I Was a Stranger, Day 17: Females Fighting Fear

Wednesday was the Ides of March, and thousands of Americans sent postcards to Trump expressing their dismay and dissatisfaction with the way he's tearing apart democracy. One of the funniest postcards I've seen said, "Because of you, I've met so many nice liberals."

The silver lining of the current disaster in the US is the way people are coming together, rising up,

and standing up for justice, in particular women. We had an unprecedented women's march and Day Without Women, and thousands of Facebook and Twitter groups have popped up across the country to protest the current Republican leaders. Activism lives in social media, and because I rely on it for a lot of news, Facebook is a headache and a salve at the same time.

According to Chicago lawyer Dee Armstrong, she saw an approximately 70-30 female-male ratio of people working with immigrants and refugees at Chicago O’Hare Airport. "As Rebecca Traister points out, women have been a major force in crafting the legal opposition to Trump’s administration: It was four female judges (plus one male judge) who issued stays on Trump’s executive order, while Sally Yates, Obama’s now-fired appointee for attorney general, became an overnight hero for refusing to enforce Trump’s executive order."

We had Elizabeth Warren being silenced, prompting our new feminist battle cry, "Nevertheless, she persisted." Patty Murray, Republican senator Lisa Murkowski, and others vigorously opposed the nomination of Betsy DeVos. Kamala Harris continues to speak up (future of the Democratic party). And then there's the divine Samantha Bee and Rachel Maddow, ruling the political commentary circuit.

On a local level, the most visible leaders I see in Oregon are women as well...standing up for those on the margins, for reproductive rights, for the poor and elderly and disabled, for LGBTQIA people, all of whom will be devastated by the Republican agenda and proposed budget. Women are challenging the Republicans on ethics and democracy.

Women are leading the resistance. And we are just getting started.

Our Lenten hero of the day! Read more of my "I Was a Stranger" entries here.