Amidst the chaos of Inauguration Day celebrations and protests, two Concord natives stood outside the Women’s Democratic Club building on New Hampshire Avenue in Washington, D.C. Siblings Adlai and Nina Gordon said they were eager to participate in today’s Women’s March on Washington, and both expressed hope for the next four years.
A junior international affairs major at George Washington University, Nina has lived in the city for several years. Adlai, who was visiting his sister for Inauguration Day and the women’s march, said he was disappointed with the outcome of the election, and that he had expected a much different result.
“When we learned about the march, it was really important to me to come support my sister and my friends and to show the country and our new president and Congress and the Senate that we care and we will not be silent,” he said.
The Gordons said they weren’t at all discouraged despite rising tensions that culminated in rioting and hundreds of arrests in Washington on Friday. Rather than dwell in sadness and anger, they said they were only excited for the next day.
Nina said it was important for people to gather to support a common goal or belief in peaceful protest.
“The march is awesome just because it has that positive kind of connotation of gathering hands and coming together and marching for so many things that we all believe so deeply,” she said.
Looking ahead, Nina said she’d like to see more cooperation in the next four years.
“We need to look at it in terms of an advocacy way and gather together and make more progress than we ever have before,” she said. “So I think if anything good has come out of it, it’s that people have a lot of drive now.”
Compared with New Hampshire, Nina said that Washington’s political climate is not “crazy surprising” due to the large number of Trump supporters in her home state.
“New Hampshire, as we all know, was a very close election,” Adlai said. “We have a lot of neighbors who voted the other way or had a lot of strong opinions. So it’s really interesting to see that sort of duplicated here, where you have a lot of people here to protest and march, and then you have a lot of people here to support the new president.”
Nina said she was reassured by the dedication of thousands who migrated to Washington to demonstrate in the streets.
“It’s good knowing that there’s people who bussed down from New Hampshire to be here and walk in the march tomorrow,” Nina said. “There’s good people who are speaking up for what they believe in.”