Karyn Hamilton of Montclair knew immediately she would attend the Women’s March on Washington. She feels the need to connect, to be with those that feel the same way. As a kid she followed her older sister’s lead and wore a black arm band to school to protest the Vietnam War and refused to pledge allegiance. At the time she did not fully understand why. Today she knows why. She marches for her sons’ future wives and children and for all of her friends’ daughters. “We have to stand up and make sure that everybody knows we’re here.”
Holly
Holly Graff of Montclair marches for our country’s marginalized, for the fearful and the oppressed. “We are all connected,” she states and if you’re marching for one then you’re marching for others. Closest to her heart are the rights of LGBTQ and her teen daughter who woke with tears on Nov 9, saying, “I don’t want to feel afraid because of who I am and who I love.” Holly marches as a message to future generations to let them know that the 2016 election was not the voice of America. Holly wants to be part of the “very strong voice of dissent that stood up and resisted.” She and her daughter will march together, standing on the right side of history.
Shirley
Shirley Suzuki of Montclair cannot attend the Women's March on Washington DC but plans to knit a dozen hats under the Pussyhat Project. Her hope is that the “hats will help marchers stay warm and make visual statements in support of women's rights, women's truths, and reclaiming our bodies, minds, and spirits from misogynistic rhetoric and oppression."
Kelly
Kelly Knowles of Belleville marches for volition over our own bodies, she marches for the future of her daughters, for social services, the working poor and those below the poverty line. “The thin layer of stability that millions of people in the country are standing on is cracking and it’s going to be very devastating when the cracks turn into holes and the people start falling through.” Like many of us she went through a period of grief after the election but remains galvanized and takes her husband’s advice to heart, “There’s always time for tears but use them to gain strength and to become resolved, to act.” When faced with her daughter’s fears for the future, she says “We have a life worth fighting for and that’s one of the reasons she’s coming with me to march in DC.”
