Saturday, the twentieth of January, seemed to be quite chaotic with the government shutdown, Trump’s inauguration anniversary, and the multiple nationwide marches. The press had plenty on their plate to cover. However, the events that particularly affected me, as well as many of those around the country, were the Women’s Marches.

Despite the name, these marches were certainly not only for women. The aim of these marches was to spread awareness and promote equality for all races, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, etc. These marches provided opportunities for people from all walks of life to come together and support one another to stand up for themselves.

Being one of the major cities in the United States, it is only expected that Los Angeles was one of the locations that held a march. Simone Decker, a senior here at Quartz Hill, experienced the event first hand and recounted her experience: “The Women’s March was invigorating, and being in a place so full of good energy was the most refreshing thing I’ve done in recent memory.”

It is certainly not hard to see how such an event could have a positive effect on those who attend. Being in an environment full of positivity and understanding can evoke strong emotions. This is exactly the goal of these marches. Women and other minorities are finding strength and support amongst each other. There is a sense of mutual understanding and empathy, which allows everyone to be heard. Simone stated that “Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, environmental causes, and voter registration were all represented at the march,” along with many individual speakers such as Viola Davis and Yvette Nicole Brown who shared their own stories.

While many may scoff at the idea of these Women’s Marches, writing them off as silly, unnecessary, or childish, it is apparent that the message and movement they spread is extremely important and prevalent in our society today. These marches and all of the individual causes that they represent have the same goal: equality. Yes, we have come a long way and made much progress throughout our history as a country, but we still have a long way to go. People will no longer settle to sit on the sidelines and wait their turn to be treated as an equal.