Head Girl’s Report: The Pipers Protest

It is estimated that 3.7 million people nationwide attended the Women’s March, on Saturday 21 January 2017.

I remember watching the news that evening and seeing the protests in Washington D.C, Sydney, London and South Korea, and thinking about what an incredible achievement it was. Despite the blanket name of “The Women’s March”, the protest was not just about women’s rights, but also immigration and healthcare reform, LGBTQ rights and racial equality. Washington D.C was particularly prevalent with almost three times more people attending than the numbers at President Trump’s inauguration the day before. You couldn’t help but be in absolute awe at the unity and dedication of people across the globe to stand up to oppression, even the oppression that takes the form of the leader of the “free world”.

However, despite my support for the protests, I didn’t attend the demonstrations that took place. I wasn’t alone in my lack of action, with a total of six Pipers girls and staff attending the protest in London. I presumed that everyone was at the protest apart from me. I expected that someone else had taken my place on that march and therefore, there wasn’t much point in me attending. However, this is the reason why these protests are taking place. We still face so many issues and we cannot expect others to stand up and make changes if we will not take the risk and challenge those things we disagree with. Discovering that only six people from Pipers attended the march led the Sixth Form and I to run a protest within assembly. Rather manically, we managed to create a host of banners, with some left over cardboard and about half of the Art Department’s paint supply, on topics ranging from reintroducing capital punishment to allowing more refugees into the country. The banners only took five minutes to make, not because we didn’t put effort into them, but because we knew the change that we wanted to see. The assembly took everyone by surprise, with 60 girls, coming into the Sports Hall chanting and shouting about all those things we had written on their banners. The noise we created was incredible and although it was no more than a mini-protest within the four walls of the Sports Hall, it had made a difference. The small cardboard banners raised issues some girls had never thought about before and sparked an interest to research them further. They had shown the power their voices had and this was only the beginning. From our mini-protest we launched our Pipers’ “Day of Protest”. Working with Mr Gifford, I wanted to give girls the opportunity to experience protest within the relative safety of a familiar environment to show them the possibilities that their voices had. Through some carefully planned Form times, numerous reminder emails and the remaining half of the Art Department’s paints, the banners began to emerge. Slowly the corridors and Form Rooms began to fill with bits of cardboard with slogans campaigning for LGBTQ rights, free sanitary products, a ban on animal hunting and things finally started to come together. On Monday 8 May we held our Protest. Year 6 through to Year 13 girls and staff gathered to protest about the issues closest to their hearts. For the first time we sat and ate lunch, not in a staggered, Dining Room friendly lunch rota way, but instead as a school. The lack of sunshine, despite my best efforts to book good weather, did not dampen spirits and as nearly 500 students and staff assembled outside the Arts Centre we realised the scale of our achievement. We were going to stand together and fight for what we believed in. Chants rang out across the field (I hear that High Wycombe was disrupted by the noise) whilst we also held a two minutes silence as a symbol for all those people, across the world, who do not have the freedom or opportunity to speak out in the way that we do.

For me, the best part was girls coming up to the microphone to tell the crowd what they were protesting about or lead chants. Standing up in front of a group of people is scary enough but all the girls that came up spoke with such fervor and confidence. Girls in Year 6 stood next to girls in Sixth Form, both concerned with the same issues and there was nothing to divide them. They were united in a common cause and it was incredible to see.

We also had the pleasure of having Toni Brodelle, a member of the House of Lords Task Group, specifically working with the Wycombe Refugee Partnership, come and join the protest. Toni spoke about the importance of our generation using their voice to stand up against injustice. We are the future and we cannot afford to sit back and let other people change it for us. Our Protest was a risk. There was a strong chance that it could have just been me and a couple of Sixth Formers chanting on the balcony whilst listening to the Beatles; however, the sheer number of girls that took part and really got themselves involved is something I will never forget. I will never forget that feeling of standing among the rest of the school and feeling so incredibly proud of what we had achieved together. I am so proud of the time you spent making banners, researching an issue to protest about, even putting together a packed lunch (although I know I also need to thank some parents for that as well). Girls, you showed your absolute dedication to issues outside of Pipers, issues that are a reality for too many people and your desire to initiate change. As Toni said, don’t let this be the end. This protest is only the beginning. You are never too young, too old, too shy to stand up for what you believe in. If you take one thing away from our Protest let it be Angela Davis’ message: “I am no longer accepting things I cannot change but changing things I cannot accept.” Bethan T (Upper Sixth)