The Pink Sea: Reflections on the Women's March

A sea of pink hats at the Women's March in D.C.

By Emma Prats

The date marked January 20, 2017. The time was 4:00 and a few hours earlier I had been shoving a Lunchable down my throat and finishing some late homework. I gathered my precious camera, a pen, some cough drops, and extra ear buds.

That day was when my life changed. I could feel it in my gut. I didn't have to go to D.C if I didn't want to, but being a woman and a person of color I felt devoted to get on that stuffy bus, eat protein bars for dinner, and march until my feet screamed for rest.

On the way to D.C. I wrote a letter to Trump, I ended with asking him to indeed, Make America Great Again. However, doing so by prioritizing the current issues accordingly. I was on a mission, along with 65 other women. We all came for our own reasons. I personally went for Women’s rights, racial equality and lgbtq rights.

When we arrived in D.C my heart was pounding with happiness. I was so eager to get off that bus, to stretch my legs and get moving. On the way to the starting point there was a family giving out cups of hot coffee. I ran across the street to grab a cup and it was straight black coffee. I personally don’t like strong coffee but I needed the caffeine so I plugged my nose and gulped it down. We finally walked a mile to the capitol building and I stood there in awe.

Pink hats were visible as far as the eye could see, posters and signs were being waved and held every direction you turned, the shouts of different chants filled my ears. I was home, I was where I belonged. My mom asked if I was okay and it was then I realized I had been jumping around and squealing with excitement. We saw some fellow Unitarian Universalists who had “Standing On The Side Of Love” buttons pinned to their jackets. We talked about where we were from then took a picture together. The crowd then tore us apart, I remember being pushed and pulled in every direction. The river of protesters flowed everywhere, I tried to stay with my mom, making sure not to lose her hand. About 2 hours later, the march was about to start, but nobody could move. Nobody knew where to go. We swayed one direction then were pushed the other, we were told to move towards the mall but police cars blocked our path.

Finally, people started to push their way onto different streets, We eventually started moving and the chanting got louder and the excitement grew. People came from all different directions, joining the huge flow. Spectators from different building stood on balconies, waving to us and whistling. However some people stood, shaking their heads and screaming at us. I couldn't hear what they were saying because they were drowned out by the love and support surrounding them. Being at the Women's March had such a huge impact on me, it set off an internal bomb and made me want to do more stuff like this. It made me take action and get involved with social justice and brought me closer to my church. It helped me realize that no matter how big you are or how small, no matter who you are, you can do anything, if you believe.