We Asked Women's March Protesters What Got Them Offline and on the Streets

The day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in Washington, DC, millions of people across the world took to the streets for the Women's March on Washington, created to protest misogyny, discrimination, and violence and the other manifestations of inequality that impact women. It was not necessarily a protest against Trump, but many people took this opportunity to voice their concerns about much of the election season rhetoric, including the now infamous tape of the president talking about sexually assaulting women.

Like many of our modern day protests—from Arab Spring movements to Black Lives Matter—much of this protest was launched and planned online, through Facebook and Twitter. The day after election day in November, women across the US, such as Teresa Shook in Hawaii and Evvie Harmon, created Facebook groups to start organizing protests. Their efforts soon attracted hundreds and thousands of people, and support from foundations and celebrities such as Gloria Steinem and Angela Davis.

In the era of social media activists, we went to Washington, DC to find out what finally got the protesters off their feeds and on the ground in one of the most visible moments of civic engagements in America's recent history.

Theandra and Jacki, Virginia

Theandra: "I really wanted to voice my opinion. I voted for who I thought should run our country and that didn't work out so I wanted to join other women in support of women's rights, women's equality, all the things that matter."

Jacki: "No justice no peace. It's beautiful, there are so many people, a whole diverse community out here. We just gotta do more, we gotta fix this."

Judith, Florida

"I wanted to show the new administration that we're here and that we care about women's rights and human rights and we're not going to sit quietly while they take away those rights. It's just electric, being here with this crowd, seeing all the monuments and really being around history. We're making history here today. "

Jerry, Nashville

"Well, really I came for the Smithsonian Museum hoping to take a tour. I didn't know a march was going to be here. I came into town yesterday for the inauguration."

John and Bill, Virginia

John: "Trump."

Bill: "I think that when women are treated fairly, it's better for society. Not only for my daughters, my wife, my sisters and all my female friends, but for our society as a whole."

John Mark, Atlanta and Carissa Hilliard, NYC

John: "Part of what got me out here is obviously that I believe in what we're out here marching for and part of it is also I'm here to support all of my friends."

Carissa: "I feel like the reason Trump won is we didn't get out enough…I feel like I could have done more and I need to get involved. I'm hoping this is the first step for way bigger things that I can get involved with for the rest of his presidency, however long that is."

Elisha Levin, California

"When I was 11 years old I came to my first women's march. My stepmom took me. I'm really, really sad that we're still doing this. I'm really sad that I'm taking my daughter to this, but if this is the way the world is right now I want to be a part of having a voice in it and I want her to have a voice. I want her to know from a very young age that we are never going to take this standing down and we're always going to fight for equality and human rights."

Janice Grant, Pennsylvania

"The divisive[ness], the negativity, and all races need to just be together. And our pussies are strong, whatever he says."