The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

Pissed Pink Protestors

Pissed+Pink+Protestors

Girls just want to have fun(damental) rights

Along with over 100,000 people, I marched in the Seattle Women’s March on January 21st. This event was replicated in countries across the world and was such a powerful experience that I believe everyone who didn’t go should understand what happened.

Despite the huge number of people, Seattle’s march was largely peaceful. I was expecting yelling, anger and tear gas. Instead, people gave out hats, complimented each other’s witty signs and thanked the police for their time. No car was set on fire, no police officer was hit with a rock and to everyone’s surprise, no one was arrested.

This was not to say that the march didn’t have  angry people. The protest, as many are, was fueled by anger and a sense of fear and was purposefully scheduled for President Donald J. Trump’s first day in office. Marchers wanted to show that women wouldn’t stand by in silence as the man who now represents them tweets insulting comments or admits to unwanted sexual advances. It was as if to say “We see you, and we don’t like it one bit.”

Many of the signs and chants at the march demonstrated this anger. “We shall overCOMB,” one sign read as a reference to Trump’s famous hairstyle. Other sigsn were much more explicit.

The rally started in Judkins Park, almost four miles away from the end at Seattle Center. Unfortunately, the streets were so clogged we could only get as far as the International District. In the beginning, I was nervous because everyone seemed so riled up and ready to take action. We passed homeless people on the street ranting about Trump. The energy in the air seemed tense but oddly quiet.

But as soon as we stopped and waited for the march to begin, I began to notice that people weren’t angry at each other, but were collectively frustrated. Right before we started to march, the police rode by on bikes and motorcycles. Instead of booing, people cheered. One even had a pink flower in his buttonhole. The march after that was both uneventful and unforgettable. Nothing radical happened, but it was amazing to see how many people cared. It wasn’t just college students who had nothing better to do. It was grandparents with their grandchildren, husbands who came with their wives and little kids in strollers wearing pink onesies. It was people like my mom and her friend, who hadn’t been to a protest in more than 15 years.

Everyone was there for their own reason, and many smaller protests took place in between. A “Black Lives Matter” chant weaved its way through the crowd, and a thumping drum led the way for a train of Native Americans protesting the Dakota Pipeline. We were united, however, a mass of women and men wearing pink hats. People even brought their young kids, who held signs that read things like “World Peace” and “Stop it, be nice!”

This march is being called “the largest inaugural protest in history.” If you take one thing away from this event, it would be that if you are worried, or passionate or scared about the issues surrounding feminism and the White House, it should be this: you are not alone.  

By Olivia Poolos