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On a cold January morning last year, people began to trickle into Civic Center park waving signs and wearing pink hats on their heads.

Within hours, more than 100,000 women — and men — had descended. It was a reactionary moment that followed President Donald Trump’s inauguration, one mixed with fear of the unknown and euphoria in the unity. But now, as the Women’s March comes around again, its legacy is proving more lasting.

The emotions that sparked the first large march became focused as people created new advocacy groups or bolstered those already existing.

Heading into Saturday’s march, the legislative priorities of Trump’s administration are no longer unknown. The energy that ebbed and flowed with the news cycle in the past year may have morphed, but some activists argue it’s stronger.

“What has happened is that people who got energized a year ago are still energized because they still (see) the inequities in the country,” said聽Sharon Bridgeforth, president of Together Colorado. “A lot of times, it just fuels you to continue on.”

Year of the Protest

There were 67 permits for assembly in Denver in 2017, compared with 32 in 2016 and 23 in 2015, according to the city Parks and Recreation department.

But those numbers are incomplete. They don’t include events held on the west steps of the state Capitol. And they don鈥檛 include last-minute rallies called without a permit as organizers tried to react to news, such as the Protect Our Muslim Neighbors Rally or when teachers showed up at Sen. Cory Gardner’s office to show their displeasure both聽before听补苍诲听after聽Betsy Devos was confirmed as secretary of education.聽It also excludes 补迟听Gardner鈥檚 Denver office.

As liberal protests came weekly, conservative groups organized to counter the narrative. Cindi Turchik organized four rallies supporting Trump, including the March 4 rally that brought hundreds to the Capitol steps.

鈥淚n the immediate aftermath, people were casting about, figuring out what their place was, what their calling was, where they鈥檙e going to plug in,鈥� said Jessica Zender, one of the leaders behind Indivisible Denver. 鈥淚t抖阴ap not the same for everyone.鈥�

Indivisible groups, sprung from a progressive movement that takes a page from the Tea Party playbook, began forming before the Women’s March, although the march fanned their flames. They often are led by people who say this level of engagement — grabbing a megaphone, organizing people, hitting the streets — had long been buried. Trump’s election was the shovel.

Indivisible groups protested, but they also met with elected officials, called their representatives and wrote letters. They held a town hall with a cardboard cutout of Gardner and organized a meeting to learn about white privilege.

Leaders describe their organizations鈥� numbers in terms of Facebook groups: 4,000 members in Indivisible Front Range Resistance, 730 members in Jeffco CAN and 2,000 members in Indivisible Denver. But when showing up for actions, those numbers ranged from a few dozen to a couple hundred. Members trend toward the middle-class, white and retired. And although men are involved, many of the leaders are women.

鈥淲omen have been the backbone of social movements for all of history. They just didn’t get to get up on stage,鈥� Zender said. “That is the difference.”

Not all new groups made it through the year. Community for Unity, a group that coalesced immediately after the election, organized protests weekend after weekend. But their numbers began to dwindle and the group eventually folded.The groups that stuck around cited focus, organization and a dedicated core.

It抖阴ap exhausting work, Indivisible leaders say. Many said they stayed motivated by looking at the community around them and their victories: the ongoing fight over a travel ban; Democratic wins at the polls in Aurora, Alabama and Virginia; and stopping the total repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

鈥淲ins for us don鈥檛 mean outright ‘We get what we want,’鈥� Indivisible Front Range Resistance leader Katie Farnan said. 鈥淚t抖阴ap more about聽‘Can we slow down or put a halt on the backward slide on some of these protections or laws that have protected people?’ 鈥�

Jump in engagement

Although groups began popping up, they’re building on the work of聽existing organizations, which across the board saw a jump in engagement.

Planned Parenthood Colorado saw 33,786 new supporters and 23,000 new donors in 2017. Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, or CIRC, added nine new allied organizations in Boulder County alone last year, a significant chunk considering there are 70 across the state. Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization, or聽CLLARO,聽received requests from people wanting to intern or volunteer without prodding.

Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, or COLOR, Soul 2 Soul, ADAPT, Together Colorado and NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado all said they saw more engagement.

鈥淧eople want to do something,鈥� said Sharon Bridgeforth, president of Together Colorado, which focuses on a wide swath of social-justice issues. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very grateful for that because our work is so large, we need as many people — folks we call the people on the battlefield — to get things on.鈥�

Many organizations saw public engagement follow the news cycle. CIRC saw more people wanting to be involved when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or聽DACA, program聽was put on the cutting block. Soul 2 Soul, a faith-based racial justice organization, received more requests to speak after white supremacist rallies. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado saw a spike of interest after #MeToo.

鈥淩ight after the Women鈥檚 March, there was this heightened energy and then as with life, there鈥檚 this ebb and flow,鈥� said Rev. Tawana Davis, who is with Soul 2 Soul. 鈥淭here were pockets of reinvigorating moments.鈥�

CIRC operations coordinator Caitlin Trent said apathy used to be easier, but the political climate has brought many issues, especially regarding immigration, to the forefront. But that also causes the number of volunteers to fluctuate.

鈥淎 lot of people are well-intentioned and sign up and are really gung-ho, and then if you contact them a month or two later, it抖阴ap not really a priority,鈥� she said, clarifying that抖阴ap not the case for everybody.

Additionally, many new people are just now tuning into issues that have long affected communities — immigrants, people of color, the disabled or LGBTQ聽鈥� and can be highly nuanced.

So there’s a level of education that’s necessary. For example, CIRC developed an immigration 101 PowerPoint this year. It includes the fact that there were聽a聽record number of deportations under President Barack Obama鈥檚 administration.

Turning to midterms

Four women who are spearheading the Women鈥檚 March this year sat in the corner of a coffee shop, talking about what they learned last year.

Tikneshia Beauford, Jolie Brawner, Lisa Cutter and Jessica Rogers had a comfortable air among them, often laughing or getting sidetracked. They didn’t know each other before Trump’s election.

The march last year was organic, they said. There were mistakes — the march was criticized for its lack of inclusion of women of color, for example — and attempts to rectify them.

鈥淟ast year, it was mostly all about riding an avalanche,鈥� Rogers said.

Brawner quickly chimed in: 鈥淭his year, it抖阴ap still an avalanche but we have a sled.鈥�

Brawner had to leave the meeting early, so it was just Beauford, Cutter and Rogers who fielded the question: What抖阴ap going to be the focus of 2018? Elections, although other issues are tacked on, such as gentrification. The march’s theme, “Power to the Polls,” reflects that, as does the group’s emphasis on registering people to vote.

In January, groups that help women and progressives run for office were already seeing more interest. The momentum stuck around.

Across the country, more than 26,000 women have reached out to EMILY鈥檚 List since Trump鈥檚 election. Hundreds of those have been in Colorado. The group held two candidate trainings here. Meanwhile, Run for Something, an organization started after Hillary Clinton’s defeat, has 353 folks in the pipeline here. Colorado is one of its busiest states.

And there have been results. Aurora elected three women to its City Council.

But the energy is not just among those looking to run for office.

Vicki Cowart, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said that with the rise in support this year, the organization was able to run Health Center Advocacy programs at 12 health centers across Colorado. These programs help patients with other issues beyond health care, such as registering to vote.

“It seems like different this year,” she said. “I don’t think there’s been that intensity of needing to understand how to vote, wanting to get registered to vote in our patient population like we鈥檙e seeing it this year.”