Anndrea Vasquez

The glaring light of the morning sun creeps into Ashley’s bedroom and slaps her face with a warm blaze. She checks her alarm blaring phone and sees that it’s 6:15 AM.Her stomach flips as she realizes it’s the day of the Women’s March. She sees her best friend Alexis has texted her the details of where to meet. She is so excited for the day with friends and people advocating for what she believes in.    

She meets her friends at the Blue Line Station, buys her fare and they step into fairly empty train together. The thirty-minute ride is filled with talk of last years march, which Ashley had not gone to, and the chatter excites her. Once they’ve arrived at their destination, she steps out to the overwhelming swarm that was around her. Dozens of people were walking up the steps from the subway, all headed to one destination: Pershing Square. 

The 2nd annual Women’s March began at 8:30 am, in the heart of downtown on January 20, 2018. The streets packed, with not cars, but with people in pink hats, vendors selling T-Shirts, news reporters,  and hot dog vendors. Before the actual march to Grand Park, attendees shouted and chanted in unison, raising the witty and clever posters they created. Posters ranged from disapproval against Trump, women’s health, and worker wages, but mainly being political mockery from current events.

The actual march began at 10:00 am and by then, thousands of people were in Pershing Square. People watched from skyscrapers and apartments, viewing thousands of pink heads together. The march was scattered with phenomenal people and the close intimacy with others was ideal for making new conversation with strangers. The diversity in the march was also wide, from White older women, Hispanic teens, Black families to millennial Asians.

Although the distance from Pershing Square to Grand Park is only a few miles, there being so many people caused the 18-minute walk to be an hour. During the walk, chants like, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” “I don’t want your tiny hands anywhere near my underpants,” and “Education! Not deportation” was sung. Once the attendees arrived at Grand Park/City Hall, tents were pitched up and informational booths were passing out business cards, pins, and flyers. Two streets over, down on Spring St, there were more informational booths for breast cancer, 

Planned Parenthood, LGBT  and more. Alongside the booths was City Hall where many attendees ended up.

In front of City Hall, was a stage where Scarlett Johansson, Viola Davis, and NataliePortman spoke. Viola Davis spoke of social justice, the #MeToo movement, and Jim Crow. Scarlett Johansson called out James Franco and also spoke about the #MeToo movement.

Around 500 thousand people attended the Women’s March and in attendance, many APB students went as well. Senior Alexis Acosta said,  “I went because I wanted to fight for what I believe, and let people hear my voice.”

Senior Morriss Gomez said that he went to fight for women, and advocate the Pro-Choice movement. Many APB students took posters they made at home and were sure to raise them high.

“A lot of people liked my poster. So many photographers and even just regular people either asked for a picture of me with it or just the poster itself,” said 12th grader Wendy Medina “It was nice to see how many people were there for the same reason, for women.”

Other senior Jesus Gallardo, said he thought the women’s march was great but disliked the Trump supporters that were across City Hall. “They were talking a lot of trash and were being guarded by police like animals since so many people were surrounding them. It was crazy.” Jesus also said that although he disliked that the Trump supporters came, it was entertaining to watch people bicker with them.

In summary, the Women’s March was another step in the right direction for women. It was a phenomenal sight to see so many people united for one cause. The Women’s March is a monumental event and hopefully will continue forevermore. Although many argue and protest against tolerance and women’s rights, resistors must persist to fight for equality and acceptance.