Since the first Women’s March in 2017, the number of attendants has been dropping every year, but the passionate speakers and signs remind us there’s still a long way to go.
The first Women’s March was a worldwide protest on January 21st four years ago. Following Trump’s inauguration, the march brought over 3,000,000 participants in the U.S, making it the largest one-day protest in U.S history. The peaceful demonstration advocated not only for women’s rights and gender equality, but for LGBT+ rights, racial equality, immigration reform, and environmental protection.
Though signs ranged from “girls just wanna have fundamental human rights” to “build the wall around Trump”, this year, many were focused on the upcoming election and urged people to vote.
No matter what you think about Trump we can all agree there were enormous amounts of anger and passion many felt after his election, so it’s no wonder such a huge protest took place after his inauguration. But now, four years later, we’ve seen little to no change on any of the goals of the march. Some are even getting worse. Participants and political figures alike have watched as the numbers of the once largest protest in the U.S. fell from over 3,000,000 to 700,000.
Under 25% of Congress and the House of representatives are made up of women.
The Trump administration made multiple attacks on the LGBT+ community.
There has been an increase in hate crimes.
Thousands of illegal immigrants and children are held in detention centers.
Climate change damage is at an all-time high.
The anger is the same and the problems are the same, but it seems fewer and fewer people are trying to do something.
People are forgetting their voices mean something. Every person who sees a protest coming up and thinks one person not going won’t matter doesn’t realize there are thousands of other people thinking the same thing.
With the 2020 election coming up, it’s important to remember that there’s still a lot left worth fighting for.
photo by Finn Swanson