FARMINGTON – A local group of mothers and their daughters have joined forces to participate in next weekend’s Women’s March on Washington in Washington, D.C.
More than 300,000 people are expected to march at an event described as intending to “…join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights,” states the march’s website.
The idea for the rally was born the day after Donald Trump was elected president. Teresa Shook of Hawaii gathered 40 of her friends to protest the result of the nation’s vote. Similar gatherings began cropping up throughout the country and before long leaders combined efforts to create the march.
Buses from Maine will be leaving late Friday, driving through the night and arriving for the start of the march on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The march will take place in the heart of Washington, D.C. near the Capitol. Attendees from Maine will leave immediately after the march and return home around 6 a.m. on Sunday.
“Just in time for school. We’re going to be exhausted but it’s going to be awesome,” Madelyn Besse of Farmington said.
Besse is one of the local mothers planning on making the trip with her 11-year-old daughter, Amelia Tierney.
“I told my friends I’m going. The ones who don’t support Trump wish they could go,” Tierney said.
Tierney isn’t the only one talking about it at school. Maya Kellett of Farmington said her Civil Rights Team at Cascade Brook School is talking about the effects of the election too.
“We talk about how the changes have impacted the U.S. and why we should stand up for what we believe in. We also talk about letting what has already happened pass and trying to stop the next thing that might come.” Kellett said.
The local group of mothers and daughters gathered on Saturday evening to make signs and T-shirts for the rally. While a playlist with women-empowering songs like “You Don’t Own Me” played in the background, the two generations of feminists painted slogans such as “Stronger Together” and “Not My President.”
“We really feel like we need to represent,” Besse said. “We’re going to raise hell. It will be fun.”
For anyone interested in going to the event you can check out the official website here or find the Women’s March on Washington facebook page.
There will also be rallies held throughout the state for those that can’t make the trip south. For more information about those rallies you can go to www.mainemarch.com.
