Women's Marches across the country display historic, massive resistance

This morning was cold and drizzly in St. Paul, MN. When I drove up to the state capitol grounds, they looked deserted. It was an hour out from the Women’s March, a nationwide display of resistance against the Donald Trump administration. And I walked over to meet my friends, wondering where people were.

Then the trains started arriving. Train after train unloaded hundreds of women in pink hats, holding signs and ready to march. By the time I got down to the actual starting point for the march, the crowd had swelled into the tens of thousands. Protest signs were everywhere, and every so often, some section of the crowd would start a chant: “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like!”

And one comment kept happening, over and over: “Can you believe this is happening in cities all over the country right now?”

The march was YUGE pic.twitter.com/fyo6DmVvAa

— Mx. D. E. Anderson (@diannaeanderson) January 21, 2017

And it was true: crowds like the estimated 60,000 that showed up here in St. Paul were replicated across the country.

View of #WomensMarch San Diego from Civic Center pic.twitter.com/Jm4JKYSJcu

— Andrew Keatts (@andy_keatts) January 21, 2017

Boise.
Austin.
Miami.
Pittsburgh. #WomensMarch#TheMarchContinues pic.twitter.com/dBZWeji7m4

— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) January 21, 2017

https://twitter.com/Kidspud/status/822795617034498052

The #WomensMarch in downtown St. Louis! pic.twitter.com/gsZH5qkj0P

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) January 21, 2017

WOMENS march on Idaho #wow pic.twitter.com/D6uxiy4hsw

— Melissa Wintrow (@wintrow4idaho) January 21, 2017

Charlotte is all in. #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/6vSLRLZ9X1

— Katie Levans (@katie_levans) January 21, 2017

The south has a mouth too!!! South Carolina Statehouse #WomensMarch #WomensMarchSC pic.twitter.com/zJfGnscbZD

— Naomi (@nrs916) January 21, 2017

https://twitter.com/RestingPlatypus/status/822887623840542721

https://twitter.com/BosWomensMarch/status/822935216503353345

While no official estimates have been released for the marches across the country, reports indicate that the crowd in D.C. alone was vastly larger than that which turned out for Trump’s inauguration. In fact, that flagship Women’s March was so crowded that they could not even walk their planned route to the White House.

This is not the #WomensMarch.

This is only the crowd of people who are walking to the march.

On one street.

Incredible!! pic.twitter.com/DRDF7fNqkF

— Nicholas Kitchel (@nicholaskitchel) January 21, 2017

And other crowd estimates were equally stunning:

https://twitter.com/NateGoldman/status/822881766486790145

https://twitter.com/mmontour/status/822911732230328322

Estimates of up to 100k protesters marching in Oakland #WomensMarch https://t.co/SYq769S8Mo

— BBoothy (@b_bomb) January 21, 2017

#WomensMarch in Houston; estimates of close to 22,000 people pic.twitter.com/QAHbF2uoPZ

— Ana Artigas (@ana_artigas8) January 21, 2017

.@madisonpolice estimate that 25,000 people attending #WomensMarch in Madison now, with that number still growing pic.twitter.com/EcF39GHiN8

— Peter Coutu (@ByPeterCoutu) January 21, 2017

Officials estimate approximately 20,000 people attended the #WomensMarch in Sacramento today. #WomensMarchSacramento pic.twitter.com/4D4gdOvmKW

— Nick Dobis (@NickDobis) January 21, 2017

Organizers estimate Denver crowd at 100k #womensmarch pic.twitter.com/R8Z2JBnU1x

— Nabil Echchaibi (@nechchai) January 21, 2017

The Democratic National Committee issued the following powerful statement on the marches:

Democrats are proud to stand with the vast crowds of women and men protesting peacefully at the Women’s March on Washington and in cities across the country and around the world today. This event has been a breathtaking demonstration of a profound and immutable fact – that there will always be more that unites us than divides us.

We saw it in the vote count. We see it in the polls. But from yesterday to today we saw it with our own eyes in our own streets: more Americans standing with hope than with fear, with love than with hatred.

After the inauguration of the least popular president in modern history – a man who has openly said awful things about women – today’s brilliant show of love, mutual respect and staunch resolve to fight together for a brighter tomorrow has given our nation new hope. We will not turn back the clock on women’s health, women’s rights or civil rights. And we will continue marching forward, arm in arm, to ensure that the young girls of this nation will have the same opportunities as their brothers.

Let there be no doubt: our nation has lurched off course. But today we saw the movement that will chart a course back to our shared American destiny.

One thing is clear: women will not and cannot be ignored. This show of strength is just the start.

#RESISTANCE #WomensMarchMN pic.twitter.com/E8R7Bj7NE7

— mrs. iglesias 😎 (@cleverkate) January 21, 2017