Women's March in Asheville

           “Yes we can!”  “Yes, we can!”  “Yes, we can!” I chanted as I stood in Pack Square in Asheville for the Women’s March held in solidarity with the March in Washington D C.  For a small city of 87,000, some said the crowd might have reached 10,000. (The news media reported it as anywhere between 7,000 and 10,000.) A Biltmore Lake neighbor standing with us said he had lived in Asheville since 1972 and had never seen a gathering as big in downtown Asheville. The March organizers reported that 2,500 had signed up on Facebook and more than three times that number came.

               It was a cloudy morning with a forecast of rain as we waited for the speakers to begin at 11 a.m. Suddenly my phone buzzed with a text and there were Hayden, Jessica, and Austin holding their signs doing the same thing on the Mall in Washington as we were in Asheville. Amazing! I can still be surprised and excited by instant messaging connecting me to my family and friends “in the moment”.

Austin marching in Washington D.C.

   I looked around me in every direction to see babies in strollers and backpack carriers, children, teenagers, young parents, middle aged, and elderly people. Even dogs on leashes stood quietly next to their owners as if sensing the solemnity of the occasion.  Men and women stood together – tall, short, big, small. Most carried homemade signs with slogans – “First for Equality Every Day”, “Equality for All”, Hear Us Roar”, “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights”, “Love Not Hate Makes America Great” and many more. The sea of pink across the crowds, were women wearing pussy knit hats.  Many wore specially made T-shirts supporting Planned Parenthood.  Art and I held up our “We Shall Overcome” and “Not My President” posters we had made the night before. Lots of our fellow Unitarians wore their “Standing on the Side of Love” bright yellow T-shirts.

               There was an air of civility in this huge crowd.  No one was jostling to get ahead of anyone else.  No pushing, or shoving, loud, or rude talking.  No hateful rhetoric. A hushed reverence for the speaker and a respect for one another pervaded in a way I had not ever experienced in a large crowd.  It seemed as if none of us were strangers to one another as we stood together with the same fears and concerns.  I noticed no visible police presence or extra security other than police cars with flashing lights blocking off certain streets. The Asheville police were focusing on managing downtown traffic in the middle of the crowds and the marching route. 

               The speeches lasted an hour.  We heard from our female Mayor, our female Democratic state senator, along with the Director of Planned Parenthood for Western North Carolina, the first African American women Episcopal priest in Asheville, and various others representing social services for women, as well as the LGBT community.  All speeches were rousing cries to “get involved”, “keep up the fight”, and “never give up”. The crowd responding enthusiastically, "we can do it!"

               At noon the march began towards the courthouse and because of the numbers it was slow going.  We did a loop around downtown side by side with others who were orderly, calm, and respectful. Rounding one corner I did see a few Pro Life and anti Planned Parenthood demonstrators.  The crowd of marchers was so large that their presence was barely noticed.

               Then I felt a raindrop as we approached the finish.   By the time we were in the car headed home it began to rain hard.  Was it providential circumstances that kept the rain off until the event was over?  I’d like to think of it as a positive sign from Mother Nature as if she supported what had just taken place in Asheville.

               It was an emotional day, and one of the few times I have ever felt part of a great historic moment.  The Asheville march was one among many which made up a greater worldwide movement. There were marches in 670 US cities and 70 cities abroad in Antarctica, Asia, Africa, and Europe.  Being part of it brought me a sense of relief I had not felt in months.  The fight for equal rights has only begun and yet the Women’s March gatherings showed me that I am not alone in wanting to get back our morality where truth triumphs over lies and where basic humanitarian rights are respected.  Through Facebook I saw that millions of people marching everywhere felt the same. That is comforting.  Now I have to find my own way to move forward and help.

The next generation....