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Thousands more than expected join Women's March in Philadelphia

By Ananya Chandra 01/21/17 5:08pm
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Thousands more than expected attended the Women's March in Philadelphia, according to city officials. 

Credit: Ananya Chandra

The Women’s March on Philadelphia, one of dozens of marches throughout the country in response to President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, was expected to have around 20,000 people. 

Lauren Hitt, the communications director for Mayor Jim Kenney, said that almost 50,000 people showed up on Saturday.

Spontaneous chants and and bursts of cheering rang out as the marchers stood in Logan Square, waiting for the march — which was more of a slow crawl at the beginning — to commence . Even as the pace of the march picked up, people chanted everything from “Hey hey. Ho ho. Women’s rights are the way to go” to “This is what democracy looks like.” One cheer, “Love not hate makes America great” was a message captured on numerous signs in the march as well.

Marchers were peaceful, and walked on the designated path along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which had been closed off to motor vehicles by the Philadelphia police. The march ended at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, where people gathered to hear speakers and enjoy performances in the lineup that the Women’s March organization had prepared.

 A plethora of pink hats could be seen in the sea of people. These pink, cat-eared hats called  “pussyhats” were worn by marchers around the world, and were a huge presence in Philly as well.

 

 
Women, men and children of all ages joined the march, each holding up a myriad of unique signs mentioning everything from feminism and health care to LGBTQ rights and climate change. 

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