It was a quiet ride for the fifty women on Rally Bus 624, a chartered coach that carried them from Evergreen Park to Washington, D.C., on Friday. Signs stowed in overhead storage compartments, the occasional conversations that broke above a whisper on I-90 were typical of those on any other bus journey. In 11 hours and 700 miles, they’d arrive at their destination — the Women’s March on Washington.
They rode in triplets and pairs. Mothers traveled with daughters, best friends boarded together, and even one grandmother accompanied her granddaughter.
“I brag all the time to my friends that it was my grandma and her friend who invited me (to the march),” 24-year-old Amanda Scarpaci said. She said that she wouldn’t call herself an activist, but that she feels “very strongly about different issues, especially regarding climate change and female issues.”
Her grandmother, Storey Shearer, said her greatest concern lies with guaranteeing equal rights for all people.
“Our democracy is under attack, ” Shearer said. “It’s frightening. I think Obama was right when he said you have to be a citizen and you have to work for this country and be a part of it, that it’s the people that make a democracy and make this country. What I hope is that the work continues after the march, that we stay focused and stay aware of what’s going on and continue saying what we stand for.”
Somewhere around Fort Wayne, Indiana, the energy picked up. Courtney Nelson, a graphic designer with a background in advocacy, talked about her reasons for traveling to the nation’s capital for the event.
“I’m here primarily because women’s rights are human rights, as the poster goes, but for a lot of intersectionality reasons, too. I’m here for reproductive rights and for racial justice. I think it’s going to be great to be in the company of that many united voices out there, because this whole election cycle felt so divisive, like so many people’s voices shouting over each other. I think it’s going to be incredible to have hundreds of thousands of voices saying the same thing. I think Donald Trump ran on a platform of division, of fear of the other, but we’re Chicagoans—we’re a melting pot city, we’re a sanctuary city, and that’s not the way we think,” Nelson said.
In the very last seats, sisters Katie and Maggie Connelly, 29 and 25 and both from Beverly, chatted about why they were headed to Washington. On the trek east, younger sister Maggie spoke for the pair.
“It’s important for our voices to be heard. President Trump said very incendiary things throughout his campaign. We just want him to be aware that we’re still here, we’re politically active, we are voting constituents and our voices will be heard.
“It’s always important to speak up, but especially with this president. I think a lot of things he has said feel personal. What I want is a sense of community and, you know, constituents in America who did not vote for Donald Trump to just band together and be a political force,” Maggie Connelly said. “I think it’s also important to reach out to people who voted differently, not to dismiss every single one as racist or a horrible person. We need to try to see where they’re coming from.”
Around midnight, things grew quiet again. By 2 a.m., most of the riders slept — or tried to. Shortly after sunrise on a gray day, they started waking up.
Katie Lenza, 32, a property tax consultant from University Village, who said she’s been involved in political activism ever since high school, passed out homemade cookies and fruit to her bus mates . Experienced in all-day marches, she also shared Ziploc bags filled with protein-rich seed crackers and cheese. She advised another rider to write an emergency number on her arm in the event of losing access to her cell phone.
The nighttime ride had been hushed and preparatory; the day in Washington was the opposite. D.C.’s streets exploded with movement and sounds. While no definitive number is known, organizers now say approximately 500,000 people attended the march — more than twice the number expected — according a report from the Associated Press.
Celebrities including Ashley Judd, Alicia Keys and Madonna sang and spoke alongside Angela Davis and Gloria Steinem. Marchers chanted and drummed in a moving line that seemed like it would never end, eventually coming to rest in a fenced area of grass facing the White House in the late afternoon, and although the temperature stayed above 50 degrees until sunset, a damp chill lay over the day. By 9 p.m., when the riders of Bus 624 re-boarded, most seemed ready to warm up and settle in for the ride back to Evergreen Park.
Saturday’s conversations fell off quickly. There were a few exchanges of news, but after a day in the elements and rally atmosphere, the women seemed ready to rest.
Katie Connelly woke up energized on Sunday morning.
“I feel hopeful again. Just to have that many women and men from every race, religion, and generation and background come together—it was really powerful,” she said. “It was an incredible experience. Leading up to the election, I heard over and over again that we have to ‘make America great again,’ but I think America is great and I saw that at the march. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect — far from it — we have a lot of work to do. But the march was a really good start. For me the most important thing is voting.”
Younger sister Maggie agreed.
“I agree that voting is the most important thing. We need to focus on the midterm elections in 2018. Contact your congressmen and women, let them know what the mandate from their constituency is, what your beliefs are as a voting member of the area that they represent . Then find volunteer projects. There are so many great organizations that could use help,” she said. “There was an overwhelming spirit of camaraderie with everybody today, of being a small fish in a large sea and realizing that there’s so much power there and so much potential to do good and make change.”
“I agree,” Katie said. “It wasn’t the big ticket items with celebrities. It was the little things. It was standing with strangers and feeling like they had your back.”
Nelson, inspired by news of sister marches on every continent, viewed the march in a global context.
“This is not America’s problem, these are not America’s issues. This is women everywhere speaking up, standing together determined to fight for their rights to exist and have basic human equality. D.C. was a huge cornerstone, and it was awesome to be a part of that, but to see places in Antarctica stand up together—I hope the takeaway is not that we are pissed off women. It’s not about that. It’s fundamentally about showing people that women are aware of what’s going on, that we are educated about the issues that affect us, about the issues that affect people who are different from us, everyone we’re fighting for, and that we’re not going to shut up. We’re not going away.”
Near the front of the bus, Lenza, the seasoned activist, prepared to go home.
“I hope (the march) made a statement. It’s kind of surreal,” she said. “I’m getting text messages asking how it was, and I don’t really have words to describe how it was. I love that it was just such a diverse group of people. I can’t believe how many kids were there, and that it was in our nation’s capital was huge. It was all over the world. I just really hope that the momentum maintains. That’s the thing. It needs to be maintained.” She paused. “It was a great start. We just have a lot of work to do.”
Angela Denk is a freelance reporter for The Daily Southtown.
