why we march

 “My Nonna stands with me.”

We went to Madison on Saturday (along with about 100,000 other people) to join the Women’s March. 

But I have to say, I waffled.  I waffled about taking my children.  I worried about protecting them.  Protecting them from words they don’t yet know, from ideas that haven’t yet occurred to them, from images that might be upsetting, from angry people on both sides of this issue.  They are smart, strong, independent girls and why should I let them think it could be otherwise? 

Because it still is.  Maybe not so much for them in this protected home and circle of family and friends, but they’ll go out in the world.  They already do.  They look at pictures in National Geographic and ask questions about little girls who have babies, they wonder aloud how it could be that the USA has never had a women president, they are super interested in reading about civil rights, and right now they don’t think it’s odd for a man to love a man or a women to love a women. They don’t know that calling someone “gay” can be an insult, but they do know that hearing their friends, who don’t know better, saying “you throw like a girl” can crush their hearts, even if they don’t know exactly why.

Andy and I want them to know that they come from a privileged place, and from that place they can help better the world for girls who don’t have the safety, the respect, the education that they have.  In this country or others.  We want them to know that it hasn’t always been this way, it might not always be this way (we are more concerned now than ever), and that standing up for yourself is important.  In class, in a dark street, in a relationship, in a job, in life.

So, I chucked my reservations about going and a few days prior to the March, we talked about protests, we looked at some pictures of historic marches, we talked about why people protest, where you can and where you can’t, and we made signs (they loved that part).  And then we went.  And I was so glad.  None of my fears came true.  The whole atmosphere was buoyant.  We were crammed shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other families, kids, parents, grandparents, students, of all colors and genders.  Everyone was kind, everyone was smiling, you could feel the solidarity pulsing through us.  The kids felt it too.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Iris chanting along with:  “Show me what democracy looks like!  This is what democracy looks like!”  and she’s not a kid to jump in to performing unless it feels real.  They were dancing and holding their signs high and drinking it all in with wonder.  We felt part of something big and important.  Because it was.

And then we came home and the next day at lunch we talked about, “now what?”.  The girls want to continue to do things to help voice our discomfort with the current political environment.  They understand this is the world they are inheriting.  They want people to be kind and good.  They want to be respected, they want others to be respected, they want the nature they love to be protected.  And so we started:

If you are so inclined, we hope you will join us.  It’s only one small step, but I’ve always believed that each of us makes a difference.  And we are raising girls to do just that.  Check it out here: https://www.womensmarch.com/