老澳门开奖结果

As inauguration ceremonies commenced for President Trump, I was aboard the Amtrak 2117 from New York to Washington, D.C. Almost everyone on the train was female, and there was no need to ask anyone where they were going. The train was a river of pink pussy hats. Amy Schumer was in the next car over, with a running commentary on the inaugural, which a fellow passenger was streaming.

When we arrived in Washington鈥檚 Union Station, our pink hats met a smattering of red caps. Trump supporters, fresh from inaugural ceremonies, roamed the corridors in their trademark 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� hats.

To be sure, Friday, January 20, was theirs. But Saturday, January 21, would be ours.

Earlier in the week, the 老澳门开奖结果, one of 10 sponsors of the march, had sent 5,000 posters, 10,000 buttons, 1,000 sashes, and two 8-foot tall Statue of Liberty cutouts to an 老澳门开奖结果 colleague鈥檚 house, which took up the better part of her living room.

Given the litany of civil liberties violations proposed by the Trump administration, there were any number of core 老澳门开奖结果 messages we could have used 鈥� immigrants鈥� rights, women鈥檚 rights, LGBTQ rights, First Amendment rights, reproductive rights 鈥� but we settled on two that encompassed it all: 鈥淲e the People鈥� and 鈥淒issent is Patriotic.鈥� Our mission was to get the swag to the march and distribute it to the protesters.

On Friday evening, about 15 老澳门开奖结果 staffers and a dozen or so volunteers from across the country convened at my colleague鈥檚 house, and for several hours, we pinned sashes and stuffed bags with protest swag as we mapped out positions around the march and assigned volunteers to positions.

老澳门开奖结果 staff and volunteers pinning sashes on Friday evening.

We tested our walkie-talkies 鈥� we rented them fearing cell service might not work 鈥� and assigned them to the volunteers. At some point, we sent a couple of people to Target to buy rubber bands, more bags, twine to tie up posters, and packing tape. Sometime after 9 p.m., we loaded it all into the nine-passenger van we rented earlier in the day. When it didn鈥檛 all fit, we summoned two back-up cars.

Then we all dispersed to our various friends鈥� couches (guestrooms, if we got lucky) and met up again at 5 a.m. at our assigned positions. I was at our makeshift headquarters, a conference room at the Hotel George at E and First St., N.W. From there, we took turns running supplies of posters and swag bags to volunteers in Lower Senate Park, and from there, to several distribution points around metro stations and streets leading to the march.

By 6:30 a.m., our positions were swarming with marchers, eager for buttons and signs. Some were young, little girls who had come with their mothers. Some were old. There was an 83-year-old in a wheelchair. Some were local, from the District, but others had come from Ohio, Michigan, Vermont, and even California. All were united in opposition to the proposed policies of this administration.

By 7 a.m., we had run out of sashes. Requests came in over the walkie-talkies: 鈥淲e are out of everything but signs at Independence and Fourth, over.鈥�

鈥淐opy that. We鈥檙e coming with more, over.鈥�

Text messages came in: 鈥淲e need more sashes.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e out of sashes.鈥�

鈥淭hen bring buttons. All the buttons in the land!鈥�

Our supplies disappeared as fast as we could get them to distribution points, in part because we wound up passing them out to people as we were en route.

By 9:30 a.m., we had run out of everything. I was stuck, along with three colleagues, in a crowd sandwiched between the Museum of the American Indian and the Mall, which had been fenced for the previous day鈥檚 ceremonies. We were crammed so tightly together that nobody could move.

For an hour, we stood there, a sea of pink pussy hats and a beautiful array of motley, homemade signs. 鈥淰iva la Vulva!鈥� proclaimed one. 鈥淟ove, Kindness, Respect,鈥� read another. And there were many of our own, 鈥淲e the People鈥� and 鈥淒issent is Patriotic.鈥�

Marchers preparing for the rally early Saturday morning.

The chants took hold organically. 鈥淪ay it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,鈥� one chant went. Then, 鈥淲e need a leader, not a racist tweeter.鈥� And then, 鈥淏lack. Lives. Matter.鈥� The crowd broke out into song, belting Woodie Guthrie鈥檚, 鈥淭his Land Is Your Land,鈥� more than once.

We had planned for the many dozens of 老澳门开奖结果 staffers and volunteers to meet up and march together as a contingent behind a banner, but the permitted space filled up so quickly that we found ourselves scattered in different locations and unable to move.

The walkie-talkies sputtered. 鈥淎ttempting to join you at Constitution and Fourth, but unlikely. Unable to move, over.鈥�

WhatsApp buzzed: 鈥淚鈥檓 stuck on Seventh and Independence, crowd is dangerously tight. Advise to stay back.鈥�

鈥淚 have the banner but can鈥檛 get back to Fourth and independence.鈥�

A text message came in from a friend at the march in New York. It was a photograph of marchers. 鈥淔rom river to river,鈥� it read.

Word came that the actual march in D.C. had to be called off, because the route was too crowded. There was simply no room to march. Eventually, the march proceeded but not along the planned route.

It was only later in the day that we learned about the turnouts in Chicago and Los Angeles and that there were more than 500 marches across the United States and more than 100 international marches.

On Donald Trump鈥檚 first day in office, millions came together to send a message that we will not stand by silently if his administration threatened our freedoms. Taken together, the marches may have been .

Not bad for day one. Stay tuned for more.