00:06There is nothing like I experienced the day of March.
00:10Seventy percent of the people that showed up on January 21st had not protested ever
00:15or hadn't gone to a rally or protest in 20 years.
00:19Thieves and thieves and thieves and thieves of people.
00:23Crazy. In a pack. I mean, who would have thought?
00:27I like to say that we were the midwives and the people were the ones that birthed a movement.
00:41This is a Fox News election alert.
00:45Donald Trump is the president of the United States.
00:49You're seeing it here on these faces. They are just stunned.
00:52Pollsters missed it. Correspondents missed it. All of the analysis.
00:59This country voting in Donald Trump was not something new.
01:03It is more so, like, lifting up the covers and showing us our dark side.
01:10He was anti-everything that so many of us had stood for for so many years or our allies had
01:15stood for.
01:16I wake up ready to fight injustice, but I didn't feel that way the next morning, nor did I feel
01:22the same the morning after that.
01:24I'm always a solution-oriented person, so I wasn't, like, upset.
01:28I was just like, alright, well, you know, what can I do now?
01:52So a few days later, I saw Tanika Mallory, who I said is, you know, it's been a femme tour,
01:58big sister, friend for a few years.
02:00And I saw her posting something about a march, though. I said, hey, I have some free time. Let me
02:04know if you need some help.
02:06And she was like, yes, I need lots of help. Like, when can you come? Can you come right now?
02:11I think a lot of us walk with our communities on our shoulders, whether they're incarcerated, whether they're victims of
02:17police brutality,
02:18whether they're Muslim communities, we feel it's important that we bring those communities to the table.
02:24And if we're not at the table, like Tanika says, then we're on the menu.
02:28The Women's March brought a different level of sisterhood to work alongside Linda Sarsour, Tanika Mallory, Bob Bland,
02:35and all the national organizers, as well as the state coordinators.
02:39We met with them on, I believe, a Saturday, and we hit the ground running.
02:49There's a different spirit that comes in you when you have to advocate for people.
02:54What we knew was that we were going to be intentional.
02:57We were going to center the most marginalized and we were going to make it an intersectional movement
03:01because we as women are not monolithic. Women of color are not monolithic.
03:05And so we did that.
03:08You know, a lot of movements are siloed movements, right?
03:11You know, you're only talking about environmental justice.
03:13You're only talking about reproductive rights.
03:15You know, you're only talking about racial justice.
03:18But the Women's March really sort of pulled together all of these different types of issues
03:28to say, hey, like, your injustice is rooted in my injustice.
03:32And so I think that has been extremely powerful and extremely contentious in a lot of ways.
03:38Because what was happening at the Women's March was a reflection of what was needing to happen across the country.
03:44A group of strangers coming together, there was a lot of racial dynamics in the Women's March.
03:49There was a lot of class dynamics in the Women's March.
03:51There was a lot of childcare dynamics in the Women's March.
03:54A lot of us are moms. Probably 50% of us are moms.
03:57So we had a lot of what we like to call daring discussions while planning the Women's March.
04:04If you're not having uncomfortable conversations, then you're not doing the work.
04:08Essentially, it's suspending your first judgment. It's coming from a place of love.
04:13It's listening to learn, not listening to be right.
04:16I think we as a country need to not shy away from these discussions.
04:19We need to go into them head on.
04:21It wasn't really for us about Trump.
04:23We've constantly been fighting against injustice, even when we had an ally like President Obama.
04:29But we knew we had to go harder, and so we had to make sure that we were marching for
04:35something.
04:35And within about four weeks, we created this policy platform that was called the most radical platform in the history
04:42of any march.
04:47And it was because we facilitated a process between dynamic people.
04:52This is about being intersectional, but really committed through a gender lens.
05:11I woke up early with butterflies in my stomach.
05:15There were security concerns, death threats on many of us that were visible.
05:20There was this feeling of, is it gonna be everything we prepared for?
05:25Feelings of doubt, like are people gonna show up today?
05:29Sisters and brothers, if you have come here today as your first time at a march, I welcome you.
05:39I ask you to stand and continue to keep your voices loud for black women, for native women, for undocumented
05:52women,
05:53for LGBTQIA communities, for people with disabilities.
05:59We have a chance, brothers and sisters, to get this thing right.
06:06We can do it. If women, rise up and take this nation back.
06:12You have awoken a new and renewed spirit.
06:17And I am so excited to be a part of this with all of you.
06:22I am reminded of the words of my mentor and boss, Harry Belafonte.
06:28Those who are working towards the liberation of our people are only subject to friendship and support.
06:35Those who are being divisive are playing the enemy's game.
06:39So remember, when you go back home, think about why you marched.
06:45And organize, organize, organize.
06:52And I stepped away because I felt the tears coming.
06:55And I sat down.
06:57And I just started crying.
06:59Like crying like a baby because it was over.
07:02I hadn't eaten all day.
07:04I was a fucking mess.
07:05And I just cried for like two minutes.
07:08And then I got myself back together.
07:10And then we went out and we marched.
07:13I hope that young girls understand that we are actually better together than in competition.
07:20That's something that the Women's March was able to demonstrate.
07:23And it's a different level of sisterhood that allows us to create the beloved community that Dr. King talked about.
07:32And it's going to take us as women to lead.
07:35You don't need to be an expert.
07:37All you have to do is have heart and care about something larger than yourself.
07:40From the streets to the polls, right, I always think about that.
07:43How can we turn this passion on the streets to actual votes, to actual advocacy?
07:48But it starts with understanding the process of you actually being able to advocate for yourself.
07:53We as an organization are focusing on 2018 around voting.
07:58And we have to have women leading that call and leading that cause and women being voted into office.
08:08I think it's important to also remember that the Women's March began with a woman that had never been an
08:14activist.
08:14She said, I'm angry.
08:16I'm going to march on Washington on January 21st.
08:19Who's with me?
08:20So we need to have our ideas and then be brave enough to pursue them.
08:25And that's what I say to everyone that is not an activist.
08:27You have ideas, pursue those ideas, and you never know what will come from those ideas.
08:32Music.
08:35Music.
08:44Music.
08:47Music.
08:49Music.
08:55Music.
