To the Editor

To the Editor,

On November 21, millions of people marched throughout the country, in order to show that we—all people of minorities that have been attacked in President Trump's election period—are here to fight, to stand tall, and to resist bigotry and hate.

I marched in Montpelier, Vermont, which was set out to have at least 5,000 people and at most 9,000 people. We began the morning by moving sluggish, under the impression that there wouldn’t be many people there. We piled in the car, coats jammed between seats, and were on our way. Once we hit the highway, we realized: there were a lot more people than we envisioned.

Traffic was backed up all the way to the exit. A trip that should have taken at most thirty minutes, took close to two hours. It was the best traffic I've been in. People opened their windows and stuck their posters out of them. People sang through the honking. Some even got out of their cars and marched right on the side of the highway, ready to go.

We eventually made it, though, and once we were there, we practically ran to where everybody was lining up. There were performers, children, elderly, young, men, women, dogs, and even a man with a bubble wand. We marched across a bridge. We stopped traffic. We flooded the streets. We came, we saw, we conquered.

The thing I remember most, is the amount of people that showed up. We ended up having close to 20,000 people marching in solidarity with us. I don't think I've ever seen that many people in real life. It was truly astounding.

I could feel myself becoming a part of history. And sometimes, the fight gets wearisome. It gets hard to try to make your voices heard above all of the yelling, hatred, and violence. And often, when you're alone, it's hard to keep the fight going. But today made it so much easier to stand up, look around, and remind myself that I'm not alone in this, and we have a real shot at changing history.

There is so much love in the world, and it’s important to spread it to each and every person, and that’s what these protests are all about. To show equality and love to each and every person that we come into contact with.

-Paige Scoppmann