Women’s March in Washington, DC – January 21, 2017

by Carol Graysmith, APA Executive Board Member

Several members of the APA union jumped at the chance to travel to Washington, DC for the Women’s March on January 21, 2017. The attendees included 3 executive board members, Sue Brandt, Deb Porter, and Carol Graysmith and at least two other APA members. The Michigan Education Association (MEA) sent an email inviting members in good standing to ride for free and invited them to bring paying guests for $150. No union dues were used to fund this trip; Political Action Committee (PAC) money was used to pay for the free rides. 

We boarded the bus at 9:30 pm on Friday night with our pillows and blankets. We slept through the night and arrived Saturday morning in time to hike to the Capital. Saturday night we climbed back on-board the buses and again slept through the night, arriving back in E. Lansing early Sunday morning. The ride down and back was quiet and conducive of sleep if you could find a comfortable position.

The mission of the Women’s March, quoted from their website, reads as follows: “We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.”  The main slogan, “Women’s Rights = Human Rights”, was further supported by 5 guiding principles:

1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
2. The Beloved Community is the framework for the future.
3. Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil.
4. Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve our goal.
5. Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence.

We saw these principles in action as we participated in the bus ride, the hike into the capital from the buses, the rally, and the march. The locals of Washington, DC were very supportive of us as we hiked through their neighborhood. Some of them were cheering, others were giving us high-fives. One church we passed had a crowd of parishioners standing on the front lawn clapping for us and expressing their thanks to us. During the rally people were supportive of each other as the crowd had to stretch to allow paramedics to extract people who were suffering from the long stand. On our walk back to the buses at the end of the day we passed people partying in front of their homes who asked us where we were from and thanked us for coming to help.

We were struck with how diverse the crowd was, how peaceful everyone was with other’s views, and how helpful the participants were. Many of the participants were men. One tall young man held a sign that said “I love my mother”. His mother’s  sign said, “I can’t believe I’m still protesting this stuff”. My personal favorite sign said, “HEALTHCARE: I’ll have what our legislators are having”. The attendees had strong opinions on various issues but the main theme of the day was that together we can work for human rights – for all humans.

One of the women on our bus was sent a message of inspiration by her daughter and shared it with the other women. This quote sums up the spirit of the day, “Remember today as you do this thing that not only are you participating in History, you are there and a part of the seminal moment, nay the ovulatory moment of the next wave of feminism, and a powerful women’s movement: a call for humanity to evolve.”