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By Maria Antell, LCSW When it comes to protection, organization, and steadfast advocacy, it’s always been women. Harriet Tubman who used her wilderness survival and organizational skills to lead people to freedom through the Underground Railroad, planned a military raid with the Union Army to help free enslaved people, and organized movements for women’s rights through storytelling and networking with other suffragists. Marsha P. Johnson had many roles throughout her life, including supporting unhoused LGBTQ+ people, raising awareness and funding during the AIDS crisis, and advocating for Black transgender people. Today, we have female organizers of ICE protests and rapid response teams across the country delivering meals to families afraid to leave their homes, escorting immigrants to court, recording ICE agents in the street when they are illegally taking people, and educating people about their rights. Let’s not forget about moms everywhere, who cook meals after working all day while making sure homework gets done and reading bedtime stories, and who find themselves helping their kids to ward off worries they have in this ever-changing world. There are people who never felt fully safe in this country and there are people experiencing this feeling for the first time, and history tells us that women are the ones who will protect them. When we lose faith in our government and our country, it does not mean we need to lose faith in the people who work toward something better. We are not our government and we never were. During a time that is so uncertain and scary, I am inspired by the women of the past, the women of today, and the women of tomorrow. Always look for the helpers; there will always be women who contribute toward a collective us. The Low Roadby Marge Piercy What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can't walk, can't remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can't stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you. But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army. Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country. It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again and they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean,
and each day you mean one more.
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