#WomensMarch, why? Why
not? I’ve had the pleasure of reading several
people’s questioning the reasoning for a Women’s March. There are even women who question the
reasoning for the march. Personally, I
see more reasoning for this march than I do the one planned by Rev Al (NAN). Aside:
I shall hit him in another posting about
misogyny and opportunism. In regards to
the #WomensMarch, I understand the power of women gathered in one place for a singular
purpose. The purpose this time is the
birthing of some “get right” in the USA.
The defection by White women this election highlights why “get right”
has been in gestation for decades. It is time for women to come together. We need the “get right” now.
This election, I felt a need to arm myself just to sip
coffee at the local coffeehouse. When
Obama was running for office in 2008, I didn’t feel the need. Note, I am a short, Black, and out lesbian
living in Mississippi. This virulent misogyny during the 2016 election was felt
by more than myself. It was not solely a
White male thing. Black males, young and
old, also engaged in varying levels of it. I had to check one of my kids on his oat
feeling. I had to remind him I was a single parent struggling against courts,
decrees, and ignorance to be with him. We need this march for folks have forgotten
life.
When I was heading to college, the husband of a cousin said
to me, watch the White girls they will make you a lesbian. Well, let’s say a girl, any girl, making me
into a lesbian was more of a fantasy than a fear. In his
ignorance he failed to remember my deeply heterosexual mother was in possession
of several degrees. He was confusing
feminism with lesbianism.
I read a statement by Gloria Steinman in regards to feminism
some time ago. She discussed the
origins of feminism in USA, for her, starting with Black women. The machinations of White male supremacy in
USA have manufactured a wonder woman of feminism that is White. I ask, why would a White woman, by the sheer virtue
of being the vessel by which White men can have White children be driven to
feminism? Black women who have been sub-servient to White men, Native American
men, Black men, men in general, and White women would have more reason than
most to assert, I am woman hear me roar.
The roars of Black women are not audible to human ear. When Black women roar landscapes are changed.
When people think of the Suffrage Movement in the USA, few
remember Black women were there. They
fail to grasp Black women who made it to the North prior to the Civil War had
to find employment. They were free to
use their earnings as they pleased in most cases. They were free to walk the streets for they
were not considered as women, even in the “free” North. These earnings and
freedom of movements did not go unnoticed by young White girls. The young girls whose families employed these
Black women. These Black women who
worked as cooks, nannies, and nursemaids to these White girls. These young White girls would grow into women
who desired freedom to enjoy their stations in life, fully. They birth what would be called the Suffrage
Movement and then forget the roots of their desire to be free. We need this march to remind.
The Civil Rights Movement would have
been just a march here and there if not for the women of the movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X are
given top billing for the work done by women. The Black men, who sat out the
movement, dare to imply greatness of Black men to me. I smile and look at them with sadness. They know I know better. Dorothy
Height, Diane Nash, Amelia Boynton, Daisy Bates, Fannie Lou
Hamer, Jo Ann Robinson, Yuri Kochiyama, and Septima Clark are but a starting
point for knowing truth. This women’s march is to educate those who fail to
connect the dots.
This weekend, Hidden Figures, made its debut at theaters
around the nation. The “Southern Snowpocalypse” may dampen the initial returns
for the movie, however I expect the returns to improve greatly. This movie is timely and is not about only
Black women. Allow me to connect a dot
if I may. Hillary Clinton, born 1947,
wanted to be an astronaut in 1961. This
dreamer 14 year old child wrote to NASA to inquire about what she needed to do
be an astronaut. NASA replied women wouldn’t be astronauts. Dot connection: Katherine Johnson, Black woman, started
working at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(changed to NASA) in 1953. Hillary Clinton was 6 in 1953. As women were working to compute manned space
flights a young girl was being told to not hold such aspirations. Every woman in the USA needs to take a young
girl and a young boy to this movie. Let’s
plant the seeds of intelligence to remove the weeds of ignorance. Do go see
Hidden Figures. Join me in D.C. January
21st for we need this march.
White women, who voted for Trump have forgotten. They take for granted the rights women have
in the USA. They fail to remember the
trials and tribulations of White women in USA.
Trust me, White women have trials and tribulations. Being under the thumb of a man when you have
an active intelligence is a tribulation.
Yet women, not only White women, are falling for this crap of male
protectors and submission.
I remember seeing something about “Wife school” on Black
Twitter. I thought what the fuck? Who is teaching this school? What are the classes?
·
Why you should not expect child support from a
man not your husband?
·
How to be a ride and die chick for your man even
if he is doing nothing to uplift himself or you?
·
Why you must go through a ride and die trial
with a man to earn a spot at being his wife 10 years later?
When I saw the post about “Wife School”, I immediately thought
of the rising rates of female incarceration in the United Sates. We need this march.
This march is not about showing jack shit to a man. Trump can go fuck himself or Putin. Melania has already thrown a hint and a half. As a woman who has faced her own trials, I don’t
throw shade at Melania. However, if she
forgets, she can catch these words as well.
This march is a coming together of women to remember we have power. It is about the coming together of women to
empower younger women and girls to live better lives. It is about the
networking of women to improve life for everyone. As long as we watch silently
men will do what they do, fuck shit up. Waiting
for a man to do right has brought us to the brink of our own demise as a
species. Yes #WomensMarch.
The Links: Remember if you wait for knowledge to be given you will remain without
http://www.wesleyan.edu/mlk/posters/pdfs/Suffrage_Movement.pdf
Comments
Post a Comment