Photography and Text by Racquel Ward, Copyright 2017
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THE 60’S ARE BACK
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Washington D.C. expected 200,000 women and men to show up at the Women’s March last Saturday. Los Angeles expected far less. However, as I approached Perishing Square in downtown LA, the site was truly unprecedented. I weaved through the crowd and sighted women with their shirts off, men carrying signs to support their wives, children with peace signs painted across their faces and a host of characters that used this occasion to dress up in their most eccentric outfits for the sake of self-expression. People chanted and raised their arms. Many were crying and laughing. Some were engaged in political debate. Kids climbed on street posts to get a better view of the stage, and the MC exhilarated the crowd with anti-Trump rhetoric. The sky lit up with a sea of posters – many were funny and all spoke to the need for social justice.
As a millennial, I hadn’t experienced this type of march since the Bush era. My friends and I in New York City would take to the streets to protest the war in Iraq. This march felt different. As a child, my parents schooled me on what it was like to grow up in the 60’s and how people started a cultural revolution through uninhibited marches and protests with no fear and a message of peace. This felt like that. The Women’s March was not about protesting against a war. It was about speaking out, in sheer numbers, across the country and the world, against a man who seeks to go backward for the sake of power and privilege instead of move forward for the benefit of mankind. The 750,000 people who showed up in downtown Los Angeles showed me that this is not a one-off march. This is the start of a cultural revolution. I am grateful to be part of it and to be counted as 750,001.
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About The Author: Racquel Ward is a writer and educational therapist living in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Culture and Media studies and a BFA in Contemporary Music from the New School University – Manhattan, New York. Racquel also holds a Master’s of Science in Teaching. She has been published on ThoughtCatalog and most recently finished her first children’s book.
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To read additional articles by Racquel Ward, go here: http://thoughtcatalog.com/racquel-ward/2015/03/6-different-situations-when-you-must-ask-questions-to-get-what-you-want/