"I like to tell intimate stories in conflict areas, so the subjects of my stories are usually at risk in some way. They trust me and I think they open up so much easier because I am a woman. I don't think my work would have happened as quickly if I were a man. But recently I was on an assignment for an NGO in a very remote area of Northern Congo. There were some nomadic people in the area, very interesting and especially photogenic but they were in an area especially hard to get to. Because I am a woman, the NGO would not provide transportation b/c they said if the LRA attacked the region they would rape me. But there had been no LRA presence in that region because there are no elephants there and the LRA mostly attack while looking for elephants and ivory. I have experience in the Congo and I knew what the potential risks were and was willing to take them but the NGO would not budge and it was too expensive for me to hire private transportation to get there on my own. However when a male colleague showed up who had less experience in the region they offered him the opportunity to go up to the region with the nomadic people. The thing is, if the LRA caught men, they could be killed. The male photographer was allowed the choice to take the risk or not, but I wasn't. This is one of the reasons why there is so little work coming from women in these areas. It's not that we can't endure the hardships. It's that our opportunities are blocked..." Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi is a photojournalist who uses photography to explore the human condition across a variety of political and cultural contexts."
Dora McQuaid
"There I was, a 30 year old woman, a college faculty member and owner of a sexual harassment management firm that trains government agencies, sitting on the floor in my home being beaten and held hostage at gunpoint by my former boyfriend. My Master’s thesis was on Title 7 about awareness, perception and attitudes about sexual harassment and here I was with a shotgun to my sternum, praying to stay alive. I spent my whole life telling myself I was not going to be THIS woman. But I grew up knowing domestic and sexual violence, and girls who experience domestic or sexual violence are 7 times more likely to experience it again as an adult. At one point while being held hostage, I got up and went to the sink to run cold water over my wrists because his fingernails had dug into my arms so deeply that I was bleeding. While the cold water ran over my wrists, he said, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" And I said, “You hurt me. I’m bleeding.” To which he replied, "Yeah? Well, go write a fucking poem about it.” So I did. I wrote a book of poems so that I could write it all down and then close the book on it. Then open a new book and start again. I never meant to publish it, but colleagues encouraged me to publish the book and to educate people about the pandemic of violence against women. The only way we are going to change violence against women is by addressing it again and again. So I published my poems as, the scorched earth (http://doramcquaid.com/?page_id=108), using my personal story and my voice in the public realm as one story of hope, empowerment and change."- Dora McQuaid is an award winning poet, activist and speaker. In 2012, McQuaid’s image replaced that of former Penn State coach and convicted pedophile, Jerry Sandusky, in the Inspirations Mural near Penn State, to honor her activism and her being a Penn State University alumna and former faculty member.
Erica Price
"When I am doing street photography I think being a woman works in my favor. When I am doing photojournalism work, I'm not sure being a woman works in my favor. Most of the time when I'm shooting assignments I wish that I were a few inches taller." Erica Price is a documentary photographer based in NYC.
Emilie Richardson
Emilie Richardson is a photojournalist whose work about veterans returning to civilian work was recently published in The Atlantic. She has also been working on a personal project about the oldest cloistered convent in New York.
"The discrimination in the field of photojournalism and the advances that editors have made toward me, has led me to want to tell women's stories. I am a woman and women are often silenced. They shouldn't be silenced, it should not be the norm."
Nancy
"My daughters are 9 and 12 years old. I moved here from Mexico eight months ago so that I can work and send money home to them. I'm a single mother and I can earn more money here. I'm sad without them but I will stay and work for as long as God allows me to." - Nancy is a single mother from Mexico who works as a waitress in a Mexican Restaurant in New Mexico.
Meredith Waga Perez
Meredith Waga Perez is the owner of Belle Fleur Flower and Fragrance.
"Imagine all day you are answering the phone and talking to people who share really intimate snippets about their life - like maybe they just fell in love with another student in their Graduate School class, or their sister just got diagnosed with cancer or their neighbor's dog just died. I always want to know what the story is so I can use my artistry with flowers to capture the emotion they want to share. This job really brings out my feminine side and allows me to tap into high levels of empathy, I am like the liaison of sentiment and emotions. Here in my studio there are little love notes being passed through me everyday, some are filled with the angst of love, some are a riot and have me laughing out loud others are so sweet they leave me crying in my office."
Shareena Casterline
Shareena Casterline owner of Madison Street BakeHouse
“I see it like this: In the past it was sort of as if women were handed an index card of life, sort of like a recipe card. The card included how you live and at some point, depending on your station in life, you had the choice to place it in one of the few recipe boxes: teacher, spinster, mother, wife. Fuck that index box. I always knew I wanted to write my own index card. Growing up in the foster care system there were so many stereotypes associated with me. My adoptive mother was a great teacher, but she was a baby boomer. She had certain ideas about my index card. I had to learn to sew, wear dresses. I think we never really bonded because I didn’t want that recipe card. I didn’t want to choose from the boxes she presented. In the last eight years, I’ve written my own recipe card for life.”
Maritza Silva-Farrell + Luca
Maritza Silva-Farrell lives in Brooklyn and marched in NYC with her three-year-old son, Luca.
“Right now we are living a critical moment. We need to make it clear that the conservative agenda will undermine the rights of workers, women and the climate --things that are crucial to our survival are under attack. I am marching with my son because I want to teach him that we need to stand up for what we believe in. If I didn’t march, I would be complicit in accepting values that go against humanity.”
Dawn, Annika + Robin Tucksmith
While the goings on in DC have me feeling disgusted - the women I meet every day in pink hats or not, inspire me.
Dawn Tucksmith (mother of four daughters and one son)
Annika Tucksmith, 21 (daughter)
Robin Tucksmith, 15 (daughter)
From Chatham, NY; all participated in the march in D.C.
*Note: Dad knit the hats for them.
Dawn: “I am going because I think it is important to let President Trump know that we are watching him. And we are going to be counted. And we are going to stand by the rights and the things that make America great.”
Annika: “I am marching to add to the number of citizens that don’t agree with his ideology.”
Robin: “I want to show him that there are a lot of us that do not agree with him.”
Jasmine Niang + Deborah Koplivitz
Jasmine Niang, 15. (daughter)
Deborah Koplovitz, a NYC lawyer. (mother)
From NYC, both marched in NYC
Jasmine: “It’s important to feel that you are a part of something. After the election we did a walk out at my school and it was great to feel that sense of community. I think Trump should know that a lot of people don’t believe in him. Being groped is something I am already afraid of and now this is my President. I watched Hillary Clinton’s speech after the election and when she said, ‘All the little girls out there watching…,’ I cried. I didn’t expect to be so emotionally impacted.”
Deborah: “I am marching with my daughter to show our country and the world that not all Americans are in favor of the man arguably elected to be President. She and I are marching with the organization Eleanor’s Legacy to support the legacy of kickass, smart, amazing, intelligent, strong women. We had an extremely qualified female candidate and the fact that our country is still so sexist that she couldn’t be elected is horrible. If we don’t teach our sons and daughters to stop that sexism in its tracks, then we aren’t doing our jobs as parents or as citizens. When I am in court, I get called ‘little lady’ all the time. It is really time for that to stop.”
Payton Iheane
"One day I realized that people valued my work based on who I was married to. I got the sense that when I showed up not married to events it was a problem, that somehow a woman by herself isn't enough of a package? But I had, and women have a role to play in national security. When there are women gathering information and talking to other women in places of conflict, then we have more information, we know more." - Payton Iheme is the public policy manager for Facebook, former White House Senior Policy Advisor for Science and Technology and a former Army Intelligence Officer.
Mindy and Sophie Germain + Cindy and Lizzie Witkow
“I want to March in DC and have the experience of being united with people who have the same thoughts and opinions that I have. We really need to show up for ourselves and also as a way to say thank you to all the people who came before us and helped gained so many of our rights. Those rights are still being questioned.” - Lizzie Witkow (Daughter) High School senior from Port Washington, NY who will be marching in DC on Saturday.
“I am going to march in D.C. because my daughter wants to march. My comfort is secondary to trying to preserve the rights to equality that women and the LGBT community are enjoying. Roe v. Wade is still being questioned. Marching may mean we aren’t able to pee for 24 hours but we are sending a bold message to the incoming administration that we matter and we are committed to one another and we are very much still here and not planning to take a step backward.” Cindy Witkow (Mother) -works in the Professional Learning Department at the Helen Keller National Center and she will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.
“Because of the times we need to change our days. By going all the way to D.C. and walking the entire day we are showing that we are willing to make a sacrifice and that we want to make change. Marching in D.C, links us to so many heroes who have marched before us. It links us to Martin Luther King Jr, Black Lives Matter, and theLGBT Marches for Gay Marriage. At the march there will be people from all over the country. There’s a hostility right now between the states and now we will put all of that aside and together say what we are going to do now.” - Sophie Germain(Daughter) is a High School senior from Port Washington and she will marching in D.C. on Saturday.
“This isn’t a protest, this is activism. I am there for the women. I am not anti-Trump. This march is about empowering people. It doesn’t matter who you voted for, you go to show your support for women.” - Mindy Germain (Mother) is the only female water commission in Port Washington, she broke her own glass ceiling and she will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.
Krishanti Vignarajah
Krishanti Vignarajah - marched in D.C. this past week-end while pregnant and carrying her soon to be born daughter. Krishanti served as the Director of Policy for Michelle Obama and launched the Let Girl's Learn campaign.
"I was born in Sri Lanka and my family and I were planning to move to Nigeria. My parents had already bought the plane tickets. And then, fortunately their green cards came through and we moved to the United States. If we had moved to Nigeria, I would have lived in the region of Boko Haram. Here, I could become anything I wanted. This made the Let Girls Learn campaign very personal for me. It helped me have the empathy and determination to be a champion of women's education."
Donna Hylton
Donna Hylton lives in Brooklyn; she was one of the speakers at the D.C. march rally.
“Once, I wasn’t able to speak up for myself but now I can. I am the voice for all women who don’t have a voice or are not allowed a voice. Next week it will be 5 years since I was released from prison. And I am going to Washington to remind people that the women in prison are just like every other woman, mother, daughter, sister. But over 90% of women who are incarcerated are also victims of sexual violence. We have to talk about women and violence. Our very humanity is on the line.”
Jennifer Lin + Cory Stieg
Cory Stieg is a writer. She participated in the Women's March in New York City. (daughter)
Jennifer Lin is a journalist and author, who participated in the march in Philadelphia. (mother)
Cory: "I made a donation to Planned Parenthood as a gift to my mother for Christmas. I thought I would be going to an inauguration. It has been a really energetic couple of months on the Internet. I want to see what transpires in person.”
Jennifer: "When I was a young woman, I wrote an article about a casino owner. The casino owner phoned my editor and called me the ‘c’ word -- which I think is the most vile and disrespectful term. And now that casino owner is going to be president. I also thought I would be going to the inauguration with my daughter. We almost had the first female president and now instead we have a misogynist."
Cybele Tamulonis + Evie B.
Cybele Tamulonis (Mother) - will be marching in NYC: "My earliest childhood memory is being pushed by my mother in a stroller through Central Park with the Bread and Puppet theater while we protested the Vietnam War. I can't believe it's 2017 and women's rights and education are being targeted. Really anything that pertains to equality will be targeted. We live in Blairstown, NJ, and this is a very conservative community. I am marching so that we can join other women and have our voices heard. I am going to ensure that Evie has full control over the rights of her body."
Evie B. age 13 (Daughter) - will be marching in NYC: "I am marching because Trump is only supporting white working males. I think he will make more hate in the world and is trying to kick people out of the country because they are different. He is possibly taking away hate crime legislation. I live in a town surrounded by very conservative Christian people. It's very stressful trying to figure out who I am in this place. I don't feel safe to explore who I really am and who I want to be."
Elizabeth Beskin + Corey Greenblatt
"Thirty years ago I attended the Pro-Choice march in Washington. The moment I heard about this march I signed up and organized a bus to D.C. I am going again to support a woman's right to choose but also because of the Affordable Care Act. My son has type 1 diabetes. He has a "pre-existing" condition. I want to hold this new president accountable and I want to scream and shout with my gay, straight and multi-racial friends and let him know we will not be silenced." - Elizabeth Beskin (Mother) is a business owner and she will be participating in the Women's March on Washington in D.C.
"I am a 24 year old type 1 diabetic. I am in public health Master's program at Columbia University and I am living at home. My current job does not give me health benefits. The Affordable Care Act allows me to have health coverage and continue to work towards my Masters degree in healthcare policy analysis. My goal is to help design healthcare policies. I am going to the march because it is the right thing to do." - Corey Greenblatt (Son) is studying to earn a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.
Jacqueline Rickard
"I plan to go to one of the Women's Marches next week. I don't want to sit at home feeling victimized because of how the election went. I want to do something positive and make sure things that I value, like a woman's right to choose and affordable health care act are upheld. I like that the marches are inclusive and a way for women to show their strength and power and effectiveness." Jacqueline Rickard is a business owner.
Jacquie McArdle
"My Dad told us we could do anything we wanted to do. My sister and I were too young to know that at that time, it wasn't really true. He raised us to think more like boys, to be independent, adventurous, and he believed in us. My sister and I took a cargo ship to Argentina when we were young, we traveled across the country alone. My Mother was aware of the danger of two girls traveling alone - and she worried about us, but my father believed we could do anything." - Jacquie McArdle is a fashion designer.
Dorie Hagler
disclaimer: I am far more comfortable on the other side of the lens and not so good at selfies.
"I really love being a woman. For one, I can do this project. I can walk up to complete strangers, ask to make their photograph and then spend 5-10 minutes listening to them share with me important and intimate events from their lives. I have two wonderful daughters and I have a meaningful career. I might feel differently about being a woman if I weren't born in the United States. If I had to get up at 4am to walk a mile to the river in order to fetch water and had little access to education, I might not love being a woman so much." - Dorie Hagler photographer/activist founder of me&EVE.