The re-rise of ideals

I grew up with my father’s stories about student protests in the late sixties in Italy. His love for ideals of liberty, acceptance and the hatred of war transcended from his stories and fell right under my skin, where my love for them grew and evolved.

I became curious and started researching protests. The black consciousness movement and anti-apartheid movement of South Africa, the mothers of desaparecidos (disappeared) in Chile, India’s independence movement, Che Guevara’s battles, gay rights, our grandmothers fighting for their vote, the Arab Spring on 2011, Selma. There was always one constant in all these events: oppression.

Five days ago 3.9 million women, men, LGBTQI and children marched the streets of cities all over the world in the name of women’s rights. It was the day after the now President Trump was elected into parliament. The epitome of the slimy, rich, arrogant man who has no regard for women, judges his daughter by a number, and cannot wait 10 seconds for his wife to walk around the car to join him.

This was not the only display of a fight we have had in the last year. The Black Lives Matter movement rose up after repeated attacks on black citizens by the police in the US and made a lot of noise worldwide. Standing Rock gave hope to many that collective action actually works when, after months of protests, President Obama ordered a stop to the building of the Dakota Pipeline.

We find ourselves in a moment in history where ideas of oppression and bigotry are taking the lead in the political realm of the Western world. This is a wake-up call, that nothing should ever be taken for granted.

Whenever ideals of oppressions rise, the masses rise with them. It has happened throughout history repeatedly, and aided by our globalised society now these movements can spread like wildfires. Women in Nairobi, Kenya marched on Sunday in solidarity with Washington, the same happened in Rome and in 673 cities around the world.

If I can think of one positive outcome of all of this, is that more people are starting to raise their voices. Most of those who now feel threatened now, were not ready to stand up before, too comfortable in their lives (and who can blame them?). Now they can. One more battle to fight makes a stronger case for the war, no matter who is fighting it.

It is time to unite, educate ourselves of what other fights are being fought, and do the best we can to join them and come together in solidarity. Collective action works, it has before. Every major milestone has been the result of collective action, often driven by one courageous individual. Many have lost their lives and continue to do so to follow their belief in their truth. It is time we start believing in that again and do the best we can to be coherent and faithful to our ideals.

“El que quiera ser águila que vuele, el que quiera ser gusano que se arrastre pero que no grite cuando lo pisen” Emiliano Zapata

Loose translation: He who wants to be an eagle should fly, he who wants to be a worm should crawl, but then shouldn’t scream when he is stepped on.