Ohioans of all stripes trek to Washington to march for women
Hundreds of thousands of women and men descended on
Early estimates put crowd counts in the range of a half-million, about how many marched on the
"I'm 71," said
Wearing a "mothers against gun violence" T-shirt, Boyer-Jones attended the march with her two daughters, a sociologist at
"I'm marching for them," she said. "When they are grown and they look back on this day and this presidency, they're going to ask, 'Well, Grandma, where were you?' I can tell them I marched on the side of right -- against racism and for decency."
In their journey this week to the nation's capital, women bonded on buses over peace and equality. They shared concerns and pink hats. Under the banner of feminism, they pushed to protect their rights and those of all humanity, not just Americans.
"Decency first, America second" ... "Patriot standing up for America's values" ... "No man's land" ... "Never again," their signs read, the last carrying the silhouette of a coat hanger.
Directed energy
The march took no formal shape. From the start, it was more occupation than order.
Thousands of women, men and children packed the
By early afternoon, march organizers more than doubled their original estimate of 200,000 attendees. Whether the protest gains the political clout of the tea party uprising in 2009 remains to be seen. But for at least a day, it could not be ignored.
City streets passable by car the day before teemed with protesters who couldn't fit in the march's planned path. The main artery of protesters curved from the
Occasionally, a roar could be heard from the distance. It would hang in the air for a few seconds before washing over a crowd like electricity pulsating through the city.
As the march made its way along
"We entered a rogue parade and joined the main route," said Hill, a lawyer from
"It's kind of a metaphor for all of us," said Traud. The women held up a banner declaring "
"Yes, we came without a lot of direction, but we pushed forward together," Traud said.
Moving was slow. Steps covered shoe lengths. At the dense core of the march, protesters kept smiling and shouting: "This is what democracy looks like."
As they turned north toward the
Some drivers held up phone cameras. One laid on his horn and threw an approving thumbs-up out the window. The crowd responded with cheers that easily drowned out the horn.
The closer they drew to the
Many issues
In the early morning,
She brought 500 with her to
Train passengers leaving the station grabbed a poster and colored pen, then filled in the blank. Rietz herself had trouble boiling down all the issues that matter to women, a difficulty that inspired the sign project.
Smiling and showing what they had come up with, a group of friends from
"We brainstormed this together," said Anh LyJordan of
"We are every single one of these issues," said her friend,
Buckeye families
As the crowd neared the
"I'm a grandmother of eight," said Stock, proud to be from a liberal oasis in the heart of rural
Not everyone could make it.
He was among the many men who walked with women. That wasn't lost on Sadie, who carried a sign she proudly made.
"I wrote 'Happy Marching Men' because there are men here, too," the little girl said, "and that makes us feel like men are supporting women, too."
Like-minded
The third-year doctoral student at
"I'd say he's the class clown," said
He also has "leadership qualities," finished her brother,
"This has become one of the best experiences of my life," said Kelvin, who felt obligated to march Saturday when he found out on Facebook that a Chinese friend, who isn't a citizen, would be there with Americans and immigrants to rally for human rights.
On Friday, during a day of riots and protesting, Kelvin challenged Trump supporters. On Saturday, he found himself peacefully "surrounded by thousands of like-minded people. There's a positive energy pushing us all forward."
___
(c)2017 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)
Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Republicans push to cut Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News