Kelly Brown’s Facebook profile picture is a photo of her and her sister standing on the steps of the Senate building wearing matching “Nasty Women” T-shirts.
It was one of many standout moments from Brown’s trip to Washington D.C. last weekend to participate in the Women’s March on Washington, where she joined an 470,000 people from around the country in protesting the inauguration of President Donald Trump and demonstrating for equal rights.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before … It really felt like we were all doing something together, which was not something I had experienced on that scale,” said Brown, the office manager for the English and Performing and Fine Arts departments at UP. “The energy was really positive. It didn’t really feel anti- anything, it was more like pro- a lot of things.”
Brown, her sister, her sister-in-law and several other friends traveled from five different states last Friday to D.C. They stayed with friends-of-friends who opened their home while they were away for the weekend. They made signs that read “Justice for All” and “I’m with Her” with arrows pointing to all sides of the sign. They donned matching “Nasty Women” T-shirts entirely by accident.
Although Brown said the throngs of people made it impossible for them to get to the rally site to hear the speakers, they were able to make the full loop of the march, ending it by leaving their signs tucked into the fence outside of the White House. She says she later watched the march speeches on Youtube.
And in the massive sea of pink-clad, sign bearing crowd that she described as a “wave of energy,” Brown says she didn’t feel uncomfortable — the folks around her were looking out for one another, picking up signs when others dropped them, sharing snacks and striking up conversations with one another. The feeling of togetherness and shared purpose was palpable.
Brown hadn’t been to D.C. since high school, and said it was incredible to be back standing up for something she is so passionate about.
“I was marching for the America that I believe in,” Brown said. “This idea that rights aren’t only for certain people and privileges aren’t only for certain people, they should be for all of us. And we’re a country of people from so many different backgrounds with different experiences and that’s what makes this country great.”
The decision to go to D.C. for the march had been almost a no-brainer — the moment she and her sister first read about the march, they knew they had to go. And for them, it was the right choice. Brown comes from a family of teachers and says that she fears for the the future of education under a Trump administration, among other things, but the march left her feeling the most hopeful she’d felt since November — and maybe ever.
In the days following the march, Brown has already begun thinking about how she can stay politically involved throughout Trump’s tenure and is starting by participating in the Women’s March’s 10 Actions in 100 Days. She plans to write postcards to Oregon representatives about preserving the Affordable Care Act and on the issue of education, particularly opposing Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
“It’s hard to say what I’m not concerned about,” Brown said. “I think that it’s so important that we not let this momentum die and that people who had a profound experience at the march, as I did, take that and move forward with it. This can’t be the only thing that we do.”
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CLICK HERE FOR THE BEACON STORY ABOUT UP STUDENTS AND STAFF WHO WENT TO THE PORTLAND WOMEN'S MARCH
