Last weekend, millions gathered all over the world in 2017’s Women’s March.
In Moscow alone, approximately 2,500 people of all identities came together to bring awareness to a multitude of issues in our society.
Despite its name, I don’t believe the Women’s March was solely meant to bring attention to a lack of gender equality in society or “cry” about the nation’s new president, Donald Trump, and his reputation to “say mean things.”
No, I did not witness a sea of people shedding tears or rioting and burning cars. Instead, I saw a group of people standing for something — standing for equality, for the environment, for kindness, for unity.
Mihaela Karst | Argonaut
That was what I went home thinking about after the march. I marveled at the possibility that thousands of people from all backgrounds could come together in an attempt to bring awareness to current issues.
To be clear, the Women’s March was not a protest against President Trump demanding he steps down from his new position. For every anti-Trump poster, I saw two posters demanding safety for the LGBTQA community, three posters demanding gender equality and five posters demanding the world take better care of the earth.
And for the few posters I did see referring to President Trump, I only saw references to his treatment of women in the past — not demands that he vacate the White House. I saw personal quotes demonstrating verbal abuse to women, all in an attempt to bring awareness that this treatment is unacceptable.
Regardless of opinion, President Trump is not going away. He is now the President of the United States of America — and the nation knows that.
To me, the Women’s March was simply a demonstration that we, as a country, stand as one, united against prejudice, hate and anger. The amount of kindness and strength I felt while walking along the streets of Moscow was unparalleled.
I felt part of a greater force, and it gave me hope that no matter the trials the country may face, there is enough good to overcome it.
It was not a time for “crybabies” to come together and mourn the loss of Hillary Clinton. It was not a time for angry millennials to stomp their feet in a tantrum for not getting their way.
It was a time for people all over the world to unite and perpetuate a long lost sense of kindness. It was a time for people to unite against prejudice and peacefully shout that the country will no longer stand for hate.
On Jan. 21 the world united to send a single message: love trumps hate.
Mihaela Karst can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @mihaela_jo