Yesterday I went to the Women's March in Oakland, California, home to many social movements that will forever mark history as impetus forces behind sociopolitical reform. As I arrived at the Fruitvale Bart station there was a huge crowd of women, and some men, mostly wearing pink, holding signs that read MY PUSSY this...or I'M WITH HER, & other colorful language and pictures that vehemently denied their acceptance of this year's election and the policies that follow.
Frankly put, FUCK TRUMP! poster & caricatures of him as an orange devil were everywhere! What was not as visible were Black and brown faces. As an East coast girl, Oakland was known to me as one of the Black Mecca's, and the Fruitvale Bart station where the late Oscar Grant III was murdered by police, isn't in N.I.M.B( not in my backyard) Berkeley where such a crowd would be less shocking. However,I shook my head and continued on, stuffing myself into the next available train.
My Mexican-American roommate and I waited outside of the Lake Merritt Bart station for the rest of our group. Silently we stood side by side, watching people file off the Bart escalator into the streets.Were my eyes playing tricks on me? I saw trans folk, lesbians, disabled, men, children, even dogs! BUT WHERE THE HELL WERE THE P.O.C!!! Finally I had to say it, "Where are all the Black & brown people?" My roommate replied in her sweet, calm voice, " I know what you mean, over 1/2 of white female voters voted for Trump, and I've been hearing that those numbers have made many of us less likely to be apart of things like this." I nodded quietly.
When our friends arrived we all had the same sentiment. I asked if they had seen more diversity as they walked to meet us, and they sadly replied "No." Had I missed the memo? Was there an alternative march for a womanist like me? I marched on eating all of my snacks in the first 20 minutes as a form of comfort, but nothing could soothe me as I saw BLACK LIVES MATTER signs, but no Black lives around. I posted my thoughts on my IG page and a dear friend of mixed race felt the same vibes in DC, but she was moved by white women chanting Black Lives Matter, and thinks we as Black women can't stop now or we will miss our seat at the table. I agree that splintering groups is what made the opposition stronger, but do we want a seat at the table with feminist ( white) who time after time have decided against inclusivity while praising rights for all women?
How does the old adage go, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice... Bush knows the rest. What I am saying is that we can't keep expecting Black and brown, ESPECIALLY BLACK women, to rise up with white women (feminist, poor, educated etc.) who by majority choose to perpetuate white patriarchal agendas that benefit neither of us. I showed up, and I will continue to do so, because 1/2 isn't all, but not without eyes on both sides of the opposition, one eye on the bigot in orange, and the white liberal in pink .
