On Friday, January 20, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as our 45th president, having won the electoral college, but actually losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes marking the largest margin in history in a discordant electoral college/popular vote disparity.
In a visceral response to the election of a man that has the lowest approval ratings of any man taking the office, women, men, girls and boys took to the streets all over the nation, and all over the world in a show of defiance and solidarity. What started as the Women’s March on Washington became a worldwide phenomenon. The march on Washington drew what was estimated to be more than 500,000 people: the largest rally ever in history in Washington, DC.
The story doesn’t end with these very large marches. There were marches in cities and towns all across the United States on Saturday, January 21st.
I participated in the Women’s March in Washington, DC and spoke with some people who attended to get an idea of why they made the trip, and let’s be honest here, the very difficult trip, waiting sometimes hours for a spot on overly crowded train, sardine-like train platforms, lines 100 long for a porta-potty, and crowds so thick it was often difficult to move. What were the issues that compelled them to be there, at that site, for that event, on that day, January 21st.
This podcast discusses this historic event, and includes interviews with March participants.