Women’s March on Washington

It has been a hard year. While I was involved in moving from one male dominated industry (motorsports) to another (tech); I was not-so-subtly reminded I can make every right professional move, work my ass off and probably still lose out to a white man with a much lesser resume.

I’ve dealt with each blow to humanity with denial (he won’t be the nominee…he won’t become president….etc…), but when my mother suggested we march in Washington, I decided it was time to face the music. I needed to find a way to cope and a positive way forward. I booked a red-eye to NYC and a charter bus with NOW NYC to DC. My goal was to find some peace in the company of other empathic, supportive, inspiring individuals and find a way for me to start working for change.

The day of the rally, I woke at 3am, took the subway to the bus meeting point and hopped on a bus bound for DC. In the still dark morning, we queued onto the southbound highway, already bumper to bumper with buses. The traffic grew heavier as we drew closer to DC and the sidewalks became packed with heavy streams of people entering the metro to get to downtown. We joined the queues to the metro, only to find each arriving train, one after the other already, entirely jam packed.

I finally squeezed onto a train only to find the stations near the mall had been closed to overcrowding, so we were eventually dropped a few stops away. The doors opened at our stop and the platform - was already completely jammed, with so many people we couldn’t exit the station. The chanting and cheering start as we streamed the rally from the underground station.

I finally made it above ground only to find more crowds. I was planning to meet my mother and father, but had to hike 25 blocks out of the way to find a way to circumvent the unpassable mobs of peaceful protesters. After two hours of urban hiking I made it to the meeting point and met my family - a stroke of luck considering the cell towers were overwhelmed and not working.

Mom and Dad scouted an excellent location near the rally above Independence Ave where we could hear the speakers and entertainers. The speakers represented a wide and diverse population, reminding everyone we are the same through our diverse expressions. The crowds around DC were so vast, most could not access the rally and official march route, but they marched anyway.

Marching bands kept the energy pulsing through our tired and cold bodies. We slowly flowed, thick and steady and endless arteries, clogging the city, cars honked in support, chants called out, diversity and acceptance was for once, the norm. Love ruled all.

We reminded each other, we were there, we supported one another and we were moving forward. The train rides home were full of “What’s next?” conversations. Get involved. Call your congressman. And most importantly, as Obama reminded us as he left his position at the white house, stop compalining on social media, join a club, volunteer, become involved in your community, become the community you want to be involved in.