Five years after the first Women's March, the fight for equality goes on

The 2017 protest galvanized a new generation to become engaged in activism and politics.
On January 21, 2017, 2.6 million people worldwide took part in the Women’s March. Sister protests were held in all 50 states and 32 countries, including one in Kansas City.

Political scientist Candis Watts Smith was hesitant to attend the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. The professor at Duke University had seen the lineup of organizers which at first was all white and only after public outcry included women of color.

She says, “I had a sense that Black women and women of color were going to be on the sidelines. It is only with inclusion on the backside of more women of color as organizers did the issues that Black women and other women of color’s issues become central.” Smith ended up going to D.C. tp survey Black women for an academic paper.

Emily Weber was in the crowd at the Kansas City’s Women’s March that year. Although Weber describes herself as “an activist since I could talk,” she had never thought to work on a political campaign.