As a second Trump administration approaches, we’re running out of time to confirm as many federal judges as possible to provide a check on his presidential power and curb his stated policy priorities.
There are 40 federal judicial vacancies and 16 nominations before the Senate right now—as our civil rights hang in the balance, take action now!
This Saturday, September 30, 2017, Black women and femmes and their allies will march on Washington, D.C. to call attention to the multiple oppressions experienced by their families and them. This march is about so much more than just pointing to the causes of oppression. It’s about centering the experiences of Black women and femmes and their families. It’s about ensuring safety and survival; it’s about economic security; it’s about health care; it’s about immigrant justice; it’s about seeing and acknowledging that the Black women and femmes in our life are magic, and so much more.
This past January over a million people participated in the Women’s March on Washington. I was there, and it was beautiful and awesome. But I realized after the election that I, as a white woman, might have been feeling for the first time a fraction of the fear Black women and femmes have always felt. Afraid for the future. Afraid of being silenced. Afraid of being discriminated against. And afraid for so many other people in my community. This has been the reality of my white-privilege – I generally have been able to feel safe and secure, and I generally don’t have to worry about my bodily safety in the same way as Black women and femmes who face that reality every day. I committed in those moments of solidarity, awe, and recognition to use my privilege to support the movements I believe in by centering and getting behind women and femmes of color.
I’m sharing this experience for my white friends, family members, and fellow allies. We should all be getting behind the movement, opening our ears, and lifting up the messages we hear – this is about empowering the voices of women of color. It is our responsibility to get behind Black women and femmes, talk to our friends and family about what we believe, and call out racism and oppression by name.
Now obviously marching isn’t the end of any of our work. But participating is one step in a direction I want to be going in. If you can’t be there this weekend I hope you tweet about it, share it with your networks, talk to your family, shout from your porch – whatever it is you like to do! Let’s do it right, and get behind that #BlackGirlMagic.
