In a little under two weeks, something big is going down in Washington DC. No, I'm not talking about the inauguration (even though that's clearly an important and definitive event in our nation's history); instead, I'm talking about something that's being planned in response to the presidential inauguration: the Women's March on Washington.
On January 21st, the day after Trump is inaugurated as president, the Women's March on Washington is going to take place. You may have seen this event floating around on your Facebook timelines, or maybe heard about how The Washington Post Express ran a cover story about the event...but mistakenly put the universal male symbol on the front of the issue, rather than a female symbol. No matter how you heard about the event, it's important that you pay attention, because this is going to be (in the spirit of the president-elect) huge.
With one hundred and seventy three thousand people planning on attending as of this writing, the Women's March on Washington is an event for people of all genders, races, and religions who believe in the importance of women's rights in today's society. After the election of Donald Trump into our nation's highest office, many Americans felt a sense of trepidation, of fear that our new president wouldn't just not represent the beliefs of the people but also that he would dismantle some of the key rights that make us feel protected as Americans, such as our equal pay laws, our access to quality health care, and our right to worship freely, just to name a few. This march is the manifestation of these concerns into a single message to Trump: represent the needs and wishes of all the American people, not just your voter base.
If you're interested in attending the Women's March on Washington, here's how it's going down: the march begins at 10 AM on January 21st, when those marching will gather at the intersection of Independence Avenue and Third Street SW. The march will be accessible to those with disabilities (wheelchair access, ASL interpreters, guides for the blind, and mental health crisis care will be available), and the entire event is permitted by the city government, so no worries there. All you need to be concerned about is getting there--check out your state's Women's March page, available through the Women's March on Washington Facebook page, in order to find the best transportation to the march or information on local marches.
If you're concerned about your rights under the Trump presidency, speak up! This march and the sister marches taking place across the country provide an amazing platform for women's issues, and I'm sure that the messages delivered on January 21st will be impossible to ignore.
