Thousands of people flooded the state Capitol lawn today to participate in the second-annual Women’s March.
Last year’s rally theme was mostly resistance against the new Donald Trump presidency. This year, the focus was on voting and running for office.
Most people were there to criticize the Republican party, but some also wanted the Democratic party to examine itself.
Myya Jones is from Detroit. She says she wants Michigan’s Democratic Party to be more inclusive.
"Include black women in the conversation and then we’ll come out and we’ll vote, because we are the backbone of the Democratic party,” Jones said.
State Representative Leslie Love spoke at a rally before the march officially began.
“The only way we change the conversation in America, the way we change the conversation in Michigan is by showing up and showing out the way you have done today and it doesn’t stop today it goes all the way to the end to the polls,” Love said.
Aanee Nichols is from Grand Rapids. She works for a non-profit that distributes feminine hygiene products to women in need. Nichols says she didn’t go to the march last year. She says she was told to give President Trump a chance – but she’s not impressed.
“So the way he talks about women and talks about minorities and talks about other countries. That’s not what our country stands for and that’s not what progress means,” she said.
Multiple marches were scheduled throughout the weekend from Washington D.C on Saturday to the main march in Las Vegas today.
