Hi, that's me, and I attended one of the Women's March on Washington's sister marches yesterday, in Roanoke, VA. I made a sign, I wore a white blazer, and I wore my Ruth Bader Ginsburg shirt - which my boyfriend found at Goodwill. I had one of the best experiences of my life. It was my first protest, and I can confidently say that it will not be my last. To quote Barack Obama, I am fired up and ready to go.
I have a lot of thoughts on yesterday, we all have a lot of thoughts on yesterday. Yesterday happened, just as Friday happened, and there's no denying the significance, whether you are ready to accept that or not. Yesterday is going into the history books, and I'm so proud that I was able to get out and make my voice heard. I'm about to share some of those thoughts, and I'm probably going to ramble on, so I understand if you close out of the page four sentences from now. I just needed to put my thoughts out here.
I marched yesterday for myself, for my mother, for my sister, for my father, for my best friend, for my other best friend, I probably even marched for you, and you don't even know it. I marched yesterday to make sure that the new administration knows that I expect them to uphold the Constitution of the United States, I marched yesterday to make sure that our new administration knows that I expect them to treat every American equally, regardless of gender identity, race, disability, financial status, marital status, personal choice, cultural background, level of education, the list really does go on and on.
I am one hundred percent aware of the privilege that I have in this country over many others. I am a twenty-five year old college educated white woman. I will never understand what many people go through in this country day by day, but I want them to know that I am here to stand with them to ensure that the new president of the United States upholds his oath of protecting the Constitution and every single amendment.
The new president of the United States has made some comments over the course of his life in the public eye. We all make comments that we regret, I've made some very recently, and I have acknowledged that they were wrong. I have admitted to my mistakes. The new president of the United States has not, not in a way that makes me believe that he is going to work to protect my rights. I want to believe that he will, I truly do, but he hasn't lead me to believe otherwise. That disturbs me, and if it doesn't disturb you, I really don't know what to say. I wish I did. I guess I would say, think about your friends and family, and the people you cherish the most in life, and ask yourself if it disturbs them, and if you find that it may, maybe try and understand why it does so. Ask them why, and please, please, respect what they have to say, and listen. You may learn something new about them, and you will quite possibly understand them better.
I cannot describe the amount of love I felt yesterday. I was surrounded by so many freakin awesome people, people of every gender and every race and every age! It was amazing. I walked away feeling like I had actually accomplished something really great. I walked away feeling like something new was happening, and I'm still so excited to see where this goes.
I woke up the morning of November 9th, after very little sleep, upset. I was up until 2:30 am. I couldn't take my eyes off of my television. I cried myself to sleep because I felt betrayed by my country. My heart was broken. I cried that morning. I didn't know how to cope with these emotions that I'm not sure I had ever felt before. I could not believe that someone with such a terrible attitude about everyone but himself could be voted into the highest office a person can hold in this country. I did NOT cry because Hillary didn't win. I was NOT upset because Hillary didn't win. My emotions were NOT about Hillary Clinton. Had any of the other Republican candidates won, or just literally anyone, I would not have felt the way that I did. I would not have felt so violated by my country.
I have been violated by men, men who thought they could grab me just because I was there. I would not feel comfortable in the presence of the new president of the United States, just as I do not feel comfortable in the presence of the men who have violated me. Go on, tell me to get over it. I would say that's easy for you to say, but I don't know your life or your story.
I needed yesterday so much more than I thought I did. Yesterday was so much more than what it looked like. We are not whining, we are not complaining. We are letting our voice be heard. We are making sure that the world knows that we will not accept anything less than equality in this country FOR ALL. All eyes are on our country, and while I wish so much I could travel the world and advocate for the rights of women and everyone else in every country, I can't do that right now. Maybe someday I can, I'd like to think that I could, I need to explore more ways that I can do that now. But I need to start in the country where I lay my head down at night. Because if my rights are taken away, I sure as hell won't be able to help make sure that the rights of those in other countries are protected. So don't call me out for that, give me time to figure it out.
I believe in a woman's right to choose. I believe in every human's right to marry, regardless of the sex of their partner. I believe in equal pay. I believe in the right to affordable health care, without the right to discriminate based on what one might think of as a pre-existing condition, like being a woman. I believe in art and journalism free of ridiculous government censorship. I believe in climate change. I believe in science. I believe in LGBT adoption rights. I believe in health insurance providers offering free birth control. I believe in free public education. I believe in religious freedom, but I do believe that businesses, especially public, should not be able to discriminate based on a person's differing status, religion, sexual orientation, wealth, etc.
As a future public educator, I will be teaching kids from every single walk of life. As a future public educator I will not be allowed to discriminate against a student simply because they are different from me, so why should anywhere else in this country be any different.
What is the big deal? I don't understand. But I understand why I marched yesterday, and if you happen to have read this far, congratulations, and I hope you at least kind of understand why I did too. You don't have to agree, none of us have to agree. I just needed to share my thoughts.
