Ashland shows strength in numbers at their Woman’s March
The turnout was larger than expected
The state of Oregon was one of the many states that participated in the nationwide Woman’s March on Saturday, and Ashland, a town of with a population of 20,000 approximately and 15 miles from my hometown of Medford, showed their support of women’s rights from those living in Southern Oregon and the Rogue Valley.
We asked some people who attended to give their perspective of what a Women’s March looks like in smaller towns rather than big cities like Portland, New York and Washington DC and here’s what they said:
Andrea Koell
‘I definitely wasn’t expecting the turn out, I was late so was at the back of the crowd and within minutes people filled in behind me and I couldn’t see the end of the line. I saw a bunch of photos from friends who were at the march, and there were so many people I didn’t find any of them. And I know of at least 10. I think it’s important to have it in smaller towns like Ashland because while it won’t be as noticed it gives people who can’t go to Portland or Seattle or DC a place to gather and stand united.’
‘Being on the right side of history among so many people was really comforting during such an uncomfortable time. A woman I walked to up to the walk with who came all the way from Cave Junction just for the march.’
Phoebe Whittington & Micaela Levesque
Phoebe Whittington (center) and Micaela Levesque (right) show their support for Women’s March.
Phoebe: ‘I was kind of surprised by how relatively calm it was. My dad ran into old co-workers and it was fun to discover these acquaitances of ours shared this cause with me without my realizining it. It was cool to see the different types of people within the community stereotypes (Ashland hipster, etc.) that showed up’
Micaela: ‘To me, the women’s march was so amazing because it wasn’t rallying around a person. We weren’t all there because we loved Hillary or because we were #bernieorbust. We were there because we believe in equality and compassion. It was great.’
The march passes through Ashland’s Lithia Park
Even in a small town like Ashland people showed up en masse to show their support for a nationwide strong. For women’s rights, march on!
A look at how many people were a part of the march
Photos Contributed by Andrea Koell, Phoebe Whittington and Micaela Levesque.