March on Seattle is inspiration to make defending principles the new normal

By Lisa Tario

Contributing Writer

Editor’s Note: The Women’s March on Seattle, held last Saturday, drew more than 120,000 men, women and children to a rally in support of women’s rights and against discrimination in all its forms.

We asked Lisa Tario, the transportation organizer for a Snoqualmie Valley bus, to write up her experiences on the day:

As we arrived at the Park and Ride, so close to being on time, there was already a swarm of activity. Sign-ins had begun, and a well-oiled machine was already firing on all cylinders (a solar-powered machine, with canola oil, of course).

There were cancellations and re-assignments up until 10 minutes before the reserved charter buses pulled out, but we turned no-one away, and had not a seat to spare.

The ride into the city was electrified with a joyful, determined anxiety; we had found at least a temporary outlet for our energies. The buses dropped us off by a public bus stop on the highway and after our quick highway-side photo, we followed the crowd into Judkins Park.

As speakers projected their rally cries, the crowd was strewn with pink cat-eared ‘pussy hats’ and deliciously snarky hand-made signs. We were patiently calm, with small children and passionate protesters sharing a pleasantly rain-free day.

We were awe-struck with ourselves, that we were co-creating this “silent” yet unspeakably loud statement. As marchers took to the route, the sheer multitude backed us up to over an hour-long standstill.

We found out later that the tide of marchers simultaneously stretched over the entire length of the route all the way to Seattle Center, creating a sea of people nearly four miles long. We led our joyous parade down the streets of Seattle, with positivity, encouragement, and a flair for creative, grass-roots expressions of dissent.

I’ve received a waterfall of gratitude for my efforts organizing the charter buses. I appreciate these sentiments, and as a single working mom, it is nice that my efforts are seen and recognized, as well as the efforts of an outstanding, competent, inspired team.

It was an enormous effort for several of us, and between the organizing and fighting off the flu, I ended up taking a couple of days off work to accomplish the task. This was a bit of a sacrifice, and, it was nothing. This is the new norm, and this is what needs to happen.

We all need to band together, and we all need to be prepared to make sacrifices, within our abilities, but stretching us out of our comfort zones. Our very democracy may be hanging on it. We need to be willing to lay down our conveniences and step up to defend these hard-won principles.

The number of inspired steps registered by our movement is not a physical number. It is without precedent, and it is entirely too strong, too determined, too enormous and too unstoppable to be denied by any news agency or political agenda.

We are the people, and we moved in grace and in dignity, holding each other cooperatively through our comparably small individual challenges. This is the pace we have set for ourselves, for as long as it takes.