Women’s March on Austin Texas

It wasn’t just women’s rights, though I am damn tired of women being paid 70 cents for every $1 a man makes, damn tired of women having to endure pussy grabbing and other entitled macho crap, damn tired of good women being controlled by contemptible men.

All 50,000 of us in Austin — women, men, children — were there to demand policies that affirm life. We are done with war mongering and a bloated military that takes up far too much of the budget with trillion dollar planes that can’t even fly. Slashing funds for libraries, child care, violence prevention, disabled assistance, arts and humanities, and more, we’re done with that, too.

Taking away Medicare for the elderly and infirm — no! The exaltation of guns and domination and hate — no! A healthcare system with prices far, far higher than the rest of the world and non-negotiable drug prices, while yanking affordable healthcare out from under people whose lives depend on it — no to that, too!

That beautiful Saturday afternoon in Austin, we were “a river of souls in migration, a nation of women with wings,” to quote one of my favorite chants. The love flowed, the energy grew, the commitment became diamond hard as we passed the cheering crowds that filled every Austin sidewalk and balcony along the way.

And when we returned to the Capitol, where so much regressive, life-denying, political-posturing manure is dispensed daily, we stood firm. As many t-shirts said: “They thought they could bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” The Capitol grounds have been planted. I can’t wait to see what grows!