The Amtrak train to Washington was filled with women and men determined to challenge Donald Trump’s dark and retrograde views of America.
Andrea Kihlsted put on her pink pussy hat, to show defiance and to mock Donald Trump’s vulgar comment about women caught on an “Access Hollywood” tape. “What’s happening with Trump’s election is the most disturbing thing in my 71 years,” she said. “I think it has a serious chance of undermining our democracy. I haven’t done much since the Vietnam war. But since the election, he has done nothing positive. He was a buffoon before. Now he is dangerous.”
Her seat mate Karen Kendrick said, “I think for me, ‘Make America Great Again’ really means make America white again. And if you are black, Hispanic or Muslim or other, I’m going to stand up and support you. You are not alone.”
Virgina Kallianes, an attorney, traveled with four other women from New York. She said,” I’ve been doing this for 30 years. This is the absolute worst case scenario. I’m just horrified and disgusted. The issues Trump’s election raise affect everyone. I’m talking about economics, minorities, civil rights.
“But I’m concerned about the fact that he got elected and what it says about our society and the approval of Trump’s misogynistic, racist views. He gave permission for people to come out from under a rock.”
Judy La Pook, part of Virginia’s group, said, “We’ve been fighting since the 1970s for reproductive rights. Now decades later we are fighting for something we thought we already won. It is very discouraging. But we have to do it.
Sitting nearby, Marilyn Elson quietly knitted a burgundy pussy hat. She said, “I’m going to Washington because it is a human right to choose what you want to do with your own body and taking away that right is something that women and men can not let him do.
Carl Mulert and a friend traveled together. He said, “I’m going because that man is not my president. I hope he notices that he works for us and that we are his employer. All of us who are marching are his employer and he is answerable to us.”
On the march itself, women men and children echoed what everyone on the train said.
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