Last weekend thousands of women protested Donald Trump’s inauguration by marching across cities in the United States. There was also millions of Women Marches throughout the world that showed solidarity with women in the United States. These countries showed support for the American women that will be affected by Trump’s presidency. Although, I applauded the many women, men, and children who got out and protested for Women rights, I felt incredibly saddened that these thousands of women didn’t come out in droves for innocent black women, whose lives have been taken over the last year. Moreover, I was filled with dismay because I knew that many of these women probably won’t come out and protest when another black women is mistreated or even worse, killed. Feminism was a big reason for the Women’s March because many feminists saw Trump’s presidency as a clear threat to Women’s rights. These right’s included funding for Planned Parenthood, abortion, and birth control. However, many of the educated feminists and women who marched in this walk forgot about the true meaning of feminism.
Feminism can be described as the “ideology of political movements or ideologies that share a common goal; to achieve political, economic, personal, and social rights for women”, this definition includes ALL women. It’s not exclusive for white women only, it’s supposed to be inclusive for all races of women. Black women are supposed to be included in feminism. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case for innocent black women who need their voice heard. For example, Sandra Bland was a victim of police brutality, racism, and possible murder. When the Black Lives Matter Movement protests hit the street for Ms. Bland, I hardly saw any feminists’ movements out on the streets with these activists. Now, were in 2017 and feminists decide that a big protest should happen because they feel Women rights are going to be taken away. Again, I’m a woman and I applaud the women who marched for my rights, but I have a big problem with the blanket silence of feminists’ movements on black women and other minorities.
Furthermore, I don’t understand why black women are ignored by many feminists, I mean this movement was supposed to be created for women of all races. However, feminism has shown that it has not been progressive and proactive in helping women of color at all and the Women’s March proved it. The media and news have shown countless innocent black women who have been murdered, assaulted, and harassed. And still, there has been a severe lack of large-scale protests by feminists for the black souls that were taken unjustly and unfairly. Moreover, while I do understand that the Women’s March was not only for women, but for the LGBT community, environment, racial equality, immigration reform, and health care reform, there still is a large discrepancy for black women. There hasn’t been a feminist march that solely concentrated on black women or black people. In summary, historic progress was made by the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., but the feminist movement itself has taken a major step back in helping achieve rights for women of color.
