WASHINGTON — Katie Argus chuckled, handing the iPhone back to the woman sitting across the aisle on a bus on Saturday. On the phone’s screen was a picture of someone’s poster with the words “WTF America?” painted in white.

“I know, I think this one was my favorite,” Meg Mariano replied. The poster was made for the Women’s March on Washington earlier that day. Argus then pulled out her phone to show her pictures of other posters she liked.

The bus, carrying 49 central New Yorkers back to Syracuse, sat idling in traffic in the parking lot of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for about a half-hour, but the women aboard didn’t seem to care. They gave each other food and water, exchanged stories about their days marching in Washington, D.C. and looked at the crowds of protesters heading out of the city.

The marchers on the third of three Syracuse buses, most of them women, had left for Washington, D.C. from Syracuse at 12:30 a.m. the night before the march. About 20 miles away from the National Mall, dozens of charter buses could be seen in the heavy traffic leading into the city. When the bus finally pulled in to RFK Stadium’s parking lot around 8:30 a.m., hundreds of charter buses were already parked with hundreds more continuing to arrive.

The Syracuse women would spend their day marching along with hundreds of thousands of others at the march in the nation’s capital. Many of the Syracuse women initially tried to walk as a group at the Women’s March, but the enormous crowd entering the city made it difficult for large groups to stay together. Some women, like Kerri Windrick, marched alone.

“Marching by myself was a great experience,” Windrick said. “I was able to really think about what was going on and watch all the people.”

Louis Needham, of Syracuse, said one of the most memorable parts of the day was when a church welcomed in marchers to use their restrooms. She said church staff was happy to greet anybody that walked in, regardless of their gender or religion.

She added that “there wasn’t a bad moment” during the day, even as downtown Washington became especially crowded and it was at times difficult to move.

“Everyone was so kind to each other,” Needham said. “That’s how the world can be, that’s what we were marching for.”

Mariano, from Syracuse, said the size of the crowd was one of the most inspiring parts of the day.

“People converged here from everywhere, but we all set out to do the same thing,” she said. Some said they even saw a group of women from as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska.

Argus, a social studies teacher in the Syracuse City School District, said she hoped the march would be inspiring for her two daughters.

The Women’s March was also attended by environmental, Latino and LGBTQ activists. For Needham, a supporter of LGBTQ rights, participating in the Women’s March was personal.

“As a lesbian, I’ve been fighting forever to get these rights,” Needham said, referring to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage. “I feel that some in Trump’s administration are open to rolling those rights back.”

Although the Women’s March may not have an immediate change on government policies, Needham said she thought the march was a success and hoped the march would lead to a better future for the groups that protested.

The bus arrived in Syracuse at about 3 a.m. Sunday. Many of the women hugged and shared phone numbers before driving home.

“It’s a long bus ride, and I have an hour-long drive back home,” Windrick said. “But this was all worth it.”

Published on January 22, 2017 at 7:41 pm

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18