We stand in solidarity and vigilance with our brothers and sisters of the United States and the World at large, always holding close to our hearts that ALL people are created equal and that an acceptance of an injustice, no matter how small, opens the door to greater injustice.
Mission:
Recent events in the United States not only threaten our global standing in the world, but tear at the very American fabric so many have tirelessly toiled to mend. Women, minorities, and those who identify as LGBTQ have been demeaned, insulted, and disparaged. Muslims have been vilified and immigrants discarded. Refugees, many of whom are women and children, have been rejected and turned away. The recent attempt to normalize rape culture is a threat to women everywhere and a degradation of the societal expectations of men. While these things are disheartening and frightening, some of our greatest triumphs and most significant steps forward in our nation’s history have come through times of great adversity.
A hero is just an ordinary person like you or I who RISES UP amidst adversity. Martin Luther King, Jr. rose up and became a powerful voice symbolizing hope to so many where hope had once been lost. Rosa Parks, when she refused to give up her seat on that bus, challenged the notion that she was somehow less than because her skin was brown. Susan B. Anthony, when arrested for voting in a presidential election, continued to soldier on the rest of her days to fight for women’s right to vote. Sojourner Truth, an escaped slave whose own children were taken from her and sold, dedicated her life to civil rights and women’s rights all the while living in near poverty because it was what she was called to do. There are so many more civil liberty heroes, but the one thing they all had in common was that they all rose to the challenge. Surely, they all felt scared. But, the beauty lies in that they felt the fear and rose up anyway. That’s where true character lies. And, so we must also RISE UP in the midst of the adversity we are facing now. We do it for them, for the progress they made with blood, sweat, and tears. We do it for our children so that they can live in an America which lives by the tenet that ALL people are created equal. We do it because America has always symbolized refuge and safety, a shining city on the hill whose light is always on welcoming the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses. While daunting it may be, when we stand together, WE as a whole are greater than the sum of our parts. To remain silent is to ensure greater injustice. As MLKJ so eloquently stated, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
With this run, we support human rights through donation to the civil liberties charity of your choice. All (100%) of the net proceeds from these events will go directly to the individual charity organizations. They need our support now more than ever. Let our collective voices (or footsteps as it may be) be heard on July 1. RISE UP and join the movement!