On January 21, an estimated 4.8 million women and their supporters took to the streets across the country in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington.

At the core of the March were the principles^[1] of access to affordable reproductive care, equal pay for equal work, and justice for women whose violators had gone unpunished. Beyond the rights of women, the movement reminded the new president and his Congress that this is a diverse society made up of many races, ethnicities, and cultures, and that diversity made America great in the first place. It was a reminder that immigrants have a right to come here without harassment, that all Americans have the right to vote without intimidation, and that all Americans have the right to clean air and clean water.

Thousands of signs spelled out these concerns when I arrived at the sister march in Los Angeles. Women and men alike, who had benefitted from Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the federal legalization of LGBT marriage, and many more folks with lots to lose in the next four years, converged on City Hall to make it clear to newly inaugurated President Trump that their voice is not going away.

The March focused on the president, whose campaign promises paint a grim picture for women across the nation. He has promised^[2] to defund Planned Parenthood, because 3% of its reproductive health counseling, testing, and treatment services for women (and men) include abortion services^[3]. All those women who have received treatment or counseling from Planned Parenthood stand to lose a lot if it fails.

He promised^[4] to build an expensive wall on the US-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants from stealing American jobs, though they make up half of the 3.5% of the US population here illegally (1.8% of the American population is an illegal immigrant from Mexico)^[5] and 5% of the labor force. Those who have lost their jobs to outsourcing and automation don’t benefit from this distraction.

He promised^[6] to roll back restrictions on industrial pollution and expand the fossil fuel industry in America, though the supply of fossil fuels now exceeds demand, and renewable energy has actually surpassed fossil fuels in job growth^[7]. Those of us who enjoy clean air and access to public lands stand to lose a lot from this.

To “cut costs” for his programs, he pledged to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts entirely, representing a savings of 0.006% on the federal budget^[8]. Meanwhile, he has promised to drastically expand military spending, which already amounts to over 50% of the federal budget^[9]. Those of us who see potential in expanding services for Americans by cutting some of these larger categories instead, stand to lose.

But more worrisome than the promises are the things he has not promised. He has remained silent^[10] on the gender pay gap, on alleviating the costs of childcare and education, and on discrimination based on race, gender, and orientation. It’s because of the silence more than anything, that these folks, and this beaver, took to the street.

Though no protest will reverse the outcome of the recent election, that’s not what the March was about. The Women’s March was the assembly of the collective voice of millions of women and men, not only to make it clear to their government representatives that they’re not going away, but also to regroup, strategize, and plan for how to keep America great for the next four years.