Across the nation this weekend, voices of hope and resilience are echoing through the streets in Washington DC and other cities across America, demanding justice and change. In the cold January air, days before former President Trump’s second inauguration, thousands of young people and activists marched to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, chanting, “When I say climate, you say justice!”
Following Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat and President Trump’s victory last November, young people and vulnerable communities have mobilized, determined to resist and challenge the new administration’s policies they believe will threaten their futures.
Ralliers descended on DC on Saturday for “The People’s March,” a rebranded version of the Women’s March which aims to unite a broad group of activists. They gathered at Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and Franklin Park, with each location focused on specific issues like immigration, climate change, reproductive rights, democracy, and LGBTQIA issues. According to the Guardian, while only tens of thousands of people attended this year's march — compared to more than a million people at the 2017 Women's March — there were more than 350 protests in cities across every U.S. state.
Tamika Middleton, the managing director for Women’s March, emphasized young people's pivotal role in driving change throughout history.
“I think that the legacy of young people, not just being involved but leading is very long especially when we look at the Black radical tradition and when we look at Black liberation organizing,” Middleton said. “We would be remiss to talk about that movement without talking about the Children’s March which provided some of the most iconic imagery of the Civil Rights Movement.”
The Children’s Crusade, also known as the Children’s March of 1963, was a landmark event where thousands of Black teenagers courageously marched against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, enduring fierce police brutality. Their actions played a significant role in the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Naysa Dunlap, a 22-year-old Black social worker from Columbus, Ohio, attended the People’s March with her partner, who is also 22. The couple joined the demonstration because its mission aligned with their shared commitment to immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.
“A lot of the things that [The People’s March advocate for,] I’ve already been involved in,” Dunlap said, noting she has a close friend from Palestine. "But to see it culminate in one thing is really awesome,” Dunlap said.
Sara Kehinde, 22, is a public health worker from Baltimore City Maryland, and a strong advocate for universal healthcare. She attended the People’s March out of frustration with the outcome of the U.S. election, which she believes has significant implications for healthcare access and equity.
“A huge part of what makes me passionate is talking about healthcare rights,” Kehinde said. “I also believe that our institution of healthcare has been riddled with racism for far too long and the outcome is lower life expectancies, lack of care for those of the lowest income, marginalized groups, LGBT, people of color, the disabled as well.”
To push back against Trump’s administration, Kehinde highlighted the importance of prioritizing education for younger voters, particularly younger male voters. “We saw that there was a huge shift between 2020 to now in voting statistics for them, so a lot of it is education,” she said.
According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic and Learning Engagement (CIRCLE), 52% of youth aged 18-29 voted for Vice President Harris, while 46% supported President Trump. This represents a significant increase in support for Trump compared to 2020, when he received 36% of the youth vote. Young men backed Trump over Harris by 14 points, while young women supported Harris by 18 points.
Ally Mallon, a 19-year-old student and climate activist at American University, joined the People’s March in Washington, DC alongside her friends. Mallon expressed deep concern about media censorship and threats to freedom of speech, issues she believes are critical to preserving democracy.
“We’re here because we are losing our democracy, and we don’t like to stand by and watch it,” Mallon said. She added that she and her friends plan to continue attending marches and staying vocal about the issues they care about.
JoJo Milton, 26, a Tennessee native, shares similar concerns about the future of America and democracy, which is why he attended the People’s March. He shared that after the election, he felt like laying down and giving up.
“I think the thing that really engulfs just about everything is that there’s not going to be a future for climate, there’s not going to be a future for gay or trans people,” Milton said. “There’s not going to be a future for women’s rights if we don’t first defend democracy because that is how we are going to keep our power.”
Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of Popular Democracy in Action and a speaker at the People’s March, has been leading the call for grassroots political engagement. She believes that true democracy requires constant, active participation at all levels of society.
“So while we march today, we are organizing at the state, local, and community level because the truth is, this is our government.”
Mejia urges citizens to reconnect with disengaged voters and empower them to become active participants in their government: “The most powerful thing that any of us can do right now is to turn to our communities and engage the [nearly] 90 million eligible voters that stayed home. That did not see themselves reflected, that did not believe they had a rightful place in their government and we have to turn inward.”
Jody Zhuo, a 19-year-old accounting student at George Washington University, said she joined the People’s March because she “felt like I needed to get out and do something,” she said. For Zhuo, issues like the potential TikTok ban and her opposition to President Trump’s policies motivated her to join.
“TikTok is how I stay connected with everything that’s going on,” she explained, noting the challenge of adjusting to new ways of getting information if the ban goes through.
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TikTok, an app used by one third of Americans, is set to be banned on January 19 unless it secures a new non-Chinese owner. The Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday, bringing the company one step closer to a potential shutdown. Now this massive shift in the social media ecosystem is set to take effect just as Trump is sworn into his second term along with a Republican Congress.
The People’s March attendees say they’re bracing for the chaos, but ready to keep fighting for their loved ones, communities, and what's right.
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