I am a woman. I am a white woman. I am a heterosexual white woman. I am an educated heterosexual white woman. I am an employed, educated, heterosexual white woman. I have never had to worry about: genital mutilation, honor killing, mortar attacks in my neighborhood, drive by shootings, finding a country to take me in when I flee the civil war in my country, being targeted for genocide, having my children abducted from their school and used as suicide bombers, or brainwashed into being child soldiers, starvation, unclean unsafe water sources, being rejected for a job, or public housing based on my race. (This is a much smaller list than it should be, but you get the point, and I don’t want to be obnoxious.) I recognize the full scope of my great fortune. Believe me. However……
These are extraordinary times to be an American. Saturday saw the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. It also saw a historic demonstration of political dissent the scale and scope of which is hard to grasp here in the moment. As the days have passed, I have felt more and more ashamed of myself for not marching, not participating. Not taking my daughters and giving them this priceless opportunity to see and be part of something bigger than themselves. Standing up for something important, even while we thrive and continue to benefit from our good fortune.
As the days have passed, the number of women I know personally who have joined the #notmymarch movement have alarmed me. They use words like “disgusting” and “offensive” and insist that women aren’t marginalized and that it was a waste of time and effort and resources and the participants ought to be ashamed of their vulgarity. One woman said “I’ve always had the right and opportunity to everything I’ve ever wanted to do.”
To the #notmymarch women. What you are saying is that as long as it doesn’t affect you personally it is irrelevant to you. What if the woman who got grabbed by the pussy was your daughter? What if your daughter is 26 and her job doesn’t provide her health insurance, and you can’t cover her on your insurance, and she finds a lump in her breast? What happens when your local school gets closed because federal education funding has been slashed to divert funds to defense spending? What happens when alternative facts replace actual facts and we’re all just being fed propaganda driven by the pocket lining goals of a man who can be incited into a twitter battle by a photo taken by an impartial news agency?
Since the beginning of time, society has only been improved by people and communities who operate with the greater good in mind. Civil Rights movement, LGBTQ equality, Women’s rights, curbing gang violence. The flip side of that coin would be periods of isolationism thinking. Hitler’s Germany, Bosnian genocide, Rwanda, The Sudan, Syria. So when you tell me that you aren’t marginalized and you don’t need to march and your life is just hunky dory. I see in you a willingness to enable a bully, to let others have their rights, and freedoms taken away, to let millions be loaded into train cars and shipped off to gas chambers. Doesn’t affect you though right?
These are extraordinary times to be an American. Saturday saw the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. It also saw a historic demonstration of political dissent the scale and scope of which is hard to grasp here in the moment. As the days have passed, I have felt more and more ashamed of myself for not marching, not participating. Not taking my daughters and giving them this priceless opportunity to see and be part of something bigger than themselves. Standing up for something important, even while we thrive and continue to benefit from our good fortune.
As the days have passed, the number of women I know personally who have joined the #notmymarch movement have alarmed me. They use words like “disgusting” and “offensive” and insist that women aren’t marginalized and that it was a waste of time and effort and resources and the participants ought to be ashamed of their vulgarity. One woman said “I’ve always had the right and opportunity to everything I’ve ever wanted to do.”
To the #notmymarch women. What you are saying is that as long as it doesn’t affect you personally it is irrelevant to you. What if the woman who got grabbed by the pussy was your daughter? What if your daughter is 26 and her job doesn’t provide her health insurance, and you can’t cover her on your insurance, and she finds a lump in her breast? What happens when your local school gets closed because federal education funding has been slashed to divert funds to defense spending? What happens when alternative facts replace actual facts and we’re all just being fed propaganda driven by the pocket lining goals of a man who can be incited into a twitter battle by a photo taken by an impartial news agency?
Since the beginning of time, society has only been improved by people and communities who operate with the greater good in mind. Civil Rights movement, LGBTQ equality, Women’s rights, curbing gang violence. The flip side of that coin would be periods of isolationism thinking. Hitler’s Germany, Bosnian genocide, Rwanda, The Sudan, Syria. So when you tell me that you aren’t marginalized and you don’t need to march and your life is just hunky dory. I see in you a willingness to enable a bully, to let others have their rights, and freedoms taken away, to let millions be loaded into train cars and shipped off to gas chambers. Doesn’t affect you though right?
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