Women Who Change The World… Our Responsibility. Our Liability. Our Privilege.
“… I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you love me…”
I took my 13-year-old niece to see & Juliet this weekend… after THIS WEEK, a week fraught with fear, anxiety, and sadness, and I sat next to her as the titular character responded to her husband use these lyrics as his marriage vows. And she answers back in her resounding powerful response. You need to care who I am. You need to care where I am from. You need to care what I do and did… for me to love you!
In a week in which we heard men espouse that wives having different opinions from and then voting differently than their husbands was tantamount to adultery and then watching the elections across our country put people in power who I fear may pass laws that mean I do not own my body or my mind feels like now I do not get to own my own soul.
And so, this soulless woman sat next to this young girl watching a character demand back her soul before she broke out into song singing ROAR.
“I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter
Dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar”
And I cried. I sobbed. Because women throughout our country… queer women, women of color, women of minority religions, poor women, abused women, incarcerated women, old women, childless women, mothers, married and unmarried women feel like our souls are being stolen.
And so many feel too defeated to ROAR.
My mother started to work before it was legal to have her own bank account. My grandmother raised two young boys alone after demanding a divorce from a husband who was committing actual adultery (the kind that is real…not the kid that apparently includes voting as you want). My great-grandmother married an immigrant with an accent who fled from tyranny and gangs. My great-great grandmother rescued her son from forced labor because he was Jewish and brought her children to this country. I come from strong, powerful women, and I am a strong powerful woman.
So let me tell you… you are going to hear me ROAR.
When I was 10, I cried when President Bush was elected. I was scared that he would make abortion illegal. My young mind certainly could not know what abortion truly was about, but even then, I understood that women’s rights are always on the razor edge. I have spent my career in nonprofits serving others to change their lives, using the privileges of my education, skills and expertise to work towards gender equity, to combat food insecurities, and to create a world in which healthspan and lifespan match.
I have been ROARing.
And I know you have been too. I have seen the women who change the world. I have been supported by you and supported you. I have been celebrated by you and celebrate you. I have taught you and learned from you.
We have been ROARing.
And now, in this moment, in this time, we need to ROAR louder than ever before.
A man who flies is called Superman. A woman who flies is called a witch. I am perfectly ok with that fact. Superman hid behind lies, was lonely, and spent his life fighting. Witches have power, knowledge, expertise, and a community.
Being a woman who changes the world is a responsibility. It is a liability. It is a privilege.
And we must rise to this moment together using our power, knowledge, expertise and community to live up to this responsibility so that we can see beyond the liabilities to be privileged enough to lead the change that is needed now as it was needed for so very long before so that one day it will not be needed at all.
Continuing our work now is truly important. I believe people are desperate enough in their lives to vote against their rights, against their values, and against their better interests because they feel unseen, unheard, and uncared for. For better or worse, they do not want to see college tuition reimbursements when they can’t afford a McDonald’s hamburger. Immigration to them is not an ethical issue. It is an economic one. Women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and civil rights feel secondary to having a job whose pay keeps up with inflation, that allows them to pay their mortgage and bills and feed their families without stress, worry or debt. I have always said it is a privilege to be able to use my vote to serve others. There are too many in this country who feel like they need to use their vote to only serve themselves.
Our work supports people, holds them up, and empowers them to serve themselves and others. We are the ones who offer job training, food, housing and financial assistance, and education and health services.
A world that feels cared for, heard and seen is a world full of people who can feel the privilege of using their vote to serve others.
History has shown us over and over again that when people are scared, they turn inward to become self-protective and self-protection is always at the heart of abusive behaviors. Throughout history it is in these moments that we see the worst of humanity come out. But as one woman so beautifully reminded me this week, it is also in these moments that we have the opportunity to do the most good.
Are you a woman who changes the world? I am. I know quite a few others who are. Need some support, love and care while we change the world? Need a network? Need a hand? Need a community? I do.
Four years ago, I started an annual tradition of hosting a lunch for women who change the world. I’d bring together awesome women who did not know each other for one lunch to meet each other and to dream about how we could support one another.
This is going to take more than a lunch. I don’t know what it will take, but I do know it starts with community. And so, I am launching the women who change the world LinkedIn Group so that we can brainstorm solutions together. To be clear, this is not a political group that will take political action. It is a community for women who change the world in all ways, in their community, in their families, and in their work who understand that when we work together to do good work good things happen.
Join us and help create a place for women who are doing good who want to ROAR.
Join us if you want to fly.
Join us if you are certain that it is time to care who we are, where we are from and what we do.
Join us to regain our souls even when our bodies and minds are under attack.
Join us to ROAR.
