A RISING RESISTANCE:
New era of protest called for
WASHINGTON — A sea of pink descended on the National Mall on Saturday, swamping the inaugural weekend in a drama of dueling crowds that became the focus of President Donald Trump’s first day in office.
A crowd estimated by District of Colombia officials at a half-million — significantly larger than Trump’s inaugural celebration — flooded the nation’s capital as a rebuke to an incoming administration few thought would ever come to power.
With streets around the White House clogged with protesters drawn to a march billed as the Women’s March on Washington, Trump spokesman Sean
Spicer called reporters to a briefing room to berate the media for reports of massive protest crowds that he said “minimize the enormous support” Trump received at his inauguration the day before.
In fact, side-by-side images showed a significantly smaller crowd on the National Mall on Friday for Trump’s ceremony than for the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, which drew an estimated 1.8 million people.
Crowd shots of Saturday’s protest also showed much larger crowds, compared to the empty ground and thin crowds at Trump’s inauguration.
Some protesters compared the massive outpouring on the National Mall to a bygone protest movement, moribund in recent times, but one that Trump’s surprise election victory might be bringing back to life. It also could be a sign of stiffening resistance to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, which many see as code for weakening the rights of women and minorities.
“I am a child of the ’70s, and I’m getting a little old for this,” said Marcella Alexander Jones, an African-American woman with family roots in Alabama. “Our people suffered tremendously, and now things are going backwards. It’s time for young people to get involved.”
One of those young people was Emily Dame, a college student from Worchester, Mass., who stood on a monument pedestal holding up a sign reading “Freedom cannot rest.”
“It’s not that the left wasn’t awake,” Dame said of Trump’s victory on Nov. 8. “We just underestimated the amount of bigotry in this country.”
Among the chants heard on the mall: “Hands too small — can’t build a wall” seemed to take hold as a feminist anthem designed to poke at the new president’s Rat Pack masculine swagger
With downtown streets clogged, police blocked traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue, which had served for the much more lightly attended inaugural parade the day before. Looking at the swarms of demonstrators, Serap Rada, an administrator at the University of Maryland, couldn’t help but wonder if many other Trump skeptics didn’t vote in November.
Rada, holding up a sign that said “Decency,” looked around and said, “I have a feeling all these people voted.” New protesters, celebrities
In a festive display, dense crowds were speckled in pink hats with pointy ears — a stark contrast to Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” ball caps. Dubbed “pussycat” hats, the headgear was intended as a pointed reminder of one of the more notorious pronouncements Trump has made about women in the past.
The D.C. protest, repeated in cities around the nation, included JoAnn Boone, 61, of San Antonio, who said she never had been in a march before and did not consider herself an activist.
“It is absolutely amazing that this is going on around the nation and worldwide. There are several messages we’re sending, and one is that the lack of respect toward us is just intolerable,” Boone said.
The march, originally forecast to be an affair of 200,000, quickly rivaled some of the largest protest marches in the nation’s capital. Subways were packed to capacity, with thousand of participants left to walk over Potomac River bridges to reach the city.
From the actresses Scarlett Johansson and Ashley Judd to musical performers Madonna and Alicia Keys, it was a celebrity-studded event. The crowds were so thick, organizers had to rethink plans for a formal procession to the White House.
“Wemarch today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war,” actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. “Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division as- sumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay.”
In his inaugural speech Friday, Trump attempted to speak to minority groups, many of whomopposed his candidacy.
“Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots,” Trump said.
But those words did little to quiet the anger felt by many around the country, who converged on cities including New York, Chicago and Boston.
After a long bus trip from Nashville, Tenn., Ron Powers and his 15-year-old daughter, Eden, finally arrived on the Mall Saturday morning. They had heard about the march on Facebook but were surprised by the size of the rapidly growing crowd.
“It’s amazing for me to see people come together for a common goal,” Eden said. “They are passionate and will hopefully put pressure on.”
The Mall turned into a showcase for signs of all shapes and colors — filled with provocative slogans taking personal aim at Trump. From “We shall overcomb” and “Nasty Woman” to “Free Melania,” protesters were not shy.
By late afternoon in Washing- ton, the streets around the Mall were still filled with people. The Trump International Hotel on nearby Pennsylvania Avenue erected barricades manned by security guards.
Walking up an incline toward the Mall, pushing his walker, was Rich Arenschieldt, a 56-year-old retired writer from Houston. As a gay man who suffers from cerebral palsy, he explained excitedly how he thought it important he was there not “to protest” but to raise awareness.
Standing on the street, he recalled the horror he felt during the campaign as Trump mocked a New York Times reporter who is also disabled.
“That was the thing that resonated most with me, of all the political rhetoric,” he said.
There were appearances by famous politicians as well. Speaking at the Boston protest, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Trump’s swearing-in was, “burned in my eyes forever.”
“We will not forget. We do not want to forget. We will use that vision to make sure we fight harder and tougher and more passionately than ever,” she said. ‘Keep this movement going’
For some, the day was especially personal.
During the campaign, numerous women came forward re- porting they had been sexually harassed and groped by the real estate billionaire — allegations Trump denied. In October, a 2005 videotape surfaced with Trump bragging to television personality Billy Bush about grabbing and forcefully kissing women, saying “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
For Nia Ledesma, a military veteran from Phoenix who said she had been a victim of rape, Trump’s election was particularly disturbing.
“As women, we are powerful together,” Ledesma said. “We need to keep this movement going.”
As the afternoon wore on, it became apparent to organizers their protest might be a little too successful. Independence Avenue was so jammed, people were standing shoulder to shoulder, hardly able to move.
Getting to the White House to end the march, as originally planed, became impossible for many. Organizers announced a new route they hoped would ease congestion.
There was no sign of the riots that erupted in downtown Washington Friday, as black-masked protesters pelted rocks at police with riot gear and set a limousine on fire — all as the inaugural parade made its way up nearby Pennsylvania Avenue.
Among the crowds gathered on the Mall Saturday walked families with strollers and the elderly and young alike.
As the sun set over Washington, crowds walked off the Mall and through the downtown to return to their hotels and friends’ couches. Emmalyn Kayser, 28, of Minneapolis, and her friend sat on a bench, warming themselves under a blanket made special for the protest.
“It’s not about on a national level whether we sent some sort of message,” she said. “We rallied together today for ourselves, to get a springboard of hope.”