It is July 2019. The US Women’s National Team just won the World Cup, and Megan Rapinoe is officially a powerhouse both on and off the field. The democratic debates have just finished, and we find ourselves in an ascendency of powerful female voices. Voices that just 50 years ago might have been silenced, or at least pushed to the sidelines to allow white men their “given” place at the forefront of politics.
The image of Senators Kristen Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren and Representative Tulsi Gabbard and author Marianne Williamson standing on that stage, in cases in the center of that stage no less, is an image that generations of women before us fought for. That they campaigned, and went on hunger strikes, and marched, and were tortured for.
Our elders, the generations of women, feminists and allies are directly responsible for each of those women standing on that stage. They opened countless doors for those of us who came after to walk through– often at significant cost to themselves. The glass ceilings have shattered, or at least cracked because of the beating our foremothers gave them. It is incumbent on us now to say thank you, and to ask them one last time to take up their torches, and lead us to a final victory.
It is time we had a woman in the Oval Office.
I am calling for our elders– women who have sacrificed much, and created pathways previously non-existent– to help us win this final fight. We need you– your generation, for all its progress– is still holding back the tidal wave of progressivism that is swelling among the youth. We need you to get out there and talk to those who dismiss us as “too young” to be taken seriously. We need your sage council and wise words to help guide us towards taking the next steps on those paths you blazed for us, and we need you to be loud– louder than ever— that we do not need a white man to beat a white man. That a woman, ANY of the women currently running, are more capable, competent and fit for leadership than our current president.
We need you to help us fight back against the racism faced by Kamala Harris, the ageist attacks on Kristen Gillibrand, the overtly sexist attacks on Elizabeth Warren and the internalized misogyny that is impacting every aspect of this campaign since day one. It impacts every single one of us in insidious and difficult to identify ways. You have fought many fights know the strength and perseverance it takes to create change, and we need your fortitude in these trying times. We must stand beside you that we may learn from you, your wisdom and your passion to create a better world.
It is incumbent upon us, the younger generations, to venerate those who came before us, clearing paths they were unable to walk with the ease our feet enjoy, while we carve paths forward for those who walk behind in the hopes they will continue to forge their own way when our feet are stilled. And right now we need guidance of our foremothers, the strength of our sisters, and the hope of our children to move this nation forward through the difficult times ahead.