Marchers arrived early to get to the front of the march that would not begin until 1pm. Even though the weather was accommodating and unusually mild for mid-January it was still a bit cold out.
The stage where speakers like Whoopie Goldberg spoke was set up by Trump Tower at Columbus Circle.
In celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March, we’ve created Together We Rise, a gorgeously designed full-color book offering an unprecedented, front-row seat to one of the most galvanizing movements in American history. Featuring exclusive interviews with Women’s March organizers, never-before-seen photographs, and essays by feminist activists, this book takes us back to January 21, 2017, an historic day when more than five million marchers of all ages and walks of life took to the streets.
Compiled by our team of Women’s March organizers, and in collaboration with the creative team at Condé Nast, Together We Rise is the complete chronicle of this remarkable uprising. For the first time, Women’s March organizers—including Bob Bland, Cassady Fendlay, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Janaye Ingram, Tamika Mallory, Paola Mendoza, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour —tell their personal stories and reflect on their collective journey in an oral history written by Jamia Wilson, writer, activist and director of The Feminist Press.
Together We Rise interweaves stories with “Voices from the March”—recollections from real women who were there, across the world—plus exclusive images by top photographers, and a series of short, thought-provoking essays by esteemed writers, celebrities and artists such as Jill Soloway, America Ferrera, Roxane Gay, Ilana Glazer, Elaine Welteroth, and Jia Tolentino. An inspirational call to action that reminds us that together, ordinary people can make a difference.
Near where they were letting people into the March at 71st and Central Park West, plenty of vendors were selling T shirts and buttons empowering the Polls.
The rise of the woman is the rise of the nation and 2018 is quickly approaching.
NYPD had barricades surrounding the street of the entire march.
An estimated half-million people turned out to the protest to support women’s rights, reproductive rights, Black Lives Matter, Children’s Rights, to impeach and arrest Donald Trump and much more.
A woman, Charmaine, who I met on the subway from Brooklyn marching to end the Hate.
One of my causes: Children. What is happening to children is unimaginable. See more information here.Kate Hamberger
Performance artist Kate Hamberger doing her thing at the Women’s March in NYC 2018. I was with Kate and her friend Dan Weiser on the sidewalk near 65th and CPW when NYPD would not allow demonstrators to cross 65th Street. It was all barricaded off and people were locked in trying to get out.
First, two NYPD cops tried to stop us one block up by holding a piece of blue tape across the sidewalk. Kate ducked under and so did Dan and myself. The two cops did nothing. We were then blocked in at 65th and CPW. Kate and her friend Dan were detained by NYPD. I made a left and headed into Central Park.
Kate Hamberger and Dan Weiser being detained for crossing barricades.
Kate Hamberger and Dan Weiser being detained for crossing barricades. I could here a few marchers who were witnesses say, “She’s just looking for attention”. I didn’t know who said it but, I replied, “Well it’s good that she’s bringing attention to the very reason why we’re here, to resist”. Many people had the view that the police are doing their job and keeping the people safe instead of they work for the establishment. Kate Hamberger wrote about the incident on her Facebook page:
We came. We saw. We got corralled into police blockades. We broke out of police blockades. I argued with police about my right to walk down the street and the unsafe conditions their blockades were causing. I got shoved around by an officer who didn’t like that I wouldn’t bow to his power and go into a blockade as I was told while “normal” looking people were allowed to walk right by.
Trains were rerouted to prevent people from getting to the march routes. Sidewalks were blockaded for blocks on either side of the march route. None of it felt liberating or free. How many of these marches are we going to come to before recognizing that they’re meaningless if we don’t work every day at eliminating institutionalized oppression?
Inside Central Park by Columbus Circle where the stage was set up
The area in the photo above was set up as a stage for another performance artist bringing attention to those who were arrested during J20. Demonstrators who were corralled by DC police and threatened with 20 years in prison for doing nothing more than demonstrating. See DefendJ20Resistenace.org
Marchers trying to see the stage from inside the park =were threatened with arrest by the Parks Department.
The front of the march coming down 6th Avenue at 51st Street by Radio City Music Hall where the sun had been shining and was going down.
Performance artists Elliott Crown dressed as ‘The Donald’ with Marni Halasa dressed as the assaulted beauty queen and giving the Don a well-deserved black eye.
Gays Against Guns holding photos up of victims of gun violence and an explanation of how they were killed.
A comprehensive explanation of the importance of gun violence as an LGBTQ issue from Gays Against Guns NY:
The epidemic of gun violence disproportionately affects LGBTQ people. Most gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides and LGBTQ people are overrepresented among suicide victims. LBG youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth and 92% of transgender adults have attempted suicide by age 25 (The Trevor Project). Suicide attempts with guns are overwhelmingly lethal (Harvard School of Public Health).
How much of a problem is gun violence in the U.S? Gun violence is an epidemic in the United States. It costs about $229 billion every year (Mother Jones). According to the Brady Campaign there are over 112,000 people shot each year, with 33,000 of those victims dying. That is an average of over 90 fatalities each day. From 1968 to 2011, 1.4 million people died by guns in the United States—that’s 200,000 more lives lost to gun violence than those lost to to warfare since the Revolutionary War (Politifact). America’s gun homicide rate is more than 25 times the average of other developed countries (Everytown for Gun Safety). Through May of 2017, there have already been 138 mass shootings across the U.S., with over 6,000 dead (Gun Violence Archive)—it’s a problem.
Video footage I recorded at the event can be seen on my Facebook Live video. The stream had some technical difficulties due to overuse:
Cat Watters is a journalist, blogger, videographer, photographer and radio host on Peoples Internet Radio. She is an expert at photographing, filming and editing footage of street protests, street actions, political rallies, and other events. Cat writes for Democracy Chronicles from Brooklyn, New York and you can tune in to her radio show at Peoples Internet Radio every Tuesday from 6 to 8pm EST.
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