By Andy Kucera and Shawn Campbell
The Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21 brought people together as crowds across the nation marched through the streets with numbers exceeding expectations. All across the United States men, women and children marched. Some republicans, some democrats, all advocates for change.
In St. Paul, it was estimated that between 90,000 and 100,000 people attended the march. While in Bemidji, though there is no official number, the crowd continued to grow with many people ecstatic with the turnout. The reason people marched varied, but the general consensus was that everyone was marching for a their own reasons.
“It shows how important human rights are,” said William Hartwell of Bemidji, an attendee who marched at the event for healthcare for all, “I was raised in the middle of the Vietnam era, so I’ve had to stand up and speak out against injustice since I was 16 years old.”
Tia Hinz, a student at Bemidji State University, worked behind the scenes on the women’s march said, “I think it’s really cool to see all these people coming together. It’s not just democrats, it’s not just women it’s everyone and I think that’s really cool.”
