Colleen Hickman was one of an estimated 300,000 demonstrators at the second Women’s March Chicago on Saturday.
I wandered through the massive, pulsing crowd for two hours, chatting with protesters and soaking in the event’s emotional sentiment. I wondered if the 61-year-old educator from Crown Point felt invisible or insignificant.
“My presence was no more important than that of the elderly Asian women walking in front of me and my friend, Mary Kaczka. But together, wow, what a message to send,” she replied.
One woman gave me a sign to hold, stating “I’M WITH HER!” with arrows pointing in every direction. I saw dozens of similar homemade signs hoisted in the air by supportive men in the march.
I held mine but I didn’t hoist it. I wasn’t there as an activist, but as a columnist. A professional observer.
It’s not that I didn’t support the march, one of several Women’s March protests across the country last weekend. I did support its cause, though I was trying to figure out exactly which cause to support. Many causes were on parade that day.
“I missed last year’s march and was determined to not miss this one,” said Hickman, who teaches international business at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting and Indiana University Northwest in Gary.
“What came to me was how social resistance has shaped our lives, and how an event like today’s is a great equalizer. We all contributed equally with our time,” said Hickman, who also is director of the NWI World Trade Alliance.
During the march, I took a peek at Hickman’s Facebook wall. A historic quote caught my eye: “There are two levers for moving men – interest and fear.”
I instinctively assumed it was coined by a prominent female figure. Possibly Eleanor Roosevelt or Susan B. Anthony or even Oprah Winfrey. I thought this only because it was posted on a prominent woman’s social media wall.
I soon found out I was wrong. That shrewd quote is from French statesman Napoleon Bonaparte, spoken nearly two centuries ago.
It’s as true today as it was then.
The women at the marches, along with the men (and children) who supported them, used both Napoleonic levers to get their message across to men in power in our country. Specifically, President Donald Trump, who aptly represents such powerful men.
“Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” the women repeated while marching past Federal Plaza from Grant Park.
Hundreds of signs stated angry feelings that weren’t verbalized with chants.
“Awaken your inner Jedi, you just,” stated another protest sign, with an image of Yoda from “Star Wars.” “Save our planet from the evil.”
The protest projected multiple themes. From anti-Trump feelings to the #MeToo movement to voter registration drives to female empowerment. It was one-stop shopping for anyone looking for a cause or an identity or an ax to grind.
“We are fierce, we are fired up, and we are coming for you – together we rise,” stated one woman’s poster.
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A few counter-protesters complained from the sidewalks.
“Is this about OUR president or about YOUR equality? Pick one!” one older man yelled.
One of the women pointed to her sign: “WHY WE MARCH: Ending violence, reproductive rights, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, civil rights, disability rights, environmental justice.”
“By denying science you are advertising your stupidity,” another sign stated, referring to critics’ claims that climate change is a hoax.
The protesters’ anger was aimed at several injustices in this country. Misogyny and bigotry, for starters, as well as sexual discrimination and inappropriateness, in the news these past few weeks.
“HANDS OFF,” stated one woman’s poster above an image of a uterus.
“She must be holding that BIG SIGN to overcompensate for her tiny womanhood,” stated one extremely large poster held by a petite woman.
The women wanted their voices to be heard. Just like those Americans who voted for Trump in late 2016, claiming they felt disenfranchised or alienated from this grand experiment called the United States.
All of us want our voice to be heard, even if it’s amid 300,000 others with conflicting causes and surrounded by counter-protesters.
This past year we learned that nationalism is contagious. Conversely, so is solidarity against such thinking and its dark underbelly.
“Too often we don’t bring up the concerns for which the march stands for,” Hickman told me. “Maybe we fear that others don’t share our views, but that is a disabling reaction that prevents sharing what is, essentially, who we really are, which is intimacy at its best.”
Her description seemed contradictory at first. How could you find intimacy amid such a sprawling public demonstration? Yet there it was on the faces of so many women who joined together in small, intimate groups to create a critical mass of importance.
For those women who weren’t able to join that march, for whatever reason, Hickman said Saturday’s demonstrators understood that they are carrying the hopes and dreams of others with them. Those absent women, and men, can still show support, she said.
“By engaging the topic of the march in conversations with family, friends and church family,” she said. “That is the only way many of us can express an interest or support in such an event and what it stands for.”
“This is what democracy looks like!” hundreds of protesters repeated before peacefully dispersing.
This answered my initial question. And this is why the demonstrators showed up last weekend, regardless if they felt empowered or insignificant afterward.
One poster in particular, quoting Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, pointed this out perfectly.
“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important you do it.”
Twitter@jdavich