I am proud to say I was one of an estimated 750,000 people who flooded the streets of Los Angeles for the Women’s March on Saturday, Jan. 21, the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
I became a lawyer in order to advocate for the rights of others. My focus is employment law because I want to guarantee employees the rights and the respect they are entitled to at work.
I walked because I am worried about how women’s rights – and basic human rights – will fare under Trump’s leadership. He has amply demonstrated his contempt for women, and I fear that the rights we have fought so hard for will be blunted under his administration.
To be true to myself, I had to join the march. I felt it was important to stand up on behalf of women – and other disenfranchised groups.
As the mission statement for the Women’s March on Washington says, in part: “In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.”
It went on to say, “We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.”
The march served its purpose
The march – with its 1 million participants around the world – highlighted that there is a mobilized force of women who will be monitoring this new presidency.
When I got to Pershing Square and saw all the women with all their signs, it was overwhelming, emotionally. I got there before it started. We were standing there for close to an hour – packed in, with nowhere to go. All the women were so friendly and warm – even when I accidentally hit them with my sign, which read: “I’m not bossy. I’m the boss.”
As for me, to see so many people concentrated in one place is an experience I won’t ever forget. It was amazing.