The Oakland Women’s March was Militant, Powerful, and Positive

by

The 2017 Oakland Women’s march was huge—so tightly packed you could hardly move. This year the organizers found a place to start near Lake Merritt with a lot more room, and people took advantage of it to dance and find friends. I expected that this year the number of people would be smaller, but an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 marchers showed up. A year of Trump gave everyone plenty to be angry about, but the spirit of the march was militant, powerful and positive. Last year, beneath the anger was a lot of fear of what was coming. This year participants are confident—we are in a big fight but we can win. The variety of ways marchers showed their anger and power was endless.