One year ago, on Jan. 21, 2017, one day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, over 3 million people throughout the world chose to join the Women’s March on Washington. They held simultaneous marches to express the values we hold sacred as women in our society, as Americans, and as citizens of our Earth.
We, the people, took to the streets to proclaim that we must no longer endure inflamed public discourse, nor actions, that validate longstanding violations of our human rights. Nor could we permit those violations to continue.
The Women’s March reflected our steadfast determination to be the America that values all of its people, all of its women, and whose actions are deep-rooted in Integrity, Civility, Tolerance, Inclusion, Compassion, and Justice.
One year later, we must come to the inevitable conclusion that the Trump Administration unconscionably substantiates every one of our human rights concerns.
Enough is enough. It is our individual and cumulative obligation to change the tenor and construction of our political environment by our most meaningful means — the ballot box. To that extent, we take pride in the many thousands of women nationwide who have proclaimed their intention to enter public office where only a marginal handful stepped forward during the two prior elections.
Encourage them. Join them.
Faith Terry
Middlebury