The Fringe...

​For months we have been told to accept, give a chance and honor the process. Our feelings, concerns and fears aren’t validated; reinforcing decades of oppression. Decades of being told how to think, what to think, where to talk, what to say, what not to say, and where we belong. The kitchen, barefoot, not kneeling at a football game, not on our nations mall, not on pipelines. Not on Facebook, not on our t-shirts, not in the streets or on picket lines.
 
We were told that our whining was a leftist liberal syndrome, born of privilege and sensitivity and snowflakes. That demanding basic decency was being too sensitive. For women, for minorities, and for single mothers.  For poor children, for disabled sisters and for our immigrant brothers.
 
Yesterday we were told that our country had found its savior. We will be safe again, rich again, Right again, and great again. Today I saw felt all those things. Not because of him, but in spite of him. Safely ushering my daughter through a sea of smiling, giving faces. Rich with family and friends from each walk of my life. Righteous in our demands for peace and acceptance. And greatness in our numbers.
 
Today we see we are not a small part of our great country. We are millions strong, not just here, but around the world.  Through dust and shadows and fear, we are constant and rising. We love. We are committed. We are accepting. We are watching. The whole world is watching and standing with us. We are not the fringe. Love is not the fringe.