On January 21st, 2017, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the laws and administration for human rights.  Over 5 million people participated worldwide, and to this day, it was the most massive protest in American history.  The march shut down many major cities all over America while they fought for their beliefs.  Many celebrities, such as Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, and Janelle Monae, also joined the march and gave very moving speeches on stage.  Their statements touched on the issues of immigration, women’s rights, and healthcare.   After the initial event, the Women’s March account on Instagram (@womensmarch) said, “We saw what happened when millions of us stood together in January, and now we know that our army of love greatly outnumbers the army of fear, greed, and hatred,” on a post.  Since then, the organizers of the march have planned many other events, including strikes on International Women’s Day, marches in over thirty countries, and much more.

   Recently, the anniversary of the first march passed and to celebrate and to commemorate this; a second walk took place in various locations throughout the world.  Thousands of activists accumulated at 825 Warner Street in Atlanta, Georgia to launch the event.  This year, instead of a march, the ceremony was more of a movement.  “We chose an event that would be more of a rally to get people to recognize the need for progressives to be more successful in the 2018 midterms,” says an organizer of the movement.  The goal was to motivate people to run for office and to ally with nonprofit organizations to help bring change.  The theme of this year’s ‘march’ was “Power to The Polls” to show how the people really can cause change and fight for a cause.  It demonstrates just how powerful we can be when we come together on an issue.  In Atlanta this year, there were a diverse group of speakers, including Alyssa Milano, Stacey Abrams, Stephe Koontz who is Georgia’s first elected transgender official.  These women gave compelling and dynamic speeches.  Milano even mentioned Oprah’s “Me Too” speech from the Golden Globes.  Even though fewer people participated in the second march, it still had a powerful impact over all of the world.  The Women’s March organization is doing an admirable job of fighting for their beliefs peacefully and shining a light on issues that many try to ignore.  The organizers plan on continuing this tradition in the next years.