— from Anji Ringzin —
According to the Washington Post, when the results of the presidential election became clear, Grandmother Teresa Shook — a retired attorney in Hawaii — turned to the Facebook page Pantsuit Nation, and asked: What if women marched on Washington? The seeds for the epic Women’s marches were sown.
You may write me down in history,
With your bitter twisted lies.
You may tread me in the very dirt,
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
–Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was surely there in spirit, when her poem (which she dedicated to Hillary Clinton) was recited at the rally before the march.
Leaving our hotel wearing our “pussyhats’ and carrying our signs, the hotel staff, cab drivers, and people in the streets exuded a feeling of admiration and respect towards us – we felt very safe. The mood in the city seemed almost euphoric. It made me think of the story my mother told me of the mood of euphoric solidarity in London when war broke out, and everyone knew they had to come together to survive.
We made our way to the coffeehouse near the park where we had planned to meet up, but the lines of marchers were so long that we decided to go directly to the Park. Some of us Orcas women were able to locate each other, although it became increasingly unlikely as Judkins Park became filled to the point where we could barely move.
My favorite sign was “Grandmothers against Bullshit.” The majority of signs stated “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.”
Cell phone service was sparse, so although we were texting each other, and sharing our locations, a lot of the texts went undelivered. We moved like thick treacle in a sea of lovely “nasty women” and some equally lovely gentlemen, also wearing pink “pussyhats.” Our group must have been at the back of the group, as we continued at a snail’s pace. I read that some in the march had reached the destination at the fountain, before others had even left the park. In truth I had no idea of where we were located, but, having arrived early, we must have been in that latter group.
Someone snapped this image of two Seattle policemen wearing the hats – precious.
At one point we snaked out way to the edge of the crowd, in single file, holding on to each other’s sleeves. The mood was quietly exuberant, as we realized we were part of something epic! Truly loving kindness prevailed.
Several Eagles were spotted circling over the march and cheers broke out and spread through the marchers in waves.
Amazing – this surely is what an enlightened society would feel like!
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Truly one of the most moving experiences of my life. I marched with my son and grandchildren and felt a part of his(her)story. It feels like the beginning of a better world, but much work still to be done.
Thank you to all who marched. You are greatly appreciated.
This was one of the most memorable moments of my life. To be a small part of such an enormous movement was an honor.
I’d never been among a crowd of 50,000, the number initially expected for the March, and yet it didn’t take long to realize we had far exceeded all expectations. It took over three hours for the last of the marchers to be be able to exit the park and begin their journey, the tail end arriving at the Seattle Center just before 4pm. What stood out most for me was the joviality, kindness and patience of these thousands and thousands of people, initially traveling at a snails pace and with no personal space to be found. Some of us peeled out after an hour or so, in order to move our bodies and caffeinate. And then we happily threw ourselves back into the celebration of womanhood and humanity. We went as far from the fray as we could for dinner- so we could find a place that wasn’t overflowing with people waiting to be seated, and our waiter told us about dropping his wife and daughter off for the March that morning. And then the place filled to overflowing… having spent the first 26 years of my life in Seattle, I will still remember this as one of my favorite days there. Over our morning coffee we met a woman recently moved to Seattle from Texas who arrived alone, we invited her to join us and she was with us till we parted after dinner. Altogether a lovely day. Loved being with other Orcas women for as long as we were all able. My thanks to them.
Starstruck, awestruck, dumbstruck! What an incredible moment in U.S. history. Over a hundred thousand at this march alone, millions throughout the country and around the globe–vowing to correct a terrible mistake made in November. So proud to be a part of the Orcas contingent!
The eagles were a great gift, I’ve heard, from so many who witnessed their presence.
One of the best follow up actions I’ve seen is folks writing thank you notes/postcards to the Seattle Police for their friendly and supportive engagement.
That’s the way we do it!
A memorable moment indeed – actually many moments. I was most impressed by the diversity and positive, uptone feel of the gathering. I’m normally averse to crowds but felt safe and comfortable in this huge one. And great to see so many relaxed and smiling police officers! Way to go, and keep going forward.
We came through Port Townsend and over on the Bainbridge ferry. After disembarking we knew we would have to walk to Judkins as every bus was packed full to the brim with pink hatted people. It was amazing to be among that huge crowd, all smiling, sharing food and information,getting to know one another and I sensed a certain euphoria as the crowd swelled and moved out ever so slowly to begin with. That a number that large, we were told upwards of 165,000, and have it be that joyous and spontaneous towards each other seems rare these days. On the way back over to Bainbridge, the boat being packed and alive with discussions of the experience and what comes next, the ferry boat captain came on the loudspeaker and thanked us for doing what we did that day. The boat erupted in cheering.
i hadn’t participated in political dissent since my grad student days at Berkeley in the ’60’s but felt conscience-bound to gather up what family i still have and express our discontent concerning the Presidency by our physical presence. i was deeply touched by the diversity of the marchers – age, race, groupage (if that’s a word), as well as their particular areas of concern as expressed in a wide range of signs, banners and tee shirts. the two parts of the experience that made it unique for me was, first of all, the AMAZING warmth and gentleness of the participants – smiles and spontaneous consideration amongst an estimated 1000,000+ (!) of ‘demonstrators’ was something i hadn’t expected. the other aspect that touched and heartened me – especially in these dark and uncertain times, were the numbers of men and women with their children marching together. i can’t help thinking that being part of this massive and beautiful event was introducing another generation to the positive emotions of being physically part of something bigger and deeper than anythying they’d likely experienced yet in their lives, surrounded by others looking only to express their common wish for a better world.. come to think of it, that goes for me too – and i’m 70!
Reporting from Bellingham: we had a rainbow, almost a circle, right above us and it was not raining! Amazing! I have a picture of a young boy, maybe 8 yrs old, being carried by his father. The little boy had made a sign which said ‘ No walls, Love All’. He attached it to a tree branch.
Many thanks to all who participated in this historic set of events. I didn’t make it to Seattle, but I was marching with roughly 150 other Orcasians.
Sometimes I wish Orcas Issues had emojis so that I could “love” all of these comments!
I am sure the Seattle police were great too, but we should note that the above photo of the cops wearing pink hats was taken in Portland, Oregon.