Have you ever thought about protesting? Going out to the streets to stand up for whatever you believe in is important. Going to protests is a very inspiring, you’re surrounded by people who want change just like you do.
I have been to one protest in my life. The first one was back in February of 2017. Ever since I was little, I always thought that protesting was a cool thing to do. I saw all those people walking with their huge signs bringing attention to an issue they believed it was necessary to bring attention to. Seeing hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching together made me feel that there’s people who want change and they speak out, they let their thoughts be heard by the world.
After the women’s march in January of 2017, I was very inspired to take action and participate in a protest after so many years of waiting. I wanted to attend the women’s march, but I couldn’t convince my parents to let me go to that one. Thankfully, there was another march in Philadelphia called the March For Humanity where we were protesting the Muslim ban. I am super grateful that I lived 40 minutes away from Philadelphia because it wasn’t a far drive from home. This time I was able to convince my parents to let me go because I went with another friend and I prepared a whole speech on why they should let me go, and I promised them I’d stay safe.
As the day approached, I chose very warm clothes because it was going to be very cold that day and I was going to be walking for a long time. I also decided to make a sign because if I was going to march, I wanted to do it the right way and go all out. Seeing the massive amounts of people that marched for the women’s march globally inspired me greatly. My sign said “liberty and justice above all” because I took the last few words from the Pledge of Allegiance and modified them a little to emphasize the “unity and justice” part.
When I got to Philly, I saw so many people waiting for the march to start. As soon as I got there, I could feel all the energy from the people, it was amazing. I realized that protesting doesn’t create that big of a change, but I loved seeing people of all ages, and different background come together to have their opinions heard.
There were a total of 2,000 people marching that day. Going on that protest changed my perspective on marches and the people who attend. I thought that marches were this huge thing that got a lot of attention nationwide, however, that’s not the case all the time. Furthermore, I thought most people who protested were 17 year-olds to 30-ish year-olds; but I was mistaken. That day I saw elderly people, parents with their babies in strollers, small children chanting “this is what America looks like!”, and college-age people. It was fascinating to see the variety of people that showed up. Here7’s a video.
If you ever get the chance to go to a peaceful protest, take it. Stand up for what you think it’s right! Take action and work towards the change you want to see in society.