At precisely eleven AM on January 21, 2018, men, women and children joined together to initiate the 2018 Women’s March at the Arizona State Capitol building. This year, the cause was back with “March to the Polls”. This is a women-led movement, but encourages anyone and everyone to come out and march.
The purpose of this march was to advocate for women in office. Many guest speakers such as Laila Ikram, told their stories, and spoke their truth. Women around the nation in various cities all joined together to march in unity to fight for equality. Individuals of every age, every race, every religion, and more stood up and advocated for equality.
Last year, the womens' marches around the world broke records that many were astounded by. Many people believed that it was a one-time movement; they were drastically wrong. In Phoenix last year, over 20,000 individuals showed up to march. This year, there were over 26,000 people at the march. Since last year's march, women around the world have stood up with the #MeToo movement. This year, the goal was to bring a progressive voice to the state of Arizona. Last year, we marched in order to protest. However, this year we marched to bring voices to women in offices and women interested in running for offices around Arizona; particularly women of color. Not only were these candidates out here campaigning, people were able to register to vote, even if you were not quite eighteen yet. In hopes to bring the progressive vote to Arizona, we must start raising our voices and advocating now.
At its core, this movement fights for equality and injustices against certain groups of people. The most beautiful part of this movement is the fact that people of every age showed up. Many families showed up and brought their young sons and young daughters. People from all walks of life, joined together to fight for one reason. Equality.
Some interviews conducted with some of the people from the march and what it means to them: