Boston March Attracts Huge Crowd

 

By Eesha Pendharkar
BU News Service

An estimated hundred thousand people in pink hats, carrying banners and flags, flocked to Boston Common on a sunny Saturday in solidarity with marchers in Washington, D.C., and around the world advocating for women’s rights.

Marchers in Boston yelled, applauded, and waved American flags. They marched, bobbing signs scrawled with slogans against Donald Trump and for various causes high above their heads. The Boston Women’s March was one of more than 600 sister marches taking place in cities all over the globe.

“We will not play dead. We will not be silent. We will fight for what we believe in,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren to thunderous applause.

“Sexism, racism, homophobia and bigotry have no place in this country,” she said. “We will not build a stupid wall.” As Warren spoke, some protesters waved signs that read “Warren 2020.”

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey seconded Warren’s message to fight. “This is where the revolution begins,” he said to resounding cheers.

Cal Brooks, a graduate student from MIT, turned to a friend and said: “This is awesome.”  He said the women in his family had gone down to D.C. to join the Women’s March there.

Sara Jane Moss, 74, attended the event with her daughter Connie and her granddaughters Julia, 6, and Abigail, 8. Moss said she planned to complete the entire mile walk with the aid of  her walking stick.

“It’s important for my daughters to understand the importance of uniting and working together,” Connie  Moss said.

“It’s important for them to be here, because even if they don’t understand now, they will later,” her mother added.

MFA art conservator Pamela Hatchfield stood at the head of the crowd with a sign that read: “Science is real. Art Matters.”

“I’m a very passionate supporter of preserving the planet,” she said. “Science is how the world was built and if you don’t believe in it or climate change, it’s a future we don’t want.”

Grace Liao climbed up on a gate wall as people began to march out of the Common, draped a giant American flag around herself and shouted, “My body, my choice!”  and “Love trumps hate!”

As music played, supporters mingled and took photos of each other’s signs. Annalisa Fratantoni, 13, from Cape Cod, danced, a rainbow-colored heart drawn on one side of her face and a peace sign on the other. “I’m marching because I think all women have a right to be themselves,” she said, holding up a huge rainbow-colored flag.

Mary Ann Barboza, 61, stood with a group of women she’d just met, all of whom wore furry pink “pussy” hats. “You can’t come in disrespecting every culture and every race,” she said. “I won’t call him [Trump] my president and so I’ll be at every march for the next four years,” she declared.

The women around her nodded in agreement.