In solidarity with the Women's March on Washington, roughly 8,000 people attended the March on Lansing on Saturday afternoon.
“I just asked a question in (a Facebook group) if anybody had heard anything about anything that was happening in Michigan and, you know, did we want to do something?” march organizer Meg McElhone said. “The next thing I knew, I was in charge of it.”
The March on Lansing was organized for people who couldn’t go to the Women’s March on Washington because of cost, problems with transportation or other obstacles so their voices could be heard, McElhone said.
A crowd is still gathered listening to speakers on the Capitol steps. @thesnews pic.twitter.com/ye2gYEk9RG
— Marie Weidmayer (@mweidmayer) January 21, 2017
“I want people to come to this march because I want them to know that they will be OK, that there are people out there right now who are just as scared, just as worried,” McElhone said. “I want our voices to be heard and I want them to be strong together.”
Graduate student Laura Shishkovsky said she is worried about the future of the environment.
“As a scientist, I’m mad about the denial of climate change,” Shishkovsky said. “It makes zero sense.”
"As a scientist I'm mad about the denial of climate change," MSU graduate student Laura Shishkovsky said. @thesnews pic.twitter.com/saxRYeQ5B2
— Marie Weidmayer (@mweidmayer) January 21, 2017
Flint residents Afroze Hai and Mariam Qureshi attended the march together. The women said the water issues in Flint were one of their main concerns.
“Flint, Michigan children have to deal with this through their lives," Hai said. "We are here to stand up for them."
Qureshi said she believes attending the march was a way to make her voice heard.
"No matter what happens, it's our duty to stand up against injustice," Flint resident Mariam Qureshi said. @thesnews pic.twitter.com/iA5RP0ja47
— Marie Weidmayer (@mweidmayer) January 21, 2017
“We believe that we’re pretty much fighting for our rights. We believe that no matter what happens, it’s our duty to stand up against injustice,” Qureshi said.
Gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus Lavonia Perryman, former Michigan state representative Lisa Brown and others spoke to the crowd from the Capitol steps.
“We cannot give up hope,” Whitmer said. “Our (former) President Barack Obama taught us that.”
Toward the end of the march, a group of protesters split off and marched through the streets of Lansing. The majority of the marchers remained on the Capitol lawn and listened to the remaining speakers.
@thesnews pic.twitter.com/fZ0xc2bQJK
— Brigid Kennedy (@Brigid_Mary) January 21, 2017
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The speakers had strong words for newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
“Mr. President, I am the new face of America. In fact, I am America,” assistant professor Farha Abbasi said in a speech on the steps of the Capitol. “I am America, land of the brave and home of the free, built on sacrifices of slaves and indigenous people. You do not silence my voices and take away my choices.”
