York Region residents share stories about Women's March in Toronto

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 22, 2017
By Simon Martin

A lot of Americans said they were moving to Canada if Donald Trump won the election but Rachel Reesor actually did.

On Nov. 1, a week before the U.S. election, the 30-year-old packed up her stuff in Virginia along with her husband Justin and daughter Emma and headed to their new home in Whitchurch-Stouffville. Of course Trump wasn’t the reason they moved, but it made for a good joke. A social worker by trade, Reesor certainly did not like the path Trump took her country down during the agonizing election campaign and the subsequent weeks since his victory.

Saturday, Jan. 21 was her chance to speak up as one of the millions from around the world that took part in the Women’s March. She headed down to Toronto from Stouffville with a group of women to be part of the big event. The crowd in Toronto was estimated at 60,000 people. “When I emerged from the subway and saw all the pink I just started crying. I was emotional almost the whole march,” she said.

Reesor said she’s not usually one for big crowds but the energy emanating from Queen’s Park was intoxicating as people stretched as far as the eye could see. To see so many young people in the crowd and such diversity was also empowering. “There was something very powerful about seeing the women of the world marching together,” she said.

And it wasn’t just in Toronto. It seemed like people were marching everywhere. Reesor said her social media feed had friends marching in Australia, Washington, Colorado and even Guatemala. “No matter where people were this impacted them. It was not just in the United States,” she said.

That global movement gave Reesor a little optimism and energy. “It was moving to be part of one of the largest marches in history,” she said. “We need to do this for our future.”

The collective hum of the crowd at the Women’s March still sticks with Stouffville resident Susie Niemeyer. “It was very electrifying and shocking,” she said.

The 60,000-plus crowd was the biggest gathering of people Niemeyer can remember being a part of. She had originally planned to go all the way to Washington D.C. to march but ended up going to the one a little closer to home. It’s a decision she doesn’t regret. “It felt comforting obviously because it shows people care,” she said. “It has been a heavy little bit for those of us who follow world events. This helped my cynicism; daring me to hope that things may not end up as bleak as they seemed to be heading.”

The march was an important event for Niemeyer to show that people are not okay with what was happening politically. But it’s also important that collective show of force doesn’t just end with a “really cool march”, Niemeyer said. There was one sign that particularly resonated with Niemeyer as she thought towards the future. It read: They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.