For me, my husband and daughter, attending the march was not so much an anti-Trump statement (we did not vote for him) nor a pro choice, nor a pro life statement. For us, attending the Women’s March on Boston was to say: “We stand in support of women and disenfranchised people all over the world.” We would have gladly stayed in our wonderful town of Greenfield and joined the 2,000 plus “friends,” but our daughter had flown in from Chicago and would be awaiting us in Boston so we could march together as a family.
We left on the 8:45 a.m. train in Wachusett and were surprised to find over 100 folks waiting to board the same train. This was a hint at what was to come, for by the time we reached Littleton, people were already standing in the aisles. Capitalism wasn’t working on this day! The conductor announced that there would be no charge for the day’s trips and parking was free because it was a weekend. We were blessed.
In South Acton there were so many people waiting to board, we wondered if there would be enough room. This turned out to be the last stop where people were allowed in. We were on a packed train but there were no complaints about having to stand. The mood was festive — pink hats and scarves everywhere. Early on, I had turned to my husband and said: “I wonder how many men will be brave enough to wear pink hats?” When the first man to do so entered our train car, he received loud and enthusiastic applause. And once we arrived at the Boston Common, we saw more than a few “brave men.”
Our first stop at North Station was the bathrooms. The lines were very long, but again, no grumbling, just laughing and joking. We found the men’s and women’s rooms transformed into “transgender” bathrooms. We saw our daughter going into the men’s room and my husband chose to go into the women’s line. As my husband said about this “first-time” event for him: “Here I am in the most natural of circumstances, having grown up in a house with a built-in transgender bathroom. So it really wasn’t a ‘first-time event’ except, of course, for the 15:1 ratio. End result: for me it was patriarchy’s last stand.” It was that kind of day.
We decided to walk from North Station to the Boston Common and are glad we did, for we later heard comments from folks that the T was chaotic. We joined the throngs converging on this Patriots’ territory, heard speeches from Mayor Marty Walsh, Senator Elizabeth Warren and our state’s Attorney General Maura Healey, among other dignitaries. There were other speakers and songs as well, but one could tell these folks weren’t familiar with addressing huge crowds and their words were not easily heard. The crowd began to yearn to set off for the march, and by 1 p.m. we were on our way, albeit very slowly.
Throughout the common, there were certainly signs we could not agree with, but never once did we hear disparaging remarks about other people’s words. The mood was overwhelmingly positive — no fear, no sense of danger — even though we were surrounded by close to 175,000 other men, women and children. As one sign said: “A TIDAL WAVE — YOU CAN’T BUILD A WALL AROUND IT!” I’m not one who likes to take a public stand on issues but, this time, it felt so right to stand up and proclaim by just being there: “I am waiting. I am watching. I will act.”
Jeanne M. Douillard is the former director the Visitor’s Center. She is a potter and a published author specializing in the story of the French in New England. She lives in Greenfield.