Hundreds of thousands poured into D.C. Monday from aroundthe U.S., staking their own claim to the nation’s capital — and the nation.
Some paid for their own tickets, but many were sponsored. Monica Cruz, 30, for instance, came on a bus from Detroit. Her group’s trip was paid for by Mexican restaurants in her hometown.
“I’m here for the rights of my people, my family, my brothers, my sisters, my children,” she said.
Electrician Donald Ortez, 28, came in from Alexandria. He took the day off.
“My boss didn’t have a choice,” Ortez said.
Jose Villatoro, 36, of Greenbelt, said his boss gave him the day off from his job at a car wash.
“We want the right to buy our own homes, to live in peace,” he said.
Igor Gavic, 17, came the farthest. The high schooler from Bosnia-Herzegovina was in the U.S. on a four-week trip to study democracy that happened to coincide with the rally.
However, he wasn’t reserving judgment.
“I totally support them,” he said as he and his friends carried a small Bosnian flag through the crowd. “Most of these people look at this country as the chance to live normally. And they should be given that chance.”
– Bill Myers, Scott McCabe,
Amy Stanford, Pauline Froissart
and Aurelie Fontaine
