Today I marched with ONE MILLION PEOPLE in Washington, DC. No, this is not my country. I know. But it’s the country that welcomed me over 1 year ago and offered me nothing but freedom. Freedom to be who I am and speak up for what I believe it’s right. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t march for the US or the US Americans. Nor did I march for my home country or “my people”. I marched for something that I believe it’s greater than any sense of patriotism/nationalism. I marched for basic universal human rights. Yours and mine!
I marched because even though I went through a very simple process of getting my visa to live here, legally, this is not the reality of most Latina(o)s.
I marched so I can walk on the streets holding hands with whoever I prefer to (even my T-Rex teddy bear, if so I wish), without being discriminated for that.
I marched so I can make the same salary of any other man as long as we are making the same job.
I marched so I can wear whatever I want, at any place and time of the day and night, sober or drunk, and not be harassed or raped.
And honestly, this would have been quite a lot of fair reasons. But that’s not all.
I also marched so my black friends stop being criminalized for their skin color and type of hair.
I marched too for the rights of my Muslim friends to wear a hijab, go pray at the mosque, and even leave their office rooms in the middle of the day and afternoon to make their prayers.
I marched for my Arab friends as well. For their right to speak their mother tongue and have a beard and not be considered and treated as a terrorist.
I marched so teachers in schools can teach girls that they can be whatever they want and that science has only facts and no gender.
So no matter where I am or whoever is in power, I will always march, speak up, and fight. And whether I now live here despite being born there, the only flag I will always wave, it’s the flag of these rights.
#whyimarch #womensmarch #legendary #pussypower