YA Eco Mysteries, Memoirs, Novels & Travel
Women's March Birmingham Alabama
26/01/17 10:43 Filed in: Historical Novels
Why Women Marched for All Americans
Why would an old grandma like me be marching down the street in the middle of thousands of protestors, in the middle of winter, in the middle of downtown Birmingham’s National Historic Civil Rights District? Because it is my responsibility to be there for my children, my grandchildren, for Americans from every walk of life, every race, every creed, every persuasion. Because it is my privilege to lend my support to the Women’s March, a worldwide protest in support of:
- They Marched for Civil rights and Civil Liberties for All (Boris Datnow)
- the protection of our air, water, and soil form pollution and destruction
- a college education that doesn't leave graduates with massive debt
- women's rights
- peace over war
- an affordable health care system for All
- equal pay for equal work
They Marched for Women's Rights (Boris Datnow)
Because it is my responsibility—the responsibility of all Americans—to protect our planet's precious natural resources, to protect people from racism, bigotry, and sexism, to protect freedom of religion, to protect access to health care, to protect women's rights, to provide decent wages, to promote worldwide peace, to uphold the Constitution of the United States separating church and state.
They Marched for Our Planet (Boris Datnow)
And I was inspired by the speakers who did not preach a narrow creed, but spoke from their hearts, with the sunlight illuminating the light in their eyes, who spoke with courage and determination to uphold all those freedoms we hold dear, to uphold America as a bastion of freedom for all.
They Marched with their Friends (Boris Datnow)
And I marched because this is a free country where people still have the right to speak out. When I left South Africa, the country of my birth, the right to speak out had been crushed by the apartheid government. In my memoir, Behind the Walled Garden of Apartheid, I wrote:
By the time I stood ready to take an active part in my country's affairs, the officer's of apartheid had exiled, gagged, censored, and banned leaders and organizations I would have supported.
So I left South Africa to come to America. And my life has come full circle. Fifty years after immigrating to America, I went and I marched because I was free to do so. And it was a memorable experience, memorable to march with my husband and my friends, memorable to be surrounded by smiling faces, to be there with people who care deeply about the future of America as "the land of the free and the home of the brave."
The Women's March on January 21, 2017, is over, but not finished. I told my granddaughters that they will remember the day the Women Marched as a turning point in history. I sincerely believe that march will be the clarion call to "take arms against a Sea of Troubles/ and by opposing end them."
They Marched to Make History (Boris Datnow)
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