Carmen Martinez switched back and forth from elevating her voice with a megaphone to listening thoughtfully to stories that began circulating among a group that had splintered away from the mass of marchers at Saturday’s 2018 Women’s March in downtown L.A.
“I am marching for all those women who don’t have a voice to speak up today,” Martinez, a 20-year-old activist, told me. “Whether they are not allowed to, or whether they are undocumented and afraid, or they just are not at this point yet. That’s okay.”
A young girl, who looks to be no more than twelve years old, begins to share her fears about her immigrant parents. She is scared they will be deported and then she can’t finish speaking. Instead, she breaks down and cries.
The circle grew even tighter.