It felt good to march into history. Now to keep it going

A view from the Womxn’s March on Seattle

If the election filled me with despair, Saturday’s record-breaking women’s marches across the US and around the world lifted my heart and filled me with hope.

Our Misogynist-in-Chief Donald Trump has poked a sleeping lioness, and boy is she pissed!  I say sleeping because many of the women (and men) who felt compelled to turn out Saturday had grown complacent leading up to his election. Many of us looked at the polls and said, “Hillary’s got this.”

For many, maybe even most, this march was a first.

I count myself in that number. I’ve never been politically active. Yes, I’m a regular voter who can be persuaded to donate to a cause now and then. I’ll sign petitions I support, but I’ve never started or circulated one. I’ve never volunteered for anything outside of my sons’ schools.

You’d never find me at a rally because I hate crowds. The thought of joining tens of thousands of people* in downtown Seattle scared me more than a little bit. How would I get down there and back with all those bodies overloading public transit? What if things get out of hand?

Robin Daly (front) takes a selfie of our “pussy posse” (her term)

Thank goodness for some gentle prodding, first from my sister-in-law, Mara Funk, who enthusiastically shared her plans to travel to Washington, D.C., and then from Kathryn Gardow and her husband, Dave Bradlee, who hosted a pre-Seattle march breakfast and logistics meeting. They made it easy to say yes.

Thank goodness also for the Pussyhat Project. A knitting protest was right up this introvert crafter’s alley. The pattern was simple. Finding solid fuchsia yarn was not. While I searched the picked-over selection of pinks in the yarn aisle of Fred Meyer, I was joined by three other women doing the same thing. We talked about creative solutions, briefly bonding over our happy dilemma.

That’s when I knew this event was going to be big, and that I had to be a part of it. I had to register how appalled I was that a man who boasted about sexually assaulting women could be elected president. I had to stand up against racism, xenophobia and fear-mongering, and stand up for human rights, health care access and our warming planet.  I couldn’t sit this one out with the rationalization that no one would miss me.

As everyone knows by now, size matters to our new president. I’m just one person, but I wanted to help make the Womxn’s March on Seattle the biggest it could be. Maybe a pink tidal wave would show him that we will not forget or forgive his sneering disparagement of so many. If we amassed “in numbers too big to ignore,” maybe he’d find it hard to dismiss us or blame others (like the media), though I felt sure he’d try. That’s what narcissists do.

So walking with my pussy-hatted sisters and brothers was my way of showing that I will not be dismissed.

Now, of course, the challenge will be to turn this symbolic protest into a sustained effort with goals and actions. It’s up to each and every one of us to stay vigilant and engaged. I’ll admit that’s easier said than done. That’s why I’m writing this blog — to hold my own self accountable.

So here’s my vow for any and all to see. I will:

• Stay informed, using reliable local, national and international news sources.
• Call out falsehoods when I hear them.
• Freely discuss issues that matter to me, including justice for all, health care for all, reproductive choice and climate change.
• Let my neighbors and friends who are Muslim and/or immigrants know that I support them.
• Stand up against bullying and hate and encourage my boys to do likewise.
• Donate to three key organizations fighting for the groups/issues threatened by Trump’s administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.
• Vote.

I’m also going to knit a pussy hat for my 81-year-old mother. She wants one.

What about you? Did you march? What are your plans for the next four years? Please comment below.

*Organizers of the Womxn’s March on Seattle expected to draw 50,000 people. They got more than twice that number. Estimates ranged from 100,000 to 140,000.