This past weekend Brooklyn and I had the privilege of attending Amber Rose SlutWalk 2018 #ARSW18 in Downtown L.A.

SlutWalk is an event organized by Author and Entrepreneur Amber Rose. The event is held to bring awareness to the victims of slut-shaming and survivors of Sexual assault. I covered the event as media so I had access to “Pink Carpet” for celebrity arrival after the March.

The event started with a March from 1st DTLA and ended on 5th with a HUGE festival filled with vendors, food trucks and giant concert stage. The event was so empowering!

The event is held for women to take back the word “slut”. Women are often told “you’re asking for it by wearing an outfit like that” when in fact women shouldn’t be shamed for the outfits they wear. Clothing doesn’t give consent. Amber gave a speech to the crowd of thousands of women. At one point she stated “just because I show my legs doesn’t mean I’ll spread em!” Amber thanked those women who were actually taking their time to march and not just go to festival portion and have fun. Those who marched were filled passion! They were marching for themselves, they were marching for their moms! They were marching for their rights! As we were Marching Amber reminded us to register to vote in the midterms. Many carried signs:

And one point during the March we encountered men that were protesting as well. The men shouted: “GOD HATES SLUTS”

“YOU’RE GOING TO HELL FOR THIS! YOU DESERVED TO BE RAPED! YOU’RE ALL TOO UGLY TO RAPE!” The men yelled awful things at the marchers

The marchers yelled RIGHT BACK! Some of the marchers mooned the protesters! A man shouted bible scriptures, spewing hate and twisting the words of the Bible and a protestor stepped forward with a sign and quoted scriptures of love. It was so moving. To actually see love combat hate and ignorance was so beautiful!

Everywhere you look there was powerful women. There were women shouting for sex workers. “SEX WORK IS WORK!” There were men! There were joints for $5! It was just such an experience!

I walked a bit ahead of the March in order to claim my spot in the press line.

This was a dream come true! Lining the “Pink carpet” was the names of the big time media outlets that had prime opportunity to step in for pictures and time with the talent.

Jasmin Brown was the host of the event and the first celebrity photo I took. After that it got a bit tough to take photos.. it’s pretty hard to work the press line if you don’t know what you’re doing and well this was my first event I was not going to step on toes and get in the way. I loved the rush of stepping in for photos. I love the feeling of getting the exclusive shot. I had my first red carpet experience and I was just trying to soak in every single moment. I loved this event. I was so grateful to be there. There wasn’t any other “Mon blogger” on the carpet so I took the photos the I could and went to enjoy the rest of the event.

On the inside of the festival there was a large stage and so much talent dance hall Chrissy took the stage and twerkers jumped from the scaffolding! It was amazing! Brooke and I just decided to walk round and look at all the vendors and booths. The best thing about the vendors were they all female entrepreneurs and many of the vendors were African American women. It was refreshing and motivating to see. Brooke and I won some swag from Slutbox Amber Rose’s subscription box.. Think SlutWalk in a box every month.

I won a pair of sunglasses and Brooke won some body glitter. We were also given fanny packs from Fashion Nova. There was also a photo booth. There were just so many activities to participate in. There were stripper poles and yoni eggs! It’s was so prowoman you were just buzzing with feminist energy! I loved every moment of it and I can’t wait to go back! I’m counting to 2019 and next year I’m bringing friends! This is an event for every woman. This event is empowering and so necessary in this awful political climate where we as women are losing rights and being silenced daily. In a time like this we need SlutWalk. In the past I would make fun of the event because I was ignorant and didn’t know the story behind the movement. I am slut. I’ve been to hoechella and I saw MUVA herself!

This was an event I’ll never forget and event WE NEED! Amber wore a wedding dress and marched with a signed that read “Wife a slut we’re more fun.”

The model and author is truly a champion for women’s rights. This march was a gathering of sisters of all walks of life united to end slut-shaming, victim blaming and put a stop to toxic masculinity. Amber is a symbol of motivation and inspiration. The proceeds for SlutWalk are given to women in the form of scholarships and donated to several charities. SlutWalk was the end of a week filled with events to educate and support women. I am proud that I was given the opportunity to cover SlutWalk 2018. It truly was a dream come true.