Hundreds descended on the Michigan Capitol on Saturday to level a variety of grievances against Donald Trump ahead of Monday’s presidential inauguration.
Democrats resurrected a Women’s March from Trump’s 2017 inauguration and rebranded the protest as the People’s March, with rallies across the U.S. on Saturday.
In Lansing, about 700 activists participated in the event, which started at Central Michigan United Methodist Church and ended at the Capitol Building, Michigan Advance reports.
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Notably absent Saturday were any Democratic lawmakers, despite organizer Monica Haladnya’s assertion the protest was “for everyone.”
“This is the People’s March,” she told the Advance. “It’s for everyone – for every person that has concerns about Trump. It’s not just abortion or immigration … it is about all America.”
Images from the rally show it was mostly about abortion, LGBTQ issues, and protecting illegal immigrants.
Those who participated toted signs that read “tolerance does not mean tolerating intolerance,” “think outside my box,” “DEI not the problem, the solution,” “No mass deportations,” and “If men could get pregnant, there would be drive-thru abortion clinics.”
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There were tubas, pets in sweaters, complementary protest signs, rainbows galore and plenty of pink pussyhats.
“Men of quality don’t fear equality,” one sign read.
“All Black lives matter,” read another.
“Resist. Persist. Repeat,” yet another read.
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Marion Day, a 75-year-old from Flint, noted to the Detroit Free Press that Saturday’s turnout was substantially smaller than protests in 2017, musing folks must be “reserving their energy for what’s coming.”
Haladnya, an immigrant from Mexico who is now a U.S. citizen, told the crowd she was compelled to organize Saturday’s event to protect her 23-year-old disabled transgender son.
“We’re free people. We fought so long for women’s rights, for abortion, for everything, and we can’t go back,” said Haladnya. “We have to go forward and go for a better future where people are integrated and (there’s) no violence whatsoever.”
Others who spoke at the event including Adam Droscha, pastor at Charlotte First Congregational United Church of Christ, focused on identity issues and climate change, alleging “we are subject to dehumanizing messages and practices everywhere.”
Saturday’s events followed eight years after a similar protest at Trump’s 2017 inauguration attracted millions to local marches across the country, including about 500,000 in Washington, D.C.
That movement, however, fractured shortly after over allegations it was not diverse enough, The Detroit News reports.
In Washington, D.C., the protest on Saturday featured an eclectic coalition that included Democracy Now!, the National Trans Visibility March, Free Palestine, Sierra Club, Center for Popular Democracy, and others, Democracy Now! reports.
“I’m out here because all of us deserve the space to feel like we have a voice in democracy,” said Hope Giselle, executive director of the National Trans Visibility March. “And so, without a democracy, without a true democracy, we all fall to the wayside of a corruption and a government that does not see us as human beings, and I refuse to allow that to stand.”
Less than 50,000 people attended the event in Washington this year, despite a much broader coalition than in 2017, The Associated Press reports.
“We’re recognizing the necessity of having a really broad-based coalition that is bringing people in,” Tamika Middleton, director of the Women’s March, told the news wire. “We’re asking ourselves how we build a big tent that allows for the kind of multiracial, multi-class, multi-gender mass movement that can make a difference politically in the coming years.”
Basil Smikle, political strategist and professor at Columbia University, told the AP he suspects the smaller rallies in 2025 compared to 2017 are likely the result of Republican wins in November forcing many Democrats to reflect on why they’ve failed so badly.
“People are tired,” Smikle said. “The resistance has lasted for eight years, and there’s a sense that things haven’t gotten better.”
Others at the Washington, D.C. rally are looking ahead to the 2026 midterms, using themes of feminism, racial justice, anti-militarization and other issues in discussions hosted by social justice groups following the protest.
“We’re going to meet folks and network and collect ideas about how we can energize at a local level,” said Elizabeth Bramble, who attended the D.C. rally with other members of North Carolina’s Guilford County Women Dems and Friends. “Once the march is over, we’re not stopping.”