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Marching in Durango: Focusing on the Bigger Picture

Marching in Durango: Focusing on the Bigger Picture

By Faith Owen, Photos by Colton Branstetter

Author: Bodine, James/Wednesday, January 24, 2018/Categories: Opinion

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The women’s march took place in Durango, Colo. on the cold Saturday morning of Jan. 21, 2018. This march’s purpose was meant to reflect the women’s march that took place in Washington D.C. exactly one year ago and it is now  to become an annual occurrence to advocate for women’s rights and other minority rights.

 

In our small town of Durango, it was amazing to see how many people came to show support towards the current women’s rights movement. People of all ages and of all social groups showed up to this march to voice their passionate opinions.  

 

It is astonishing to see such a small community come together to advocate for such a huge change that they wish to not only see, but also be a part of in our American society today. There were signs advocating for women’s rights that were held up by various peoples across the crowd, but these signs were not limited to women’s rights alone.  For whatever reason, no matter who is at fault, the people of society always tend to point fingers at a leadership figure. In this case, that leadership figure is our current president of the USA. This march was meant to be a women’s march, NOT an anti-Trump march.  

 

For example, there were young girls, not even out of high school yet, who held up a sign saying, “Thank you, Trump, for making me a pissed off activist.” Nice finger pointing. We need to be teaching younger generations that activism is a beautiful thing, but also, instead of assigning blame, there are things that can be done in our own community to make a change that we want to see. Although our president is to blame for programs being cut and changes that have been made that most people have not agreed with, putting all the blame on him tends to conclude in a loss of focus.

 

Therefore, the women’s march of Durango should more accurately be described as an anti-Trump march . Where was the talk of policy? Where was the talk of what we could do now to bring the community closer together while still advocating for minority rights? No one seemed to bother to ask these questions. We, as a society, are not going to get anywhere if all we do is hate on a political leader. This march was meant for men and women of all ages to come together and stand up for the rights that were given to them in our country’s constitution. Therefore, let’s focus up Durango. Fighting for minority’s rights is a battle that seems never-ending, but it is a battle worth fighting for.

 
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