I march because I’ve not stood up in the past because I was afraid of speaking up

I march because my silence gives encouragement to oppress others

I march because my strength is necessary

I march because I see clearly

I march because I’ve been there and I’m here and you can always talk to me without judgement

I march because I think food is a basic human right

I march because I think fresh water is a basic human right

I march because I think fresh air is a basic human right

I march because I think housing is a basic human right

I march because I think health care is a basic human right

I march because my public school education prepared me for a job and life

I march because Pell grants helped me afford college

I march because I believe the National Parks are one of the best ideas in the world

I march because I am not impressed by money, social status or job title

I march because Planned Parenthood was there to help me make my own choices about my reproductive life

I march because I believe in choice

I march because we are stronger together

I march because women’s rights are human rights

I march because fascism has no place in my country

I march because when I was a child our family was the recipient of charity

I march because it is the right thing for a patriotic American to do

I march because I am impressed by the way someone treats other human beings

I march because Gandhi actually said: “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi

I march because in the words of Martin Luther King, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.  He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it”

And I march because King also said “our lives begin the end the day we become silent about things that matter”

I march because I am human

I march.

Do you?