight for this situation to stop. Alysan Miller, geography major at Concord says “The worst thing that we can choose to do is to remain silent. It is important for us to use our voice to advocate for that, not only for us to use but for those women whose voice is oppressed and who live in fear daily. Silence is deadly.”

    The Staff Member Two concludes about the Washington D.C. March experience, “It felt very powerful to be with so many people and to be relatively [on] the same page. I felt very supported and I felt very empowered. In general, it was a very great day to have a chance to exercise my voice and how this voice [is] amplified.” This March brought some of the people hope.