On Saturday, January 21, over a half a million women (and men—but let’s be clear that it was women who planned and executed this) came together in Washington, DC, and in sister demonstrations across the country and around the world, to march, rally, and protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Conservative estimates suggest at least 3 million people worldwide participated in these demonstrations. Peaceful demonstration is a cornerstone of American democracy, and the very important beginning to a long, uphill battle against everything President Trump has now, only four days into office, proven that he stands for.
Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order reinstating Ronald Reagan’s “global gag rule.” This order prohibits funding international organizations who offer a wide range of reproductive health services from even mentioning or providing education on abortion. US law already prohibits taxpayer dollars to be used for abortion services anywhere. But this order goes further, and immediately freezes funding to any international health service that offers abortion counseling, putting women and children who most need these health services at risk.
Trump has also already announced plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, an organization established by Congress in 1965 that has survived Democratic and Republican administrations and which does important work that likely affects the majority of The Rumpus’s readership, as well as children in school districts that most need funding for the arts. Additionally, Trump would privatize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities. And he’s just getting started.
In keeping with our promise not to look away, what follows is a collection of images provided by participants in these demonstrations. Look through these images, and feel proud. Feel inspired. Know that yes, the battle is uphill and will be hard-won, but it will be won. There are more of us than them. Our children know better. This is the death rattle of hatred, bigotry, and white supremacism, and when it dies, we will emerge a freer, better nation.
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WASHINGTON, DC
AUGUSTA, ME
AUSTIN, TX
BOISE, ID
BOSTON, MA
CAPE COD, MA
CHICAGO, IL
CINCINNATI, OH
DALLAS, TX
DAYTON, OH
DENVER, CO
DES MOINES, IA
HOUSTON, TX
IOWA CITY, IA
KEY WEST, FL
MONTPELIER, VT
NEW YORK, NY
OLYMPIA, WA
PITTSBURGH, PA
PORTLAND, OR
RENO, NV
SACRAMENTO, CA
SEATTLE, WA
ST. PETERSBURG, FL
WALLA WALLA, WA
ATHENS, GREECE
BARCELONA, SPAIN
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With thanks to Karine Leno Ancellin, Leah Angstman, Beka Baranowski, Steven Beijer, Tabitha Blankenbiller, Rachel Ann Brickner, Richard Alexander Caraballo, Marla Chandler, Blake Couch, Taylor Creery Photography, Laura Crossett, Rebecca Dudley, Linda Garcia, Kate Geiselman, Leah Griesmann, Rika Gunawan, Krista Jahnke, Ana Serena Langone, Barbara Leedom, Kathryn Leibert, Beth Lonergan, Doug Luman, Darby Lyons, Ian MacAllen, Tamara Matthews, Margi from Austin, Everett Maroon, Patricia Mulcahy, Rachel Newcombe, Anne Rousselot, Courtesy Zinie Chen Sampson, Amy Cao Smith, Chas Stewart, Wayne D. Thompson, Mary Vermillion, Melissa Batchelor Warnke, Maren Williams, and everyone who submitted photographs.
