What to know about this weekend’s People’s March

What to know about this weekend’s People’s March

Saturday’s protest in D.C. is permitted for 50,000 people.

BY Sarah Bregel

As the country prepares for the second inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, thousands are preparing to gather in protest and make their voices heard. On Saturday, January 18, 2025, just two days before Trump is set to be sworn in, a (likely) massive march will take to the streets of Washington, D.C. (the site is permitted for 50,000), and in other major cities.

The demonstration is being called The People’s March, and its organizers are the same who led the 2017 Women’s March—the worldwide protest that took place on January 21, 2017, the day after Trump was sworn in for the first time.

As thousands prepared for the iconic Women’s March by knitting pink “pussy” hats to cover their heads on the day of the demonstration—a response to Trump’s infamous conversation with Billy Bush—the march became a massive sea of pink. The Women’s March was seen as a triumphant call for women and women’s allies, to push back against what many predicted, and rightly so, would be a misogynistic presidency.

This time, however, the march belongs, not just to women, but to “the people,” perhaps in a call for everyone to stand up to the incoming president and his potential policies of intolerance. “Even in times of sorrow or hopelessness, political conditions are dynamic,” the People’s March website reads. “As we move forward, there are reasons to believe a new social movement can rise to confront Trumpism, drawing on past successes and effective strategies against autocrats.”

Who is organizing the march?

Organizers of the march include leaders from Abortion Action Now, Time to Act, Women’s March, Popular Democracy In Action, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, The Feminist Front, NOW, Planned Parenthood, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Sierra Club, and many others. And there is no shortage of issues that organizers say the People’s March seeks to address.

“Talking about immigration, talking about peace, talking about abortion access, talking about racial justice and reproductive justice,” said Tamika Middleton, the managing director for Women’s March, told local news station NBC Washington. “And so we are trying to create opportunities for people to be together, and that’s really our message, is for people to find ways for them to engage with each other.”

Where will marchers meet?

According to the People’s March information page, there are three “kick-off” locations where D.C. marchers can plan to meet. The site explains that attendees can choose their kick-off location by looking at the issues that most resonate with them, as each location focuses on a different set of issues. “While many of us hold intersecting identities and have varied issue-based interests, we encourage marchers to find a kickoff spot that most aligns with the body of activist work that you are able to engage in for the future,” it reads. Some of the issues represented by each location include the climate, immigration, LGBTQIA+ rights, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and more.

Each of the groups will meet at 10 a.m. and march to the Lincoln Memorial, where a rally will take place from about 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

What if I’m not in D.C.?

Across the country, there are at least 100 People’s March demonstrations scheduled to take place in cities including New York, Portland—Oregon and Maine—Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, San Francisco, and West Palm Beach, Florida. To find a march location near you, enter your zip code on the website’s march location page

At the time of writing, nearly 74,000 people have RSVPed to gather at the many march locations.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Bregel is a writer, editor, and single mom living in Baltimore, Maryland. She’s contributed to NYMag, The Washington Post, Vice, In Style, Slate, Parents, and others. 


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