Who Are We To One Another

People have often heard me say that any significant social change in our society will be led by women. I sincerely believe it. Women have the emotional, spiritual, material and mental capacity to create a multicultural pro-democracy.  Across generations, we have stood at the crossroads of history, shaping movements and speaking out against injustice. Our collective wisdom is marked not only by our triumphs but by the burdens we have carried—sometimes quietly, sometimes in defiant chorus.

Women know about injustice and discrimination. We know about a society that consistently denies women equal pay for equal work. We know about laws that have been passed that denies us the right to control our own bodies and our own destiny. We know about the almost epidemic acts of domestic violence and sexual assault against women, that plagues our society. The current occupant of the white house is an adjudicated sex offender who speaks like an out loud racist.

We come from different backgrounds and life experiences. What do we know of each other’s stories?  Do we understand the struggles of poor women, many who work from sunup to sun down and still struggle under the weight of poverty and deprivation. Do we understand the intergenerational trauma of systemic oppression and state sanctioned rape that Black women endured. Do we know the story of First Nation women who were evicted from their native land and marched a thousand miles on the Trail of Tears. What about the stories of the Asian women who were placed in concentration camps during the second world war; and who were scapegoated during the Covid pandemic; or the stories of Latinas who were separated from their children at the Southern Border and watched them being placed in cages. Many of the children were put in our social service system. And some have never been reunited with their mothers.

Who we are to one another in all our colors, shapes, sizes, social status and life experience? And even with our efforts to fight injustice have we been complicit in maintaining the white patriarchal system as some women suffered under its weight. Have we betrayed each other because some of us benefit from the gift of privilege. What do we know about that? Have we stood up for each other? Have we challenged those forces that hurt so many of us? What we now see is no woman, even with the buffer of privilege, is safe under the long cruel reach of the fascism and the white patriarchal system? As society has shifted, we must remain vigilant, aware that true progress demands not only external change but also honest reflection within our own communities. What must we do now?