By: Charlene Yang
Members of MHS’s GirlUp club went to participate in the Women’s March through the streets of Downtown San Jose, Senior Xenia Torres said. On Saturday, Jan. 19, the members marched and chanted, expressing their concerns for the state of the government and the injustices present within the administration, Torres said. The members also had a chance to listen to speakers at the march.
“Milpitas city council member Karina Dominguez actually spoke too, which kind of drove home the fact that change is being made right here in our community,” GirlUp Vice President Rohini Gadde said.
According to Gadde, the members had been planning to participate in the march as a club for a long time, though the participants also had their own reasons for going as well.
Gadde, personally, wanted to march in solidarity with others who supported women and women’s rights, she said. “I think there’s a lot of discrimination towards women that’s often overlooked in society, but these events address that kind of prejudice and I really appreciate that and want to be part of the protest against it.”
As for Senior Jahnavi Gupta, she decided to participate, because she had never been to a march before, she said. Gupta wanted to get the chance to see the unity of like people getting their rights.
“It was very good, it was very uplifting. It was nice to see everyone getting their posters ready and to speak up what they stand for,” Gupta said.
For Senior Tamrin Bains, she feels that the members joined the march to bring awareness for the issues that women have to deal with, she said. Bains also echoed Gupta’s comments on the march. “It was pretty fun, and you kind of felt like unity, you know? Like, everybody’s going for the same thing,” Bains said.
Torres, who participated in the Women’s March last year, wanted to experience it with her group, she said. “It kind of just gave me more of a sense of unity, being there with more people. Because solidarity is sort of derived from a group,” Torres said.
For the four GirlUp members, they all said that they would plan to participate in the Women’s March again in the future.