We have marched before: It was July of 1848 when the giants on whose shoulders we stand organized for women's equality. It was about equality, and it was about rights; Abolition and the vote. Seneca Falls, New York, was the birthplace of this long progressive journey, when women gathered for a convention to address our rights -- social, civil and political.
...And we marched: Suffrage leader Alice Paul took the energy and momentum from Seneca Falls, and she organized a parade in Washington, DC in 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated. The suffragettes motto was simple: Deeds Not Words. They asked for women to transform their march into perpetual protest. Picketing of the White House, Congress and State Houses; action begot action, a steady drumbeat of protest until the 19th Amendment passed.
...And we marched: It continued in 1923, when a new era of feminism was born. Again, Seneca Falls would call this rebirth home; again, led by Alice Paul. Only a few years after women's suffrage, these activists demanded equal rights, rights not yet guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Thus the long campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment began.
...And we marched: Throughout the 1960s, our feet grew tired, but they refused to quit walking. We continued to lead and organize for civil rights. Both in Selma and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., women were instrumental organizers; at times we needed to protest within our civil rights movement when the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom lacked official women speakers.
...And we marched: It was June 1969, on a summer night in Greenwich Village amidst the Civil Rights Era, when we led a new public protest. Sparked by police mistreatment of the LGBTQ community, we rose up to claim our power in the streets. While some assume it was led by gay white men, the first protesters were trans women of color -- Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. The Stonewall Riots have since been a hallmark of civil rights protests and a testament to the intersectionality that is so crucial to our LGBTQ feminist identity and movement.
...And we marched: The past few decades, we have continued to march. We gathered on the National Mall to mourn the death of our gay and bisexual brothers at the hands of government inaction. We've marched annually to uphold the Roe decision and those associated with it that protect a women's constitutional right to privacy. We've marched the streets of Los Angeles when Proposition 8 passed.
Marching is in our blood, a simple action that empowers anyone to speak truth. Marching is more than a protest. Marching brings us together in solidarity; it recognizes the history and legacy of leaders who have created change by the simple action of pushing forward. Our history, the long line of women protesters (many of whom LGBTQ), organizers, and leaders have taught us the power in gathering and walking together.
We were early feminists at Seneca Falls. We were suffragettes planning for an equal future. We agitated alongside Alice Paul; and we rode buses through the South. We sparked Stonewall. And our community led the fight to overturn Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. We've lead across a spectrum of social justice movements, from abolitionists to suffragettes to marriage equality pioneers to creators of Black Lives Matter. And, we will be on the front lines in 2017 and the Women's March. Now is our next great challenge: in the face of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and misogyny, we must rise once again to lead. In solidarity, we must walk arm and arm to protect our progress, to demand our equality, to warn Congress and the President that we are powerful and we are prepared. And, together, we will march forward...
To register to join LPAC at the Women's March on January 21st, or to learn more about marching in your own community, please go to www.teamlpac.com/march