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| Protesters gather around signs during the Women’s March on Washington at the Gallery Place Chinatown Metro Station in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 21, 2017. |
It was the second
time Kelly had marched in Washington for women’s rights. The first time was in
1989. The non-profit National Organization for Women organized
the April 1989 march. According to the National Organization for Women’s
website, the 1989 march united 600,000 protesters in response to the Supreme
Court’s threat of reversing Roe v. Wade.
Kelly attended the march
in 1989 with her friends who came in from all over the country. She attended
the march this past Saturday with her husband and daughter.
Although Kelly did
not wear a pink cat hat, the signature staple of the march, she did have a button
fastened onto her jacket that read, “I protested on Day 1 of Trump’s
Presidency.”
Reproductive health
and rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community were among
Kelly’s concerns.
“Anything that is
sexual does not need to be legislated. I just want the government to keep their
hands off of all of our bodies,” Kelly said.
Sanjana Stein, a resident
of Denver, CO, also voiced concerns about President Trump’s impact on women’s reproductive
health. Stein rested next to her mother on a bench in a sea of protestors
chanting at the National Mall.
“Really for me, I
don’t like the idea of someone of policing what I do with my body, especially
when it comes to birth control,” Stein said.
Throughout the
presidential election, Trump antagonized the female body. He also vowed to
defund Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization that provides reproductive
health services nationally and globally.
Kelly, as an artist
and business owner in Lexington, Kentucky, promotes social issues through her
paintings. Kelly, 52, has done a series on mountaintop removal and also the
Freedom Summer project, a civil rights movement.
Likewise, Stein, 22,
is an emerging artist hoping to connect her photography to social issues such
as women’s rights.
“I’ve been thinking
a lot about starting a collective mainly filled with artists, photographers,
poets, and really any girl who wants to create a bond with someone else,” Stein
said.
Art has been a
medium to vent frustrations and advocate for change during this tumultuous
election cycle. Metro stops and monuments in Washington, D.C. became impromptu
galleries as many protesters left their signs behind after the march. Museums,
libraries and galleries across the globe are collecting the historical signs to
document the Women’s March on Washington.
Some signs were grim
while others proved humorous.
“There was a picture
of Mitch McConnell with his eyes blacked out and it had anti-Christ written on
it,” said American University student Michaela McParsand.
McParsand, 19, sat
with her friends at the Starbucks on American University’s campus upon
returning from the march. McParsand resembled a feminist superhero with her
bright orange bob and rainbow cape.
As for advice,
McParsand had a hopeful message.
“Don’t stop. Don’t
let our voices be drowned out by the hatred that’s in our community now.”
