By Melina Paris, Contributing Writer
I caught up with Nicolassa Galvez and Allysandra Nighswonger as they approached Louisville, Ky. They were on their way home from the Women’s March in Washington, D.C.
“It was overwhelming, all the signs and all the people,” said Galvez on Jan. 29, the day after the march. “There were a couple times I got choked up. Like on the train as we rode by, all these women were screaming and waving at us.”
Galvez and Nighswonger named their journey the Road to the American Woman.
The logistics of the march were a little confusing. There were delays starting the march and the people exceeded the capacity of the National Mall. Although the march was scheduled for 1 p.m. the group women didn’t start marching until about 4 p.m. Eventually people took it upon themselves to start moving.
“Once we actually got marching there was an electricity and a sense of camaraderie,” Nighswonger said. “There were so many different signs for many different causes, all rallying together.”
From politicians and celebrities, a wide range of people spoke at the event, including mothers of people who died through acts of violence, such as hate crimes or police brutality.
Singer Janelle Monae, addressed the mothers in a powerful performance. A drum was struck four times and the mother’s called out the name of a victim. The crowd responded by chanting, “Say her or his name!”
“The mothers looked so emotional,” Galvez said. “The music was playing with the beat of the drums to the chants. It was very emotional and it was so good to see those mothers getting the respect they deserved. That was even more powerful than marching.”
The march was packed and the women couldn’t see where the march began or ended. Organizers underestimated the crowd and the crowd underestimated the patience needed for such an event.
“You have to get there, listen to these voices you won’t have a chance to listen to all at once again,” Nighswonger said. “To be there, with it being so powerful, you have to step out of yourself or your own agenda to listen because there are so many powerful stories and causes to stand by, but we have to actually stand together.”
Nighswonger suggested having an action team of four friends who all carry out actions together. Whether you’re donating to causes or writing to your representatives, it helps to keep each other accountable.
On the Sunday after the March, the Los Angeles Times had front page coverage of the March but the headline asked, “Will the unity last?” Galvez and Nighswonger shared their thought on this question.
“One article I read said the Black Lives Matter and Occupy movement were so broad it never moved forward,” Galvez said. “Do we want to get Trump out of office? Do we want to save Planned Parenthood?
“We do have to be conscious of what we want to do. We have to have one issue and go with it. Also it has to help the most marginalized. It can’t be a white feminist movement.”
Galvez gave the example of the wage inequality.
“If you’re complaining about making 75 cents on the dollar but you don’t even know that you’re Latina and black sisters are making 55 and 65 cents (respectively), you don’t get it,” Galvez said. “For instance, if we picked wage equality as the one issue then we have to start with Latina’s. We all work to make sure that they raise their wages, then all the black women’s wages and then it will all rise together.
The women decided they would look forward from this point.
“On the way to D.C. it was more about what is Trump going to do, but coming back it’s not speculation anymore,” Nighswonger said. “We want to get into what is really happening and how the administration’s plans affect us and the marginalized people around us.”
The women are keeping their energy up by drinking veggie smoothies and adding boosts like protein and spirulina.
The women added two cities to their trip. After Colorado, they will stop in Evanston, Wyoming.
“Now there is the whole conversation now about how the agriculture economy turned into the prison economy and that has happened there,” said Galvez, about Bakersfield .
Their project, to interview women across the nation inspired Galvez’s mother, her friends and her cousin, who all marched and maybe wouldn’t have done so otherwise. They all shared to the Road to the American Woman Facebook page the day of the Marches.
“We marched by the Trump tower, on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Galvez said. “First people started chanting ‘boo’, then it changed to ‘Love Trumps Hate.’ It was going in a good direction.”
Read about their journey to D.C. here. Click here read about their next adventure on the road.
Check out their website: http://roadtotheamericanwoman.com/