It may have been raining on Inauguration day, but it was sunny one day later at Women’s Marches around California. In the state alone there were 61 marches, and there was a sister march on every continent in the world.

On Jan. 21 many Archer girls and teachers went to the official Los Angeles March in Downtown LA to participate in this historic event.

According to their Facebook page, the March strived to be “the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.”

This march was a meaningful day for many, especially after an election they found upsetting.

“I feel incredibly passionate about women’s rights issues, and I was less than thrilled with the outcome of the election,” Isabelle Wilson ’17 said. “The march was a way to voice my opinion about both of these things and more and support causes that are important to me.”

Archer seniors went to the march for a variety of reasons, though they all believed in the importance of using their voice.

“I went to the Women’s March because I want the government and the president to see that we, people who care about humans rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights, are still watching and are still going to have our voices heard,” Isabel Adler ’17 said. “There is power in numbers.”

“I knew that it was going to be a historical moment, so I went for that aspect,” Carly Feldman ’17 said. “But I also believed in what we were marching for and I wanted to support that.”

For others, attending an all-girl school meant that they had to attend.

“For me, it didn’t really seem like a choice,” Liadan Solomon ’17 said. “It felt like, being at a school like this, where I am supposed to stand up for who I am and what I deserve — I had to be there.”

Senior Ingrid Sant felt she needed to participate in civil action.

“I was feeling really bad about the election and I wanted to feel like I was doing my part in taking civil action,” she said. “I wanted to be around people who had the same opinion as me to reassure myself.”

During the event, Archer girls said they felt “empowered” by the large, like-minded community they witnessed.

“I felt like there was a lot of unity, and the march was all about solidarity, and women’s rights, but [also] the rights of all minorities and humans in general,” Halle Jacobs ’17 said. “I felt comforted by the fact that there were millions marching across the world, feeling the way I did.”

“I felt really proud and excited to know that there were so many other people who valued the same things I did. I knew they always existed, but to see everyone come together like that was really inspiring,” Leyla Namazie ’17 agreed.

Solomon liked how inclusive the march was.

“You could march for women and women’s rights, but also anything else you could think of,” she said.

“The intersectionality of all of it and how it was all related was cool,” Feldman added.

The attendees were grateful to have gone to the march and look forward to the chance to continue making their historical mark.

“It felt incredible to be surrounded by 750,000 people who support the same causes that I do – especially afterward when I saw pictures of marches on every continent – but I see the marches as just a starting point for more activism in the years to come,” Wilson said. “I agree with criticisms that argue for more inclusion of a wide range of gender identities, races, etc., and I think there’s always space for expansion and growth.”

“It was very uplifting because a lot of people were feeling down with the way things were, and it felt so good to be part of something so historic [and] a lot bigger than people thought it was going to be,” Sant said. “It is going to be cool for the future because a lot of people are going to remember — it’s going to go down in history.”

Overall, these seniors who participated felt empowered and energized by their time at the march and were happy that they went.

“I’m feeling grateful that I live in a country that grants me the right to free speech and lucky that I’m in a position to exercise that right, regardless of who dominates the White House, Congress, or the Supreme Court,” Wilson said.