On January 21st, the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, an organized protest took place in Washington D.C. known as the Women’s March on Washington. The goal of this protest was to send a message to the new administration and the world that Women’s rights are human rights. Although the main march took place in Washington D.C., there were hundreds of “sister marches” that took place around the United States and the world.  This worldwide movement stretched to cities including Sydney, Berlin, London, Paris, Nairobi and Cape Town where men and women marched in support of the marchers in Washington and in “opposition to the values they think Trump represents”. It was estimated that over 5 million people marched worldwide and over 1 million marched  in Washington D.C..

Locally, Charleston’s Women’s march took place at Brittlebank Park where 2,000 women, men, daughters, and sons gathered together to create “a unified cry for equality and freedom”. One of Magnet’s own, Zoe Wright, had the honor of introducing the speakers at Charleston’s sister march. These speakers included Courtney O’Leary (Lead Organizer), Marcus Amaker (Poet Laureate of Charleston), Linda Ketner (Community Leader, Social Justice Activist, Philanthropist), Dot Scott (President, Charleston NAACP), Susan Dunn (Legal Director, ACLU of SC), Marjory Wentworth (Poet Laureate of SC), Lee Anne Leland (LGBTQIA Rights Activist), Cookie Washington (Textile Artist, Social Justice Activist), Amy Brennan (Executive Director, Center for Women), Colleen Condon (Former Charleston County Councilmember; Principal Attorney, Condon Law Firm), Dr. Reshma Khan (Founder and Executive Director, The Shifa Clinic), and Matt Foley (Charleston Poet; English and Writing Teacher at Charleston School of the Arts). For the Charlestonians that wanted to attend the march in Washington D.C., Buses were organized to charter people to and from Washington in the same day to avoid the cost of having to find a place to stay. The march on Washington as well as the sister marches around the world were immensely successful in creating a unified voice to spread the importance of Women’s Rights.