— from Kelly Rose —
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More than 1400 women, men, and children joined the Women’s March in Friday Harbor on January 21.
That morning on Orcas, roughly 40 marchers gathered about the ferry landing, smiling and squinting in brisk January sun. People mingled about, admiring each other’s pink hats, talking about politics and the weather and the day. Then the ferry slid up to the dock with more cold-but-enthusiastic marchers holding signs and waving down from the upper deck. Hollers and whoops of joy were exchanged as the Orcas contingency marched onto the ferry and filtered through the cabin, adding to what felt like a mini-festival on the boat. There was singing, socializing, sharing of pink hats, coo-ing at the newborn “marcher” in her fathers arms, and high-fives to the girls and boys joining the march with their families.
By the time the ferry pulled up to Friday Harbor the more than 200 foot passengers were fired up and ready to go. The group poured out and into the streets, and up the hill to join over a thousand more marchers on the crowded Courthouse lawn.
The energy was upbeat. Most signs focused on empowerment and equal rights for women, immigrants, families, and the earth and sea. Pink hats were worn by women and men. Said things like “We all come from the mother,” “Girls just wanna have fun-damental rights,” “Pussy grabs back,” and “I heart all genders.” Also present were a tall fellow wearing a full black burqa, and a large homemade paper mache earth globe puppet.
After a brief rally marchers took to the streets chanting “Women’s rights are human rights,” and singing “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” It was a celebration of unity, empowerment, and inclusion, a party of loving dissent, and a preparation for more actions to come.
Turnout was so much larger than expected that just about a third of the group could fit into the reception hall at the middle school. So people took turns, enjoying refreshments and listening to inspirational talks and poetry about unity and inclusion, ending sexism from a multi gender perspective, the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and the need for activating together. People cozied into the packed room and overflowed out into the school yard to talk and rest while the kids of the march played together.
Following what was a difficult day for so many, January 21, 2017 was an historic and inspiring day for the nation, and, as many expressed, hopefully the beginning of a great change towards true equality for all.
