The news cycle seen throughout this election was an especially unique one. The next four years are looking like they’re going to be different than any other presidential term America has had. On Jan.21, one day after President Trump was inaugurated, 3.3 million women came together to protest with Women’s Marches. These marches  have been the biggest protest in American history. At least one march took place in each state in about 500 different US cities. There were also at least 700 international marches in 60 different countries on every continent, even Antarctica, where citizens joined Americans in protest. The purpose of these marches was to spread awareness about the issue of discrimination against women and gender or race inequality, which have long been protested. On the campaign trail, some of the acts Trump was promising to repeal or overturn have much to do with women and taking away some of their freedoms, like abortion rights, for example, giving protesters a reason to backlash. The men and women who joined these marches were not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. Magnet asked two OHS students about their experiences at the Minneapolis march.*

Madison Bissonette

Madison Bissonette is a junior at OHS and shared her version of the experience. She went to the Minneapolis March with her mom.

She first learned about the March itself from the news, but thought it was only in Washington D.C. She found out the day of that there was one in Minneapolis and her and her mom decided to go. 60,000 people showed up, to the march even though there were only 20,000 RSVPs.

The atmosphere was very peaceful and there was an overwhelming sense of community. “Everyone was excited and there was a lot of energy. Everyone felt connected and it was a very welcoming environment,” said Bissonette.  On the way there, there were homeless people and protesters  gave them things like food or money.  “I’ve never seen that many people be so giving. The whole thing was just really powerful and really positive. It was a good experience. It felt like a very safe environment,” she said. There was only one arrest. According to Twin Cities’ Pioneer Press, it man was allegedly spraying pepper spray at protesters.

The large rally turnout was more  than what the city had planned for.  They had to take a bus to get to where the march was starting. “At each bus stop there were protesters trying to get on the bus. We had to tell them that there’s not enough room on the bus, but that there was, like, three more busses coming. There were just a ton of people. There were a lot of men there, too, which was surprising to me,” said Bissonette.

People brought signs, flags, drums and tambourines to accompany their marching.

There was a myriad of reasons why people were there. Some with dislike for President Trump,  some with agendas for reproductive rights, and activists like Black Lives Matter.  

“There was a huge variety of signs there. Some were funny, some were more about American’s views. Some were about women’s rights, some said, ‘Black Lives Matter’. There were a lot of ones that said, ‘Love trumps hate’ and ‘We love our Muslim neighbors’. There were some that said things supporting Hillary, too, like, ‘I’m with her’, ‘I’m a nasty woman’, or ‘My body my choice’,” said Bissonette.

The protesters chanted a plethora of things while marching, as well. “One was where someone would yell ‘show me what democracy looks like’ and then everyone would yell ‘this is what democracy looks like’. A lot of women chanted ‘my body my choice’,” said Bissonette. “We also chanted things like ‘no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here’, and ‘no trump, no KKK, no racist USA’.”

They marched from St. Paul College to the capitol (just over half a mile) where there were speakers. These people spoke about their views and broadcasted their voices miles from where they were standing, adding to the energy.