Hear Us, America

We, the Black, Indigenous, Latina, Asian American Pacific Islander women of America, see how close we are to creating a democracy that works for all of us. Not just for you, for him, for them – for all of us.

We reached out to our mothers, our friends, our daughters, our aunties, our grandmothers in the midst of a pandemic. In the midst of a system and people within that system throwing obstacles in our way, spreading untruths so that our truths and our voices would be suppressed. And yet with our foremothers’ spirits providing wind in our backs and courage in our hearts, we stood our ground in lines that were made long by oppression. We raced the clock to beat deadlines that were shortened by fear. Fear of our power. Fear of our voices. Fear of who we are as a coalition demanding change through love and justice.

You did not recognize us, though we have been here for generations. Our blood and our sweat and our joys and our pains are planted deep in American soil. We are lifted high and made examples of in the country’s darkest days – and yet we are the hidden figures behind our country’s greatest triumphs. Yes, we say to each other, we did that. And we did it time and time again, with neither pomp nor circumstance – only a collective will to let our voices be heard in a democracy that had yet to include us.

And just as we felt the weight of hate and racism like never before, we shored up the true promise of democracy and made it real in places where it had been denied for so long. We brought voters to the polls who had long given up. We saw ourselves at the top of the ticket and in our local races, and we voted for them and for us. We turned a state whose roots run red to blue. And from that state came a shift in power in our Senate.

We did that.  

But it wasn’t easy. It’s never been easy. We grew up hearing stories of a time when daring to vote meant facing violence. When speaking up and standing up could lead to your arrest. When the law that was supposed to be on our side was against us. And then we saw those black and white images, those tales from another time come to life in our own streets, our own televisions and throughout the country. People said: “This isn’t us.” But we knew all along.

We witnessed white supremacists storm the U.S. Capitol with rage and hate, clinging to untruths in an effort to hold on to their America. Because they did not recognize us. They did not understand our power to unite and organize and lead with democracy, justice and equity in our souls. After all, who are we but mere women of color?

We are America.

We are the Black, Indigenous, Latina, Asian American Pacific Islander, bi-racial and multi-racial women of this country and we see how close we are to creating a democracy that works for all of us.

Not just for you, for him, for them – for all of us.

Join Us