She helped launch the Women's March. This year she's sitting out the fight.

She helped launch the Women's March. This year she's sitting out the fight.

She helped launch the Women's March. This year she's sitting out the fight.

As protesters gather for this year's Women's March in Washington DC, Vanessa Wruble, one of the event's founders, will be 2,500 miles away on her farm in the Californian desert. Reflecting on the past, she admits that she didn’t realize the march was still happening. Eight years ago, Wruble was deeply involved in organizing the first Women’s March, a reaction to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. Together with a group of activists, she helped organize what became the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, drawing over 500,000 participants in DC alone, with millions more joining sister marches nationwide.

The Women’s March played a central role in the "resistance" movement, helping mobilize voters and progressives, ultimately contributing to the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2018 and the election of Joe Biden in 2020. The march’s success also sparked significant political engagement among women, leading to a record number of female candidates running for office.

However, in the wake of Trump’s re-election in November, many activists have questioned the resistance's future and effectiveness, particularly as Trump’s popularity with working-class women, including some women of color, persisted. Despite the Women's March's early success, this year’s march has been rebranded as the "People’s March" and is expected to attract a smaller crowd, with organizers predicting around 50,000 attendees—far fewer than in 2017.

While Wruble has distanced herself from politics and now focuses on her animal sanctuary near Joshua Tree, some activists, like Tamika Middleton, continue to see the value of the march in bringing progressive groups together. Still, many question whether the march will inspire the same level of activism as before, especially with Trump’s influence lingering in American politics.

As the march approaches, the future of the resistance movement remains uncertain, and Democrats are grappling with how to effectively confront Trump’s presidency. For some, the march offers a reminder of the need to stay vocal, but it may not be enough to win back the women who supported Trump in recent elections..