Ladies, particularly my white ladies, we need to talk.
Power to you all if you attended a Women's March in your state or city this past weekend. It is a beautiful experience and I have enjoyed the past two years I've spent at the marches, both in Philadelphia and D.C. There's nothing like the sea of witty signs, pink pussy hats and outrageously dressed people that captures a city for the day.
However, just because you went to the Women's March does not make you an activist. Let me say that again: attending a Women's March does not an activist make.
Why not?
While attending a march, a rally etc. is fun and exciting, it is a movement, it is not action. The Women's March serves as a call to action, a demonstration of the power of numbers, and gives people around the world an opportunity to share their voice. However, it does not bring about direct change: it inspires it. What you do after you march is what matters.
So, if you marched this weekend, turn the inspiration you saw on the streets into change in your own community. Run for office, volunteer, call your senator/representative, look for ways to change the way your local schools teach about sexual education, support local businesses that are owned and run by women, work with your congregation to supply women and children in poverty with clothes, food etc.
Bottom line: what are YOU going to do to make a CHANGE? Don't depend on someone else to do the work for you, if you want freedom, liberty, equality, YOU need to do something to get it.
Now, here's where my white sisters come in. It is easy for us to march, to fight for causes that affect us personally. As a white, cis-gender, bisexual woman, I keep my identities in mind when I advocate for something, because it's personal. But, movements such as the Women's March are INTERSECTIONAL. The march is to fight for and inspire EVERY woman disenfranchised by our government and society. That means women of color, women who are differently abled, trans women, etc. It is important we are reminded of this, as we white women may have one strike against us for being female but our fellow sisters may have two, three or four depending on their own individual experience.
We do not experience oppression the same way, so when you go out to make a difference, make it for yourself, but also make it for your sister to your left and to your right too, no matter who they are.
