Marching Is a Prayer, a Love Song

I will march on Saturday for many reasons — racial injustice, concern for my LGBTQ friends and family, for my Muslim neighbors, for the values recently conveyed about women, because I live in a town outside of Baltimore that thought (out of fear of and resentment toward Latinos) it needed to make English its official language, because I believe in bridges not walls, because Confederate flag bumper stickers exist, because care for the earth actually does matter, because water Is life, and because my faith compels me to care about anyone who is vulnerable — but my most personal reason is that appointees for Chief Strategist and for Secretary of Education do and say things that put persons like my son at risk.

As I lamented this with my sister in November (regarding Bannon's cruel words about the differently abled), she listened and then said "I have a plane ticket, let's march." Marching is a prayer, marching is a love song. I pray for and love my child with all my heart. I pray for and love this country, too.