“We recognize that we are collective agents of history and that history cannot be deleted like web pages. … This women’s march represents the promise of feminism as against pernicious powers of state violence. An inclusive and intersectional feminism that calls upon all of us to join the resistance to racism, to Islamophobia, to anti-Semitism, to misogyny, to capitalist exploitation. … The next 1,459 days of the Trump administration will be 1,459 days of resistance.” — Angela Davis, author and Civil Rights activist on Jan. 21, 2017

It wasn’t even a question as to whether I was headed to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Woman’s March; I had a strong yearning to be there for my daughters, your daughters and our nation’s daughters. As many of you know, I have a voice and I am not afraid of using it as long as it is used for a good cause and this cause is of utmost importance to all women out there, whether you believe it or not.

As I joined up with my friend, Maureen, or Moe if you happen to be lucky enough to be considered a friend, we embarked on our journey with 300 “friends” on buses from Buffalo in a caravan through dense fog to our destination. As most of travelers slept, I was awake thinking about our upcoming day — what would we encounter? It was planned as a peaceful protest, but you know how that goes. I have to say that since the election many things that we take for granted have changed; people have become emboldened and think they have the right to do and say any outrageous thing because “Trump is in charge now.” In the back of my mind I worried about paid troublemakers or rabble-rousers trying to give our march a bad name.

As we got closer to D.C. the traffic got congested and text messages were coming in about the massive amounts of people who were turning out. The excitement was mounting. We were routed to RFK Stadium to park, 1,200 bus permits were granted and the lot was filling up fast. As we got off the bus each step I took was a step closer to our goal. The D.C. MetroRail was packed to the gills with people trying to get to Independence Avenue SW and Third Street. As we disembarked the MetroRail we were told to go one stop past our destination because at the three stops around the march, marchers were packed like sardines just trying to get out of the Metro station.

The marchers weren’t only pink-capped women, but men and children added to the mix. The ages I saw ranged from three months to an 89-year-young woman just as spry as if she was still a teenager. Everyone was helping anyone who needed a hand for whatever reason. Cell phones were recording every move for prosperity and the cell services were jammed for the better part of the day.

Handmade signs and professionally printed signs were everywhere and the diversity of the messages matched the diversity of the crowd. It was a cool, laid-back vibe with the slight aromas of coffee and great food, which came from the food trucks that lined the way to the main event. Some marchers came in costumes, but most had t-shirts that spread the message of the day: peace, unity, love and hope.

Along the way I noticed familiar faces in the crowd, like former Secretary of State John Kerry walking with his dog, or Sir Ian McKellan casually chatting and marching with us regular folk. With a sharp eye you could see many famous people out amongst the marchers walking for the same reason we were there: women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration reform and civil rights, to name a few.

Once you were at the main stage there were many speakers from all walks of life there to encourage and get the crowd going. The iconic feminist Gloria Steinam with the words: “And remember the constitution does not begin with ‘I, the president.’ It begins with ‘We the people.”’ This rousing speech that will undoubtedly go down in history, much like the march, which to this date is numbered to have had 1.2 million marchers in D.C. alone, with more than 370 sister marches taking place across our nation as well as all seven continents.

Absolutely no arrests were made in conjunction with the march. Research has shown that disciplined nonviolence helps a movement’s chance for success and makes it more than twice as likely to succeed as a violent movement.

I’d like to give a shout-out to all the D.C. police officers and the D.C. Metro workers who were so patient and kind to all of us marchers and gave superb directions when asked. The sanitation crew had their work cut out for them and an extra “BRAVO” to them for allowing our words to reach the Trump administration that by the way did have the street to the White House and Trump International Hotel blocked off so we couldn’t march there.

All in all, I think we got our point across to the new administration that we are not going to take what they are dishing out without a peaceful fight. Get together. Get organized. Volunteer and protest. It feels good, right down to your soul.

If you are ever in DC, stop by the Irish Channel Pub and Grill; they had the best service and food a starving marcher was searching for — the burgers were out of this world!

See you at the next march …

Cath Kestler is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com