Women's March: Inspiration, motivation, galvanization

Unity in numbers / Hundreds of thousands of women (and men), both
white and of color, marched for political activism in Washington, D.C. and
throughout America, and around the world. 

The American writer and poet Alice Walker, who wrote the critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple, once said "Activism is our rent for living on the planet." I think she was on to something because last Saturday women (and men), both white and of color, spanning a variety of economic and religious backgrounds, united for a just cause.

They marched for political activism. Health care, the economy, climate change, immigration, paid family leave, net neutrality, education, freedom of the press.

Millions united worldwide and took to the streets to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump and also to celebrate women's rights. On Saturday, they marched for democracy.

My heart and support goes out to my friends, family and loved ones – and to all – who marched not only in the Women's March in Washington, D.C., but also hundreds of sister marches throughout America and around the world. Through the power of their spoken and written words, as well as through their images and pictures that were shared via social media platforms – and, importantly, in their strength in numbers – we saw that there is such great hope for our country. I'm proud to see so many devote their time and energy towards walking for civil liberties and basic, fundamental human rights for all.

A view of the National Mall as seen from the U.S. Capitol,
during the Women's March in Washington, D.C. The
number of participants far exceeded expectations,
event organizers said, and it eclipsed the crowd attending
President Trump's inauguration a day earlier.

A day after President Trump's inauguration last Friday, in which he shared his uniquely dark and dystopian vision of the U.S., there was much support, love and light shown during the Women's March in Washington, D.C. According to the organizers of the event, the goal was to send a powerful message to the new administration and to the new President. Initial estimates numbered 500,000 participants in the nation's capital alone – considerably more than the 200,000 expected, and far exceeding the number who attended Friday's inauguration of the 45th President. Demonstrations remained peaceful throughout.

Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and national co-chair of the Women's March on Washington, said during an interview Monday evening on MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes that she was extremely overwhelmed by the turnout. "Women showed up (all over the world) and showed their power," she said. Asked why the march exceeded expectations, Sarsour said: "We were able to speak to the values of people. We came together in solidarity to stand with the most marginalized people. We were also intersectional. It wasn't just about reproductive rights. It was climate justice and racial justice and immigrant rights. Everyone found a place to be there. We spoke to every one's inner frustrations. We went from Friday's devastation to Saturday's inspiration, motivation and galvanization."

In a New York Times editorial published on its website Monday, it wrote: "Whether President Trump, newly ensconced in the White House, was surprised or even noticed is unclear. Given his reputation, he may not even care. But the Republican Party should."

We are America /
Marching near the National Museum of
the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
(Photo by Carla Morris.)

Actress America Ferrera, who was one of the first speakers at the Washington, D.C. rally, said: "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America and we are here to stay."

The feminist icon Gloria Steinem, 82, also speaking in the nation's capital, exulted: "This is the upside of the downside. This is an outpouring of democracy like I've never seen in my very long life."

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, marching in Boston, said, "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!"

Back in Washington, D.C., singer Madonna said matter-of-factly: "Let's march together through this darkness and with each step know that we are not afraid, that we are not alone that we will not back down. There is power in our unity and no opposing force stands a chance in the face of true solidarity." She added: "Today marks the beginning of our story. The revolution starts here. The fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal."

Energizing in the name of goodwill /
A sign proclaiming "My Body My Choice" was one of
many causes represented during the Women's March.
(Photo by Carla Morris.)

Among my many Macalester College friends who marched in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, Carla Morris, an independent consultant who is married and the mother of two young boys, described her march experience like this: "It was like we had all individually and collectively found the real America again! I did not see a single act of unkindness or disrespect all day long." On her Facebook page, Morris called the mood in Washington, D.C. "so jubilant. Everyone on the trains going down to the march beamed at each other, smiled, chanted together, clapped, traded stories, helped each other. ... It was so wonderful. A fabulous, energizing day of goodwill."

Among many speakers whom I saw while watching TV coverage via MSNBC and C-SPAN, I was particularly interested in learning viewpoints from people of color and of different religions, groups which are being marginalized by the Trump administration. I heard the passionate voices of Zahra Billoo, the San Francisco Bay Area Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and of Van Jones, founder and president of Rebuild the Dream, an American center-left political organization, and a former Obama Administration advisor.

Billoo, a Muslim-American, said: "Our America ... includes all of us in our beautiful diversity. Our America requires that we march to protect each other. Our America needs us to build a better future. We have our work cut out for us but we are ready."

Marching towards a better future /
The Women's March showed peaceful yet powerful activism.
(Photo by Carla Morris.) 

Meanwhile, Jones, a black male, reached out to both conservatives and liberals during his speech. He said: "This movement has the opportunity to stand up for the underdogs in the red states and the blue states, to stand up for the Muslims and the Dreamers ... but also to stand up for the coal miners who are going to be thrown under the bus by Donald Trump. We're going to stand up for them. All those Rust Belt workers who he doesn't want to mess with but wants to mess over, we've got to stand up for them. We have to have a position that's clear. When it gets harder to love, let's love harder."


Looking back upon this special and unique day, in Washington, D.C., throughout American cities from Seattle and San Francisco to Ann Arbor and Chicago, to Raleigh, Boston and New York, and around the world – a record turnout for protests the likes of which we have not seen since the Vietnam War  – there was great strength found in this peaceful yet powerful activism, and unity in its numbers.

On this memorable day, love truly trumped hate.

Photos: Courtesy of Google images and Carla Morris.

March: Transforming an American civil rights icon into a geek celebrity

John Lewis rose from the humble beginnings of growing up poor on an Alabama sharecropper's farm to become a national leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and, later, a conscience of the Congress. He has lived a life committed to justice and nonviolence.

Now, imagine this same American civil rights icon and admired politician transforming into a geek celebrity. When he's not being the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation, Lewis has shown he's just as comfortable being surrounded by librarians and the Comic-Con crowd as he is being around politicians on Capitol Hill.

March, a graphic novel
trilogy by John Lewis

Lewis has written a graphic novel trilogy, March, and the first book in this series of three will be published next week by Top Shelf Productions. It's a remarkable and vividly-told memoir of his lifelong struggle for civil and human rights.

Book One illustrates Lewis' life as an African-American boy in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down Jim Crow segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins. Lewis' leadership in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. is relived in March, and we learn what happened and how it happened. (Eight days after the "Bloody Sunday" protest, former President Lyndon Johnson sent the Voting Rights Act to Congress.)

Lewis collaborated with writer and congressional aide Andrew Aydin and award-winning cartoon artist Nate Powell on March. Aydin adapted the strong narrative of Lewis' story to the graphic page and Powell richly illustrated it all in black and white. As a student, Lewis was inspired by the 1958 comic book Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story. So, it should come as no surprise that Lewis would turn to the graphic novel format in which to provide another story about the American civil rights movement.

Now, everyone from CNN to Comedy Central is lined up to interview Lewis, the only sitting member of Congress to write a comic book, in the coming days. (He is booked to appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report on Aug. 13 to promote March.)

March has generated good reviews and drawn universal praise in advance of its Aug. 13 release.

"Congressman John Lewis has been a resounding moral voice in the quest for equality for more than 50 years, and I'm so pleased that he is sharing his memories of the Civil Rights Movement with America's young leaders," wrote President Bill Clinton on the book's back cover, in praise of March. "In March, he brings a whole new generation with him across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, from a past of clenched fists into a future of outstretched hands."

As a young activist, Lewis once stood along side Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the "March on Washington" in the early 1960s and delivered a keynote speech at the march. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during its most productive years, Lewis was one of the "Big Six" leaders in the American Civil Rights Movement and the young upstart played a key role in the struggle to end legalized racial discrimination and segregation. Lewis was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom rally 50 years ago (its golden anniversary is Aug. 28) and, sadly, is the only remaining speaker of the event alive today.

Now age 73, Lewis has served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987, where he represents the 5th district of Georgia. In his distinguished career, Lewis has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barrack Obama, the first African-American President.

Rep. John Lewis signing March
at the American Library Association
summer conference in Chicago.

In June, at the American Library Association national conference in Chicago, I was fortunate enough to meet Lewis (I was third in line) and receive a signed "advance look" copy of March. (At the Comic-Con pop culture convention in San Diego last month, I learned, lines for Lewis' appearance were so overwhelming that fire marshals almost shut the event down.)

After signing my copy of March, Lewis extended his hand to shake mine. I thanked him for his lifelong dedication to civil rights and public service. I'm sure he hears this kind of praise all the time from his constituents and admirers. Nevertheless, he seemed appreciative of my words and thoughts -- and my interest in his book. Lewis looked me straight in the eye, smiled enthusiastically, and wished me well.

On this summer Sunday afternoon, it was too good an opportunity to not make the effort to be there for John Lewis and, personally, say "thank you" for his struggle of a lifetime to build a beloved community.

Photograph of Rep. John Lewis by Michael Dickens (copyright 2013). 
Image of March courtesy of Top Shelf Productions.