It's been three weeks post election and during that time, many cities are featured on the news showing giant protests against the president-elect. Portland was included in some of those headlines, and yes, I've been to about 5-6 of them and don't plan to stop anytime soon. Many college cities have been in the same headlines and it makes sense, we are the future.

I've made the mistake of reading comments on Facebook posts of people wanting to "run us over", "shoot them", "throw them in jail." For the most part, all of the protests I've been to have been peaceful. I am not an "uneducated liberal with no job," that many comments have generalized about us. I go to school full time, work part time, and take part in extracurricular activities. If caring about the rights and well-beings of others makes me a "libtard," then so be it.

As an adopted Asian female, I fear for my safety with more and more reports of hate crimes directed towards people of color. I march because I was given the right to do so. One of the few good things to come out of this election is many more people are standing up for their beliefs by being active in their communities. I gained the feeling that my voice matters. I'm not marching for the sole purpose of getting Trump kicked out of office, I'm marching for my LGBTQI+ friends who fear for their safety, for my black and brown friends who fear personal attacks based on their skin color, for my undocumented friends who fear being sent back to their country which they don't remember because they were so young when they came to America, and for my friends who have survived sexual and domestic violence that fear seeing someone accused of rape put into a position of power.

I go to protests and march because I support women's reproductive rights and I don't want to see those rights taken away. It's ridiculous that we have to fight for control over our own bodies. I protest because my grandma, mom, and all the other strong women in my family didn't progress all this way to be silenced again.