In my youth I didn’t always understand the complexities of why we marched but I felt the great love that motivated all those who participated. It was a love of self and each other that turned the dark nights into mornings, and eased the painful recognition that marching was mandatory. Marching was an act of survival and the literal act of placing one foot in front of the other assured us of progress even when circumstances seemed bleak.

-From a short 2015 essay by Women’s March co-chair Tamika Mallory. The marches in D.C. and around the world brought out more than one million protesters. As one marcher wrote in the New York Times: “I have been taking for granted the progress my mother’s generation made so that the women of my generation could benefit from their hard-won gains.”

For more images from the march, follow The Stranger journalists Sydney Brownstone and Heidi Groover:

#WomensMarch #WomensMarchOnWashington pic.twitter.com/viMMh6zblp

— Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) January 22, 2017

#WomensMarchonWashington pic.twitter.com/l97BNinc0U

— Sydney Brownstone (@sydbrownstone) January 21, 2017

#WomensMarchonWashington pic.twitter.com/rPLmh16ERw

— Sydney Brownstone (@sydbrownstone) January 21, 2017