Women’s March sends world undeniable message of hope, inspiration, defiance

Thank you. We needed that. We needed the massive, overwhelming show of strength and determination that millions of women and men around the world provided on Saturday. It was billed as the Women’s March on Washington but it was a march on New York and Seattle, San Francisco and Atlanta, Paris and Barcelona and so many points of hope in between.

This wasn’t a march. It was the birth of a movement that, if nurtured and maintained, will change the world. Not a moment too soon, either.

We needed that. We needed this show of strength from our wives, sisters, mothers, daughters and friends. It was a loud, inspiring and emphatic response to the sexism, the hatred, the divisiveness, the downright lack of manners and decency that we’ve too easily come to accept as “normal.”

© 2017 Joe Newman
© 2017 Joseph Gruber
© 2017 Rob Cannon

Donald J. Trump’s presidency began on inauguration day in a city that witnessed a riot, widespread organized and unorganized protests and forceful shows of peaceful, civil disobedience. Police made more than 100 arrests and at one point, the riot squad used flash bang grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray in an attempt to restore order. That was only part of the story, though. Throughout the day, peaceful demonstrations shut down streets and security checkpoints, as tens of thousands of Americans did their best to disrupt Trump’s big day.

The mood was angry and defiant and it sent a message to the Trump administration that it would not have an easy four years. And as cathartic as that felt, it’s doubtful that it caused Trump any real heartburn.

What he saw Saturday all over the world, however, should have shaken him to the core. But he didn’t need to look around the world — all he needed to do was look out his window.

A sea of women (and men) from all over engulfed Washington, D.C. in a warm, healing embrace as hundreds of thousands took to the streets (many more than came to town for his inauguration) to send a message of hope, inspiration and, yes, defiance to the new resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

© 2017 Lorie Shaull

Many of D.C.’s top street photographers joined together to document the events of the past three days. They will contribute their work to a photo book, UnPresidented: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump and the People’s Response. If you have a great photograph from the inauguration events or Women’s March, you can join them, too, in an open call for submissions.

The book, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter in less than four days, will capture the raw emotion that flowed through the nation’s capital, both in celebration and protest of Trump’s ascendancy to the most powerful and important job in the world.

While some of the images from the three days of the inauguration will surely upset you, there will be just as many moments that will inspire you and give you hope.

If you came to town for the inauguration to participate in the Women’s March on Washington or any of the other anti-inauguration events, or if you were only here in spirit, this is the book that will remind you what the fight is about.

On Saturday, the narrative changed. We needed that.

© 2017 Miki Jourdan
© 2017 Miki Jourdan
© 2017 Pablo Raw
© 2017 Geoff Livingston
© 2017 Lisa A. Walker
© 2017 Pablo Raw
© 2017 Joe Newman
© 2017 Lorie Shaull