It's been one year since President Donald Trump took office and protesters gathered across the country and world to voice their opposition. Thousands gathered at Cambridge Common Saturday for the Women's March 2018 to commemorate the original event and to voice their frustrations with the administration. Similar events were planned in other cities throughout the country.
Last year, city officials estimated that 175,000 people gathered in the Boston Common to protest the inauguration of President Trump. While this year's event was smaller — police estimated around 10,000 protesters — attendees were animated.
It is PACKED at the Cambridge Common for the #WomensMarch2018. pic.twitter.com/6CDqNobQMX— Esteban Bustillos (@E_Bustillos4) January 20, 2018
Organized by The January Coalition , an alliance of groups opposed to the Trump administration, the march drew big names from the world of Massachusetts politics. Attorney General Maura Healey, who has participated in dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration, gave the keynote speech.
"[Last year,] I told Donald Trump, 'We'll see you in court!'" she exclaimed to a chorus of cheers. "Now when I said that, people, I had no idea that it would be so often or so soon."
The march drew people from across the city and state. Neickeisha Thompson and Kate Walker, whose husbands are both members of Veterans for Peace , both said that the past year was difficult for women, people of color and other minority groups. Walker attended last year's march, and this was the first such event for Thompson.
"I'm hoping that [the march] will just be taken seriously, that women are here," said Thompson. "We want to be seen, we want to be heard. We expect to be treated as equals to our male counterparts and this is our world for all of us to enjoy."
While the event in Boston last year brought in people from all walks of life, it drew criticism from some who believed it excluded women of color and other underrepresented groups. Four students from Boston College who felt this way carried a cardboard sign that read "Susan B. Anthony Was Racist" to bring awareness to the historical figure's opposition to the 15th Amendment, which gave freed slaves the right to vote.
"There were various times during the march when there were some other marginalized groups that were making chants and they weren't as supported by some of the other women marching," Caitlyn Gardner, one of the students, said of last year's march in Boston. "I felt like this march, this year, I wanted to have a more intersectional approach about the statement that I want to make, which is why I feel like this sign was the perfect way to get people's attention and start the conversation."
As the rally drew to a close, members of the Boston Area Brigade of Activist Musicians and the Second Line Brass Band paraded through the park, playing songs like Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Looking on was Eileen Park and her four-year-old daughter, Skylar.
"We came out last year, too, just to make sure that we become a part of a movement that voiced equality to all," Park said. "I actually wanted to make sure that I [brought] my daughter with me so that she has a sense of what is right for our society."
