I have this irrational anger at friends without legitimate reason who didn’t march or show solidarity in other ways yesterday. The whole notion of “silence is compliance/violence” keeps appearing at the forefront of my thoughts, and I wondered to myself if I was being ridiculous or overly sensitive. To keep myself in check, I talked to people who are close to me and unafraid to point out my bullshit to bluntly ask if they thought I needed to calm down and redirect my energy.
The answer we have come up with thus far is that as human beings, we are at a point where we either need to step up or else we can consider ourselves complacent and complicit with the erasure of millions of Americans. To elaborate, the White House website has deleted (or failed to create) the LGBTQ page, climate change page, civil rights page, and likely other pages of which I am not aware at this time. The loss of healthcare and the rise of hate crimes will inevitably cause an alarming number of deaths, as well.
To those of us who care and who fight: as people who have been lucky enough to be born with privilege and opportunity, we may not have easy access to those who voted for Trump or who stand against racial equality and immigration, women’s rights and the LGBTQ community, science and the environment, religious freedom… But we do have access to people who have remained passive, silent, or unconcerned.
Though I will never understand why some females actively did not want to be part of a movement and message as powerful and necessary as the Women’s March yesterday, I challenge my able male (and female) friends who stood by as history was made yesterday to fight alongside us and be actively a part of the battle moving forward.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
No one is free when others are oppressed. Dare to speak up; we need you. Never in history has America had a President this dividing of, this hateful towards, and this dangerous to so many lives.
Here’s somewhere we can start: www.womensmarch.com/100.
We’re not demanding that you outwardly resist every single day (nor should you have to), but knowing in your heart that you love your mother, your sister, your wife, and the women in your life won’t cut it this time. Beyond that, this is more than gender.
Thank you to everyone who marched, who posted words or photos of support, who made a poster, who knit a pussy hat, who traveled to DC or a sister city, who has been helpful to the world, who stands up for others, who empowers friends and family, who has been a good, righteous human. Thank you is not enough.