Yesterday I went to the Women’s March on Washington.

I didn’t know anyone else going and I wasn’t sure what to expect but I just felt like I HAD to be there. It’s one thing to watch the news about the inauguration and the protests and it’s a completely different experience being actually THERE.  I know politics can get dirty and I’m used to people not agreeing with what a leader’s stance is but in this case it’s different. It’s not about Donald Trump. It’s about the people, the small group of them, who have taken some of the things Trump has said against women, minorities, LGBT, and immigrant communities and used it as an excuse to let out their own discrimination. Um no. If someone is making any comment that is about hate, it’s our job to ensure we make sure they know it’s NOT okay. As a woman, as a visible minority, and as the child of immigrant parents, it worries me what I see on the news.

And that’s why I had to go to the march. I needed to go see for myself what this march was about and I wanted to take the first step in helping being part of the movement against hate.

At the march I met people from all different backgrounds and ages who came to show their support. I heard their stories, why they were marching, what they feared, what they hoped. The common element at the event that made people so emotional was the UNITY. It was a very incredible feeling knowing that everyone had come to the march (many coming to one for the first time) because they wanted the women/LGBT/immigrant/minority groups around them to know that the hateful thoughts of some people was not the same thoughts shared by everyone else. The only way to change discrimination and hate is to stand up against it and yesterday all we were surrounded by was love.

I have friends who have been scared about what may happen to them if they walk down the street or what could happen to their loved ones and that’s not the way I was raised. I have never been made to feel different or unwanted. Trust me, I have had my share of jerks who have said sexist and racist comments at me but those have been very few and in every instance, I had people jumping to my defense without me even having to say a word. I was raised by a community of love and support and it’s devastating to know people living in my own country may no longer get that same experience.

I’m SO GLAD I went to the march and I wanted to show you a little glimpse into what the experience was like. I know a lot of things have been said lately about the future of the United States and how it will affect the rest of us (like us Canadians) but yesterday reinforced for me that we the people will always have the power. But how we use that power is up to us.