Feature Photo By: Alivia Lee – Over 500,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 21st to fight for the protection of women’s rights. Worldwide there were over 650 marches and remains the largest one-day protest in U.S. history. 

By Alivia Lee, Review Staff 

A new hope– though the future remains uncertain, and nothing but time can provide us with either broken promises or the fulfilled guarantees, I am certain that there is still hope out there and that, together, we will get through the next four years.

On Friday January 20th, I stood on the National Mall and watched as President Trump and Vice President Pence were sworn into office. The streets of D.C were filled with hateful signs about “lukewarm Christians” and how “all liberals go to hell” and I could not help but to fear for my future as a woman living under a conservatist presidency.

 I fear not only for my own rights and my own place in this patriarchal society, but I also fear for the women across the world that will suffer because of this presidency. I fear for my friends that won’t be able to afford or access birth control and I fear that my daughters and granddaughters will still be fighting for their rights and equality decades away.

Though I have never been as discouraged, disappointed, or hurt as I was the day Mr. Trump became our president, I found a new hope while in D.C. on Saturday January 21st. I not only witnessed history, but found myself as a part of it. Walking through the nation’s capital, I found myself in the presence of hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children fighting for the same cause. Being surrounded by over 500,000 people in D.C and knowing that millions of others in the U.S. and across the globe want to protect women’s rights, was one of the best feelings in the world.

I could not help but to shed a tear; I understood that I did not stand alone in my thoughts and feelings, myself along with millions of others will continue to fight to protect women’s rights. Only time can tell what threats the government will attempt to take on women and their freedoms, but people will continue to fight.

I have hope that, no matter what the government throws at us, the American people will continue to fight for, not only women’s rights, but for the rights and freedoms of others being oppressed. I can make no guarantee of what the future holds but I can make a guarantee that as long as the government continues to try and oppress women’s rights, this country will continue to fight back.