Hailed as the largest day of protest in U.S. history, on January 21, 2017, hundreds of thousands of womxn across the United States and the world marched through the streets in a rebuke of Donald Trump and the hate and intolerance he espouses. Our message was clear: Not on our watch!
Trump invoked “making America great again” while womxn — spelled with an x to recognize those targeted by sexism — experienced this refrain as a return to the murky history of patriarchy that furthers racial and sexual discrimination, economic inequality, corruption lining the pockets of those in power, a planet on the brink, and policies engendering oppression and violence.
The election was an insult not only to our politics but to our identities and morality. We watched, horrified, as a man who demeans womxn (using language such as “grab ‘em by the (expletive),” “blood coming out of her wherever,” “fat pig,” “dog” and “horseface”) took office.
He then fostered racial divide and emboldened hate. Despite unprecedented gaslighting, disinformation, and violent rhetoric and despite losing the popular vote by more than 3 million ballots, Trump was still crowned king by a system designed for and controlled by white patriarchy. And so we marched.
These last three years have deepened the rift in the moral fabric of our country. Instead of “making America great,” we have leaders who have opened the door for intolerance. Rather than appreciating and learning from each other, we distrust and belittle those who don’t look, pray, or love like we do. In this quest for “great,” we have lost sight of what it means to be good.
In this version of America, women are losing access to their reproductive freedoms. Immigrants hear shouts to “go back to where they came from.” Schools practice drills for active shooter scenarios while other children are dying in cages at our borders. Swastikas are painted on buildings and headstones; bricks are thrown through the windows of houses of worship. People are targeted by violence for whom they love. Communities are torn and broken and our world is literally on fire.
We are expected to trust those in power, yet the most powerful people do not exercise trustworthy behavior. Instead, they attack the identities of others for their own self-interest. They abuse their power and then hide behind their lies. Where is the America that our parents and elders immigrated to in search of a better life? Does that better life really exist? We believe it does. It is why we march.
In the months leading up to our 2020 event, Womxn’s March Denver conducted community healing workshops. Themes emerged. Overt hate — locally, nationally, and globally — has left us with various and sometimes contradictory emotions. At once we are angry, numb, sad, hopeful, withdrawn, and desensitized. We want to flee, yet we are frozen.
There are those who are well-meaning, but too fragile to admit that they live in a country where we cannot escape the impact of all the “isms” (such as racism, [hetero]sexism, ableism, ageism) of how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. And so we invalidate, minimize, pathologize, fail to take responsibility and blame those who differ from us. This is not the America in which we want to live. This is not the America we envision for our children.
We found in one another similar emotions, tensions and exhaustion. We had a brave and safe space to voice our histories and speak the unspoken. As we bore witness, we found the connection and sense of belonging missing in so many other spaces — and cultivated healing. We recognized that we needed to heal from a lifetime of experiencing and witnessing hate, oppression, silence, and invalidation.
In bearing witness to the shared stories of women with various intersecting identities, we began to feel strong with one another. Healing happens in these relationships and experiences.
That is what this March means today.
By coming together and taking to the streets, we feel stronger and more resilient. Womxn’s March Denver is a movement working hard to inclusively engage others, and working to uplift women so that we may find our collective strength as global citizens demanding policies that serve the greater good. This movement is more than activism — it is also the healing that happens among people, families, and communities.
Together, we march, speak out, and are seen, heard, cared for — and valued.
March with us Saturday, January 18. Let us listen to one another and strengthen ourselves and this movement in solidarity. Let us demand better from our leaders. Let us march together as we stand united against the tides of hate that would divide us. Let us declare in a unified voice: Not on our watch!
We march because our vote is our voice. Let’s get loud.
Rohini Gupta is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Denver International Disaster Psychology Program and she is director of the Trauma and Disaster Recovery Clinic. Kerry O’Grady is a retired U.S. Secret Service special agent.
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