“Say it loud, say it clear, hate isn’t welcome here!”

Chants like this were heard echoing through the quad Sunday afternoon, as students and community members alike took part in the annual Women’s March.

Advocates for women’s rights gathered at the Alma Mater statue, proudly bearing pink hats and hoisting posters high in the air, while they shouted words of protest. The event commenced with speakers from multiple organizations, which further underlined the protest’s emphasis on inclusion and intersectionality.

Mariama Mwilambwe, freshman and press secretary for the Illinois Student Government, said the march is a way to create a bridge in the community, and to allow connections between students and the outside world away from campus.

“It’s really just about promoting equal rights for women all over. Especially women whose roles are sometimes historically underrepresented, such as black women and trans women. It’s really important for everyone to have a voice. Everyone should have something to say and we want to hear it,” Mwilambwe said.

Mwilambwe added that she hopes the protest will allow the local government and surrounding areas to see what issues students care about.

“We want people in the community to know that we’re here, we’re powerful, we have a really strong voice, and we want them to know what we care about,” Mwilambwe said.

Word of the protest spread over social media and by informational posters designed by Enoma Egiebor, freshman in LAS.

Egiebor, who also attended the march, hopes that the impact of the march will see women, particularly of different identities, feeling safer on campus.

“When I was in high school, I was very vocal about social justice and women’s rights, and I would get threats from people that were hating me for advocating for who I am which is really upsetting.” Egiebor said.

Egiebor says she feels too often that women of color and minorities are put to the back burner.

“I love to see such a diverse crowd of trans women, black women, muslim women, all of these women of different identities coming together. I feel like sometimes the face of the modern feminist movement is too often a wealthy women,” Egiebor said.

Angela Shaw, sophomore in social work and animal sciences, wielded a poster that read “Our bodies, our minds, our powers.”

“We live in such a scary time right now. I chose this in particular because I have personal experience with sexual assault. I really just wanted to tell people that this is me and I’m not going to be quiet about what’s happening” Shaw said.

Shaw added that it is important to tell women all over campus that there is a place where we are heard and we do have the power here. There are people who will stand behind you when you do take action.

Sudarshana Rao, senior and director of sexual assault prevention department for ISG, created the initial idea for the event. She began planning and organizing the protest back in November.

According to Rao, the march was meant to be a starting point for people and she hopes that they will be inspired to get involved in the community.

“I really tried to make sure our speakers brought in new ideas and new topics that may not be well known about just people could start somewhere. Its a call to action rather than an end goal” Rao said.

“Our work isn’t over until we’re all free” she added.

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