To ease any legitimate sore feelings we felt on Inauguration Day, Seagull closed the next day so that we could all attend the Women's March on Washington. Or in NYC. (Or in Seagal-on-sabbatical Sarah's case, a braid-in protest at the border of Mexico and the US!) The women's marches across the country (and world) far surpassed what anyone expected by at least double.
Many of us took charter buses to DC for the event, where we soon became enveloped and overwhelmed by the sheer mass of enthusiastic women from all over. And pussyhats, which I was deeply ambivalent about. But all it took for me to change my attitude was a conversation with our wise Seagull president Johanna, who also wrote in defense of the pink pussyhat for Artforum.
I didn't expect to feel so overwhelmed by so many people and pussyhats---I'm a New Yorker, after all---but it was a true force. The energy was electric and overall very positive. There were so many people, in fact, that it complicated the idea of the Women's March being an actual march. At times it felt more like a Women's Rally on Washington. Everything was taken over, and the mass was too large to march for some time. (I personally only got to march in DC for a short bit before dipping out to catch my NYC-bound bus.)
The event was so large that it was rather impossible to meet up with your friends. Once we stepped out of the DC Metro station, cell service was close to non-existent. After an hour or two of frantic spotty texts trying to find people, it slowly dawned on me that the Women's March wasn't about meeting up with your friends; it was about being part of this larger movement, about being one part of this mass that descended on the Capitol to show our presence and where we stand on these darkening days.
But even the mention of "darkening days' does a disservice to the actual event because it didn't feel that way. I only saw lots of smiles. And tons of great protest signs, like this one Maggie's (our apprentice at Seagull) mom made that everyone wanted to get a photo of, including myself:
Love was all around:
And here's a shot from Sarah at the braid-in protest on an overpass in El Paso, Texas!
And about Sarah: we all miss her, but she'll be back in March! She's been traveling all around the country rock climbing and cutting and coloring hair wherever she can. We've just spoken to her, and she wanted us to share these incredibly inspiring photos of her being one with nature and owning it.
Sarah's an integral part of the Seagull team. It's been tough without her these days, but more so we are so happy for her following her heart and getting some much needed peace at dizzying heights.
xo
craig
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