Heck, I’m just confused by your statement. Are you against abortion and against the war or for abortion and for the war?
But…I…you…uh…over there…but…stapler…
Dagnabbit. Maybe if y’all wouldn’t wear the same outfit I could tell you apart.
I did not go - we’re approaching finals week - but my parents and some members of their congregation (they’re Unitarians) flew up from Florida to march. My dad pushed my mother along the entire route in a wheelchair. They said it was really amazing and powerful. Yesterday, they went to the Senate office buildings with their group and met with an aide of Florida Senator Bill Nelson to discuss the march and various pieces of legislation. I love my parents and I think they’re really cool for marching. I wish I could have been with them.
Just a WAG, Gest, but SNenc might work in an organization where s/he can’t do things that might be perceived as going against the politics of the organization. When I worked for a trade association in DC, I had to sign an agreement to the effect that I wouldn’t engage in any political activity that conflicted with the organization’s stance.
Back to the OP, I was at the march and it was great. Like Scribble said, I was sore afterwards from walking/standing all day. Bummed about missing Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls performing, though. I think they were onstage while I was still marching, since the march took forever to wend around the route.
KellyM went. She was in town on business. She had a great time and will probably check in when she gets back from DC.
I was there. I was in DC anyway on business. I hadn’t originally planned to march, expecting to have to work on Sunday, but the preconditions for the work I was going to do on Sunday weren’t met so I couldn’t do what I was there to do. That gave me Sunday free, so I ran out to the Armory Saturday to get information and went down to the Mall Sunday morning around 9am.
I found a Chicago-area group (“Chicago Area Women Warriors”) and marched with a woman named Hannah and her mom (whose name I have shamefully forgotten). I also met Christine Cegelis, who is running for Congress against Henry Hyde.
The antis were virtually nonexistent; there couldn’t have been more than 500 or so of them. They looked bored. I couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying despite their high-power megaphones because there’s no way one guy, even with a bullhorn, can drown out two thousand people all shouting the same thing.
It took us almost two hours to march the route, and since Illinois was situated more than half-way down the Mall (we were just east of 7th Street) we didn’t actually leave the Mall until after 1pm. They delayed the start of the March a half hour because many busses were delayed arriving at RFK. We got back to the Mall about 3pm. People were still marching into the Mall at 4pm.
I have no doubt that there were over one million people there. The center poritin of the Mall was packed solid when we got back; the only space that was left to sit was in the wings (which have trees that block your view of the monitors they set up). Another consequence of it taking so long to walk the route is that we missed most of the post-March rally.
On Saturday, on the way back from the Armory, I rode on a Metro car with me, some guy, and about 40 teenaged (or early twenties) women all wearing the hot pink “Feminist Majority” T-shirts that were prominent at the march. My hotel was also simply packed with women of all ages obviously there for the march.
I wore my “This is what a feminist looks like” shirt on the flight back today. One person asked me if I was at the March as we were debarking. He said it was an “amazing event”. Another guy in the terminal gave me a thumbs-up and said “Great shirt!” as he passed.
I wish I had pictures of the thing, but I did not take my camera. I didn’t expect to be free to march, so I hadn’t planned anything. The organizers did a great job of making the event accessible even to last minute participants like me.
! While at the March, I spoke briefly with a nice lady from Michigan wearing a giant Unitarian Universalist sign. Couldn’t possibly have been someone you knew?
Wow. I suspected that was what was meant but it has some nasty implications. So, depending on the organisation, SNenc might have to be almost completely apolitical? Can’t join a political party, donate to a SIG or NGO or even go to a rally? I’m just shocked that it remained unremarked upon.
Some journalists and civil servants are also prohibited from getting involved in political activities.
Exactly. I am the former. 
I should elaborate, I guess (Sorry, it’s 3 a.m. and I’ve been covering election returns all freaking night). As a reporter I’m not allowed to (or at least not supposed to) participate in any public form of political activity outside of the mechanics of voting.
This means I can register by party, which can be useful in a town totally dominated by Democrats, because all the decisions are effectively made in the Democratic primary. But being at protests, donating, and volunteering in anything with a clear political bent is out.
Frustrating? You bet. But I also volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and do other little things, like putting a buck in the coffee can the D.C. Rape Crisis Center had set up outside Ben & Jerry’s during Free Cone Day yesterday (would have given more, but I’m not one to carry much cash on me). That way, I can remain impartial but still feel civic-minded.
OK, sorry for the “all about me” hijack, especially in a thread about something much more larger. But I felt like some posters here wanted an explanation.
I marched with my husband and 9 month old son. If any of you saw a woman holding a baby who was wearing a white t-shirt with a huge pink “Stand Up” sticker, that was us! He must have had 40 people take his picture.
We were also not planning on going. We were in D.C. for the ANZAC Day commemoration that the Australian & New Zealand embassies do and to get my son his passport. We were staying at a friend’s in Dupont Circle. On Saturday night, we were sitting around drinking wine and we heard this ungodly rumble getting closer and closer. The WTO had a meeting that morning, so our first thought was that it was the protestors for that, who sometimes get a little out of hand. We raced out onto the street and found hundreds of the pro-choice people marching and chanting “Hey hey ho ho George Bush has got to go!” We raised our glasses and decided we needed to be there on Sunday. It was truly one of the most inspiring, loving experiences I’ve ever had. Beautiful.
I’m sure I saw at least three such babies. Maybe one of them was yours.