profeminist:

Woman in Viral Photo From Women’s March to White Female Allies: ‘Listen to a Black Woman’

“Angela Peoples did not come to the Women’s March on Washington to play. The 30-year-old co-director of the LGBTQ equality organization GetEqual came to Saturday’s massive protest against Donald Trump to tell the truth. Marching in a sea of white women, Peoples wore a hat that read, “Stop Killing Black People,” and carried a sign that read in part, “White Women Voted for Trump.”

As a group of white women in pink pussy-hats took selfies behind Peoples and her sign, her boyfriend, photographer and digital strategist Kevin Banatte, asked her to pause so he could take her picture. The photo of the oblivious women and Peoples, sucking on a lollipop, holding her sign with an unapologetic look on her face, quickly went viral.

TR: Why did you decide to create the sign “White Women Voted for Trump”?

AP: We need to be really honest about why we’re here. There was a sense for me of being at the march and in community with folks that were wanting to resist this horrifying reality, but also not wanting folks to get complacent.

TR: How did people respond to you and your sign?

AP: Most were saying, “Not this white woman,” or “No one I know!” I’d say, “[Fifty-three percent] of white women voted for Trump. That means someone you know, someone who is in close community with you, voted for Trump. You need to organize your people.” And some people said, “Oh, I’m so ashamed.” Don’t be ashamed; organize your people.

That’s why the photo was such a great moment to capture, because it tells the story of white women in this moment wanting to just show up in a very superficial way and not wanting to do the hard work of making change, of challenging their own privilege. You’re here protesting, but don’t forget: The folks that you live with every single day – and probably some of the women that decided to come to the march – voted for Trump, made the decision to vote against self-interests to maintain their white supremacist way of life.”

Read the full interview here