Walk or Run, Forward not Back
On January 21, across the country and the world, more than 2 million people walked in support of women’s rights.
In interviews, the protesters who marched in Washington and New York and Chicago, in Australia and Europe and Antarctica expressed different reasons for participating. Some said they were marching to stand up for equality and social justice. Others to demonstrate against racism and misogyny. Still others in support of their parents and grandparents who marched before them. The reasons were as numerous as the pink hats and the cardboard placards.
Regardless of how you voted in November or what you feel about any given issue, one place where we all can agree—we all have a right to march, to raise our voices, to be heard.
More than 160 years ago, in our neighboring town of Seneca Falls, people marched in support of women’s rights. There were fewer of them, but their impact was almost incalculable.
We’re proud to be in the second year partnering with the Right to Run 19k, the annual run to celebrate the 19th Amendment and to raise funds for the National Women’s Hall of Fame. The road race follows some of the route women walked in July of 1848. Our campaign this year centered on the idea that, thanks to those in whose footsteps we follow, you can run for anything. For our mothers and daughters. For solidarity and equality. For president.
The common theme, then, now, and in every year in the future, whether we walk or run, is that feet and voices and resolve are ideal ways to make sure that we always move forward and not back. Because even after Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, even after Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks, even after Sandra Day O’Connor and Nancy Pelosi, the race is never really over.
Take a look at the inspiring posters our team designed for the race, and meet us on our social media pages (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram) to tell us what you’re running for.