Nearly 30 years ago, Minister Louis Farrakhan called for the Million Man March—a gathering of Black men to stand up for the power of Black people in reaffirming vigilance toward our civil rights and societal responsibilities. Now, as a Black transwoman, I see in the current government a need for similar action in Washington, D.C., for the transgender community, the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, Muslims, Latinos, and every other minority group.

Rights are not a zero-sum game. Dignity is not like crude oil; using it to benefit one person does not deny it to another. Kindness and concern for the rights of those unlike yourself are not commodities with limits. Recognizing this, and understanding why some people are denied rights, kindness, and dignity—and how all such actions are connected by supremacy—is what makes someone "woke." It is good to be awake to the power structures and relationships that shape the world, to see how they are unfair and unjust, and to call them out—not to acquiesce to them.\

There are those who, just last year, wanted to teach that slavery led to enslaved people gaining beneficial skills in Florida—a state that, in recent years, has been intensely focused on transgender rights. That same governing philosophy now wishes to "ban wokeness," or "band DEI" which for them seems to mean:

• In the House, passing a rule that essentially targets one member's right to use a restroom that matches her gender identity—a practice that, to my knowledge, has occurred on Capitol Hill for a very long time without issue. A petty and sophomoric action as Nancy Mace tries to out Marjorie Taylor Greene, Majorie Taylor Greene who was satisfied to merely express a combative opinion. 

McBride, a biological male, does not get a say in women's private spaces. https://t.co/lyudPogWGw

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 19, 2024

• In Oklahoma, a school district purchasing specialized Bibles to place in classrooms—not just standard Bibles or studies of the King James Bible and other documents available for free online, but paying a premium for these particular versions, and placing them in each classroom rather than just the library.  This guy would like to do the same in all the schools in the nation.
• Pledges from political leaders, confirmed by Donald Trump, to deport people and use the military in our towns and cities to do so. I think some Americans have not seen what an army can do to a city, even when treading lightly.  This action would require the mass violation of the rights of many natural-born American citizens to deport on the order of 10 million people.  Some talk of denaturalization of some who have legally naturalized.  Something which if done legally could take years but if it is a national emergency and time to dispatch the Army then will it be done by a judicial process? 

• Proposals to use executive power in ways that would circumvent the constitutional role of Congress to confirm cabinet members by forcing Congress into a recess.  If the house and Senate do not agree they are in recess the the president can. 

We need 100k Muslims praying, 100k LGBT and allies guarding them as they do and at least a million people who support the rights and dignity for immigrants and all their fellow Americans there to say that it's enough.  To tell the government to get to work on the things that they were sent there to do economically or be ready to be voted the F out in short order.  That we are a nation woke to the idea that human rights are a settled matter and our government is not to be used to denigrate or deprive anyone in the country of those rights so hard won. 

I am not so naive as to think that this call will lead directly to action. It's simply food for thought for the world. Every once in a while, minorities need to remind the majority that we will not go quietly.  Activist groups of all stripes and kinds get ready.