We've been horrified, sickened and outraged as we hear the stories, scandals and statistics unfold. The very military leaders charged with programs to prevent and respond to sexual violence are committing sexual assaults, and pandering.  The most recent story is of secret video-taping in showers at West Point.

There has been growing attention and awareness to sexual violence in the military. A recent Department of Defense report found that last year some 26,000 individuals in the military reported unwanted sexual contact – that comes to more than 70 per day.  Unfortunately, the Pentagon officially reported only 3,374 formal allegations. This is a problem that must be more effectively addressed.

Beyond these alarming statistics is a human issue. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) identified it well in her statement, “Too often, women and men have found themselves in the fight of their lives not in the theater of war – but in their own ranks, among their own brothers and sisters, and ranking officers, in an environment that enables sexual assault.” [1]

Sexual violence issues reflect security in its most intimate definition.  Danger and combat are an expected component of military service, but this compromise of personal security is a most covert and abstruse friendly-fire.

In 2000 when the United Nations (UN) passed a Security Council Resolution (SCR) on Women, Peace, and Security, known to those in the peace and security field as UN SCR 1325, the foundation was laid to change all of this.

In December 2011 President Obama signed an executive order that translates into a new paradigm for security for our service men and women. This administrative policy comes in the form of a National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security.

The U.S. NAP commits our U.S. government and relevant federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), to ensuring mandatory women’s inclusion on peace negotiations, peace-building activities, and conflict prevention; to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence; and to ensure access to relief and recovery assistance in areas of conflict and insecurity.

As our service men and women come under the umbrella of the government agencies and departments that must implement the NAP, so too does this redefined security enter our military.

The very policies within the military that have so demonstrably failed as this data emerges are being reconsidered. Additionally, the way money is spent to implement and enforce these policies is being reexamined as several defense budget concerns, regarding allocations and authorizations come up for votes. The underlying budget ethos of the Pentagon may yet experience a sweeping change.

Women’s Action for New Directions, WAND, acts on these very issues. We seek to redirect Pentagon and defense spending from outdated priorities, such as nuclear weapons, to unmet human concerns, as in this very situation. Action in support of Women, Peace, and Security challenges our nation and our military to redefine security. ”Security” tolerates no sexual violence, and if such a thing should come to pass it will not end in silence.

The paradigm shift calls for women’s presence, voices, access, and participation in all the ways we decide on and define security - to do that we need more women in office.  To move this paradigm shift from an elegant intention to a manifest reality we must take action.  Here are our suggestions, as we join the chorus of Americans who have simply had enough of rampant sexual abuse in the military.  It's time for our outrage to be mobilized to action:

1)  More women in Congress. Recently one expert observed, “Women are much more powerful on the Hill than they were the last time sexual assault in the military became an issue and so…that increases the chances that these bills [addressing military sexual violence] are going to make their way to passage.”

And that’s with women now making up less than 20% of Congress – what would happen if even more women were elected? Join WAND and help us support women candidates who support peace and security values.

In the meantime, take a look at this sampling of statements and legislation from some of WAND’s favorite women leaders in Congress.  Take a moment to tweet your thanks to these Congressional women leaders. (WAND is on Twitter @WomensAction.)

2)  Implement National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.  In December 2011, the Obama Administration issued an executive order requiring agencies including the Department of Defense, to implement a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP). With the NAP, perspectives and considerations of gender must be woven into the fabric of U.S. policies and activities related to peace processes and conflict prevention, as well as the protection of civilians and humanitarian assistance. It is of vital importance that the Pentagon apply this to the U.S. military domestically as the military carries out our policies around the world.

3) Engage in the policy debate.  Soon Congress will consider defense funding and policy. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings about this issue on June 4. We expect debate and votes on measures to address military sexual violence in the House in early June as well.  WAND especially supports the Military Justice Improvement Act, a bi-partisan bill led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand that calls for removing decision-making regarding sexual assault cases from the chain of command, and giving that discretion instead to experienced trial counsel.  A similar parallel measure in the House by Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) together with Rep. Nikki Tsongas (D-MA) is likely to be included in the annual National Defense Authorization bill.  Look to WAND for timely actions you can take to support this and related legislation to effectively address military sexual violence.

A sampling of WAND’s Women leaders in Congress statements and legislation, May 7-20, 2013:

SENATE (listed in alphabetical order)

Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA) (@SenatorBoxer): 5/16/13 Leg. Announced (Military Justice Improvement Act); 5/7/13 Statement

“It is horrifying that the number of sexual assaults in our armed forces rose so dramatically last year …When 26,000 of our brave men and women are victims of sexual assault each year, we have a crisis that demands a robust and comprehensive response. We can start by fundamentally changing the way the military investigates and prosecutes these heinous crimes, and Senator Gillibrand and I will introduce legislation next week to do just that.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) (@SenGillibrand): 5/16/13 Leg. Announced; (Military Justice Improvement Act);  5/14/13 Statement

“America is home to the world’s best and brightest, brave men and women who join the armed services for all the right reasons – to serve our country, defend all that we hold sacred, and make America’s military the best the world has ever known….But too often, these brave men and women find themselves in the fight of their lives not off on some far-away battlefield, but right here on our own soil, within their own ranks and commanding officers, as victims of horrific acts of sexual violence. Our bipartisan bill takes this issue head on by removing decision-making from the chain of command, and giving that discretion to experienced trial counsel with prosecutorial experience where it belongs. That’s how we will achieve accountability, justice and fairness.”

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD) (@SenatorBarb): 5/16/13 Legislation Announced (Military Justice Improvement Act)

"I'm volcanic about sexual assault in our military ranks. From Tailhook to Fort Hood, sexual assault is not an isolated incident, it is a systemic and persistent problem…It's time for real action. This legislation will help change the culture in our fighting forces. It will ensure that victims of sexual assault are not victimized again by commanders that look the other way. Our fighting women and men in uniform need to know they have a government and leadership on their side, and that sexual assault, rape and abuse will not be tolerated."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH) (@SenatorShaheen): 5/15/13 Letter to Hagel; 5/9/13 DoD letter

“We have an obligation to act and to act now to address sexual assault in the military.  This is too urgent of an issue and we've seen one too many reports about this crisis in recent weeks. We must do everything in our power to address this crisis and I’m committed to working with my colleagues to make that goal a reality.”

HOUSE (listed in alphabetical order)

Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) (@RepCheri): 5/10/13 Support of Bill Announced

“It is absolutely unconscionable that so many of our brave service members are victims of sexual assault, yet don’t report these crimes for fear of being punished or ostracized.”

Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53) (@RepSusanDavis): 5/15/13 Statement on Assault & DoD Response; 5/8/13 Statement on Sexual Assault Report

“Sexual assault is a serious enemy.  It is in direct opposition to the core principles of our armed forces, it undermines confidence and readiness, and it is attacking our greatest, asset our men and women in uniform.  We must defeat this enemy and we must do it now.”

Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02) (@RepAnnieKuster) 5/16/13 Push for Assault Hearing; 5/15/13 Recap of House Floor Speech, 5/8/13 Vote for Improved Veteran Services

“Sexual assault in the military has reached a crisis point. A recent report from the DOD found that the number of service members who have experienced unwanted sexual contact has increased by more than 30% over the past two years – from 19,000 to 26,000 people…These numbers are staggering – but they’re more than just statistics. Behind every number is the story of a member of our armed services who stepped forward to serve our country.”

Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14) (@RepSpeier): 5/14/13 Statement on Sexual Assault in Military; 4/17/13 Introduction of Legislation

“Another sex scandal rocks the military….Congress has been an enabler of sexual assault by not demanding that these cases be taken out of the chain of command.  We owe it to every young man and woman in this country who serves to guarantee that they will not fall victim to sexual predators in the service.  Under the present system, we cannot make good on that guarantee.  I have had enough.  Please let every member of the House Armed Services Committee know that you are fed up too.”

Rep. Niki Tsongas (MA-03) (@nikiinthehouse) (co-chair of military sexual assault caucus): 5/20/13 Coast Guard STRONG Act; 5/17/13 Reaction to Obama Joint Chief Mtg; 5/8/13 BE SAFE Act; 5/7/13 Response to Hagel; 5/7/13 Response to DoD FY2012 report

“It has become painfully evident in recent weeks that saying the U.S. military has a cultural problem in regard to sexual assault and sexual misconduct, is a glaring understatement. At worst, this is a deep-rooted and widespread acceptance of unprofessional, inappropriate and criminal behavior. At best, it is willful denial or head-turning on the part of too many military leaders.”

What does the public understand about drones? Mostly that they efficiently kill our enemies without risking the lives of pilots. Which is pretty much what our government wants us to believe.

A better description of the U.S. drone program is: a form of targeted killing that is outside the law and mostly outside of public scrutiny.

Two books have just come out that bring much about drones to the light: The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti and Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill, reviewed in a deeply troubling article in the New Yorker, May 5 by Steve Coll.

How many of us were aware of the vast number of drone attacks carried out in our war in Iraq between 2003 and 2008 by Special Operations forces? Houses of suspected insurgents were attacked, their occupants killed or captured and forced to identify new targets. Reading about the size and scope of this program made me think I was back in the days of the Vietnam War and in fact it has been compared to the C.I.A.’s Phoenix program which attempted to eradicate the Viet Cong by rounding up and assassinating or capturing tens of thousands of villagers.

Inevitably the U.S. drone program moved to Afghanistan in 2006, where soon Obama escalated the attacks into Pakistan, which we are not officially at war with and since then also into Somalia and Yemen. The fight against Al Queda is the justification for this expansion to which we now have to add the killing of U.S. citizens by drones.

The public has been disturbed by the recent inclusion of U.S. citizens even though most of the publicity was about  the assassinated Anwar Alaki, born in Las Croces, New Mexico, a preacher who became outspoken in his attacks on the U.S. especially after he returned to Yemen to live. Are we stepping over a fundamental right of U.S. citizens and should a president be able to call for the execution of one of our citizens without a trial?

An even bigger issue for many of us are the civilian casualties resulting from drone attacks. These were largely invisible to the American public in the Iraq War but are now being loudly protested in the countries that have suffered these casualties. Steve Coll claims that while drone attacks have thinned out Al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, “the United States has surpassed India as the most hated nation in Pakistan.”

A major problem is how easy it is to classify civilians as terrorists and blur the distinctions covered by the laws of war. We've read how often boys out collecting wood can be “seen” by drones as enemy combatants and bombed.

WAND concerns about drone attacks are rising. We are listening carefully to colleagues including  David Cortright of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies who questions their effectiveness as well as their morality.

Now we need to alert more of the American public to what is being done in our names. The argument against us will be that all these measures are to make us safer. Tell that to those of us who live in Boston!  Today’s paper brings more evidence that the two Boston bombers carried out their attacks on their own but also that they looked at the Internet sermons of  Anwar Awlaki before he was assassinated.

There’s an old saying that what we sow, we will someday reap. How many new enemies do we create when an unmanned plane drops out of the sky and kills a child, a family, a village? Or an American citizen?

Everyone knows that Congress is under enormous fiscal pressure to make budget cuts. Even Pentagon spending is facing new scrutiny.  In this context, Congress should look more closely at Cold War-era, over-budget, delayed, nuclear weapons programs that won’t meet 21^st century security needs.  Please join us for a webinar briefing series addressing select nuclear weapons programs.

Register Here

Thursday, May 30, 3pm (ET)- Is it time to Boot the B61 Nuclear  Bomb?

The B61 nuclear bomb built in the 1960’s is the oldest weapon in the U.S. arsenal.   About 200 of these bombs are based in Europe. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans an elaborate and expensive life extension refurbishment program consolidating different B61 bombs into one – the B 61-12.

Initial cost estimates for this program have more than doubled with the current projection now over $10 billion, or about $25 million for each new bomb. This would make the B61 the most expensive warhead in the U.S. arsenal.

And by the time the bombs are ready–sometime into the next decade- will Europe even want them? Even if Europe does want these bombs, should the United States pay for them?  General James Cartwright, former Vice Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff has called for U.S. tactical weapons like the B61 to be eliminated over the next decade stating, “Their military utility is practically nil.”

Join us to hear from experts Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project at Federation of American Scientists and David Culp, Legislative Representative, Nuclear Disarmament at Friends Committee on National Legislation. We will discuss the status of the B61 and talk about what Congress can do to prevent wasting dollars on this oldest, most expensive weapon with “practically nil” military utility.

Register Here

Coming next…  Monday, June 24 3pm (ET) – Pull the Plutonium Pork – The Mixed Oxide (MOX) Plutonium Program

ANA 25th Anniversary Quilt – an original work of art by Susan Gordon, former ANA director – made with t-shirts from ANA member organizations.

WAND is proudly part of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) network of 34 organizations representing the concerns of communities living downwind and downstream of nuclear weapons and radioactive facilities. ANA just held its 25th annual DC Days from April 14th-17th bringing activists from all over the country to Washington to speak to Members of Congress and the Administration about issues relating to nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and environmental effects of nuclear production and waste.

WAND’s Senior Public Policy Director, Kathy Crandall Robinson, is on the board of ANA and has been involved in the planning and implementation of multiple “DC Days.” This year WAND’s Public Policy Associate, Emily Charlap was also involved, bringing her knowledge as a former House of Representatives staffer to both the training and lobby meetings.

WAND Public Policy Associate, Emily Charlap and ANA Board Member Judith Mohling of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center with Congressman Mike Coffman (CO-06)

Georgia WAND is also a member group of ANA and brought a delegation of nine to this DC Days, including Georgia WAND Executive Director Bobbie Paul who received a special grassroots award “for her enduring commitment and unwavering support for the community she serves, and for her great heart that shines through all she does.” Additionally, Courtney Hanson, Georgia WAND Public Outreach Director served on ANA’s DC Days Planning Committee helping to prepare and coordinate DC Days events.

The first day of ANA’s DC Days is training for participants on all the issues surrounding the U.S. nuclear complex. Presentations were given specifically related to nuclear weapons programs and how they should be more closely scrutinized especially in light of the current debate about the budget and the national debt. Other presentations explained disarmament programs, nuclear waste disposal, and necessary clean up in specific communities around the country.

ANA participants partook in over 80 meetings with Members of the House, Senate, and Administration advocating for their communities and for the nation as a whole hoping to convince Congress that now is the time to act to keep citizens secure by recommitting to a world free of nuclear weapons and to a safe and clean future for our children.

A feature of ANA DC Days is a Capitol Hill awards reception. For the 25th anniversary DC Days reception, honorees included Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kristen Iversen, author of Full Body Burden – a book about the Rocky Flats nuclear facility in Colorado, Kathleen Sullivan, nuclear educator and film maker , and Diane Curran, environmental lawyer and two special grassroots awards to Bobbie Paul of Georgia WAND and Judith Mohling of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.

Courtesy of Andy Phelan in Congressman Johnson's Office; Pictured left to right: Helen Fredrick, former DeKalb County Commissioner Gale Walldorff, Congressman Hank Johnson (sporting a patriotic apron that was a gift from Gale Walldorff and the crew and handmade by Gale's sister, Barbara Fleischman), Carol Tveit, Bobbie Paul, and Lisa Scarpelli

Thank you to Georgia WAND for providing this great report on their recent trip to see Congressman Hank Johnson! Read more about all of their work at www.gawand.org.

On Thursday, April 4, Georgia WAND and constituents from Georgia’s fourth Congressional District met with Congressman Hank Johnson. In attendance were Georgia WAND member and former DeKalb County Commissioner, Gale Walldorff, Georgia WAND board members, Helen Frederick and Carol Tveit, and Georgia WAND staff Bobbie Paul and Lisa Scarpelli. In the meeting, we discussed:

• Overall concerns regarding Nuclear Weapons Spending
• The Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, originally introduced in 2012 by Representative Ed Markeyof Massachusetts’ fifth district, which would cut nuclear weapons spending by more than $100 billion over the next ten years. Rep. Markey will be reintroducing the SANE Act.
• The Usage of Drones
• New Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and the process of making the choice to go to war

In Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel, State Senator Lena Taylor discusses the meat-cleaver effects sequestration will have on programs across Wisconsin, while urging Congress to give budgetary priority to sustainable jobs instead of the Pentagon’s out of control spending.

Leading up to International Women’s Day, State Representative Keisha Waites examines human trafficking in her own backyard of Atlanta, and the importance of legislation to protect women and children internationally in the Savannah Morning News.

To commemorate International Women’s Day, State Representative Phyllis Kahn applauds the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but encourages Congress to expand the protection to victims worldwide through the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the Minnesota Daily.

In the South Bend Tribune, MacKenzie Lair, a student at Indiana University South Bend, shares her personal experiences fighting for women’s justice, and the need for VAWA and I-VAWA.

Ten Minnesota elected officials came together to explore violence against women in their own state, and why they support domestic and international legislation to protect women and children.

Time for a New Budget Tune

The current proposed Ryan budget is another verse in a fiscal opera that brutally attacks social safety net programs, earned benefits and needed investments in a range of programs from education, health care, road, bridges, energy and science research and much more. The one category of spending that is untouched by fiscal austerity is Pentagon and war spending.

This out of tune approach is hitting women and children especially hard. Women are losing more jobs, domestic violence shelters and advocacy programs are being closed down, and access to healthcare is being limited. Our nation’s children are denied educational opportunities and we are even cutting food support programs like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) funding.

All of these cuts will further impact state and local budgets that are already squeezed by a slow economic recovery. Shortages in state and local budget coffers will mean more cuts to education, basic services and jobs. All of this could put our economy in serious jeopardy.

While the Ryan budget is willing to see more children starve, more jobs lost,  and our economic stability put at risk, it is unwilling to cut  weapons systems that are out-dated, over-budget and irrelevant to 21^st Century security needs.

For example, we are slated to spend some $640 billion in the next decade on Cold War-era nuclear weapons and related spending, even though military leaders like Gen. Colin Powell, and Gen. James Cartwright, the retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have dismissed this excessive spending as outdated and unnecessary.

Military leaders agree that we need to apply fiscal discipline to reshape the defense budget to support our troops, veterans and military families and also  provide the security that we need for the 21^st Century.

It’s time to demand a different budget song. We deserve a budget that promotes America’s security and prosperity and reflects our values.  The Congressional Progressive Caucus’ “Back to Work Budget,” proves that the Ryan budget is not our only option. It makes sensible cuts to excessive Pentagon spending while also investing in programs that strengthen our nation and economy for generations to come. It also reduces unemployment and the deficit. Now that is a budget that is good for women and good for all of America!

- Kathy Crandall Robinson, Senior Public Policy Director

Read more here:

Budget Priorities Statements from Key Women in Congress

What’s Next for Title I Schools Under the Ryan Budget – Cutting Fridays? by Amy Qualliotine, Outreach Associate, National Women's Law Center

Why I Like Paul Ryan, But Not His Budget by Randi Schmidt, Director of Economic Empowerment Policy, YWCA USA

This Is Not a Joke. by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director, MomsRising.org

A Single Mother With a Childcare Subsidy Writes to Paul Ryan by Nan Mooney

Americans Want a Fair Budget Now! We Demand Congress Stop Giving Tax Breaks to the Richest 2% by Linda Meric, Executive Director, 9to5, National Association of Working Women

“Ryan Budget” Is Bad for Women, Bad for Me by Riana Goren, AAUW Public Policy Intern

Ryan budget would defund health care, undo protections by Amy Allina, Program and Policy Director, National Women's Health Network

Top 5 Things to Know About New Budget Proposals in Congress by Mattea Kramer, Director of Research, National Priorities Project

While International Women’s Day has been informally celebrated since the early 1900s, the United Nations officially recognized it in 1975, marking it as an annual observance to commemorate the importance of the woman in all aspects of society. In many countries, International Women’s Day has graduated to the status of national holiday, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Eritrea, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, among others.

We commend the efforts made these past several years in the United States towards raising the position of women. Federal agencies, including USAID or the state, defense, and justice departments, have taken heed to President Obama’s December 2011 Executive Order to establish a U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to ensure women’s participation in preventing conflict and keeping peace. In August of 2012, we celebrated the introduction of the Women, Peace, and Security Act to ensure that this National Action Plan would become more than just an executive order, that we would eventually see its implementation as national legislation.

Most recently, Congress passed the historical Violence Against Women Act. This strengthened our justice system and social services to ensure that women can protect themselves from violence within our own borders, that we can reduce the high rates of physical and sexual violence, so women can safely participate in all aspects of society without fear of attack.

In terms of women’s political participation, an historical number of females were elected composing 18.9% of the 113^th United States Congress—or 101 of the 535 seats (20 Senators, 81 House Members). To name a few significant achievements, Massachusetts saw its first woman elected to Senate (Elizabeth Warren). Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay and female politician to the Senate. New Hampshire became the first state with an all female delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.

And yet, there is still much to worry about. We may have seen historical gains, but we still fail to rank up to many other countries. While we may have 18.1% participation in Congress, many other countries charge ahead, including Iraq with 25.2% female composition of Parliament or Afghanistan with 27.7%. The Inter-Parliamentary Union ranks the United States as 77th out of 190 countries in terms of female participation. This is unacceptable for a country that prides itself on equality.

In the early 1900s, International Women’s Day focused on improving women’s status in the labor force. Certainly we have achieved much progress in this area since that time. However, women continue to be unfairly discriminated against in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women have lost 454,000 federal, state, and local government jobs compared with 267,000 by men since the end of the recession in June 2009 (Bloomberg News).

Even this past January, government payrolls cut approximately 8,000 positions for women compared with 1,000 for men. This imbalance is bound to continue as sequestration descends upon our economy, possibly trimming growth by 0.5% and prospectively eliminating 350,000 more jobs, according to Bloomberg News.

Take a moment this International Women’s Day to remember all that women have achieved and that still more needs to be done. Take part in the celebration of women by finding an event near you. We must remember that equality and protection for women means stability worldwide.

-Hannah Wheeler, Communications and Development Intern – Boston College Class of 2012

16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL. Site of a bombing that killed four young girls in September 1963.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking part in the Civil Rights Heritage tour organized by SCLC W.O.M.E.N. (Women's Organizational, Movement for Equity Now), Inc., the women’s branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  It's a two-day bus tour through Alabama that visits sites significant to the civil rights movement, exploring some of the happenings key to securing voting rights for African-Americans in the South.

The tour was started in 1987 by Evelyn Gibson Lowery, a civil/human rights activist with a long legacy of working for positive change in the U.S. and elsewhere. Now in its 26^th year, the tour is as popular as ever: nearly 300 people went on the trip this year, and they were young and old, black and white, and they came from places as far away as Oregon and New Jersey.

Voting Rights Mural, Selma, AL.

As a twenty-something, the Civil Rights movement often feels like a part of the distant past. In school, we learn about events that happened 40, 50, even 60 years or more ago and it’s hard to understand a society that would deny people basic constitutional rights. Even living in the South, it’s hard to imagine a truly segregated society. But on the tour last weekend, I didn’t have to just imagine the kind of society or country that denied rights to its citizens; I got to hear about that society from the people who worked so hard and nearly gave their lives to destroy it and rebuild something better.

What I loved most about the tour – aside from visiting the places where history happened and hearing details and anecdotes often left out of school textbooks – was hearing the history from those who lived it. There are several people who attend the tour every year, serving as guides, sharing their stories and their personal reflections. The personal accounts were profound and moving. More than anything, it made me grateful for the women and men whose courage guaranteed me a society where I don’t have to worry about not being able to exercise my constitutional rights.

Freedom Wall, Marion, AL

The bus ride was long and sometimes tiring, but from time to time, the guides would direct our attention to some building or marker along the road and share tidbits about the history that happened there or answer questions from the bus riders. The guides were truly invaluable. Throughout the two-day tour, local police escorted the three buses along the roads and highways. Ironically, the police departments who provided security and guaranteed the safety of the attendees of the Civil Rights Heritage tour were the same police departments who decades ago enforced the laws that denied so many those rights. As my dad would say, “We’ve come a long way.”

At one of the last stops of the tour, the Viola Liuzzo Memorial, several of the dozens of children on the tour got a chance to share with the group what they had learned over the weekend and what the tour meant to them. The recurring theme of their reflections was gratitude, for the people that fought for civil rights and for the chance to learn about the movement. I definitely felt the same way.

The tour culminated in a march of thousands led by U.S. Rep. John Lewis (GA-5), U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-7), Vice President Joe Biden, Martin Luther King III, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Lowery, and others across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in honor of the “Bloody Sunday” march in March 1965. And at a time when the necessity of the Voting Rights Act is being questioned, I am especially thankful for the women and men who take the time each year to remind us how long and how hard people fought, how many people risked everything and even gave their lives to have the right to vote.

As Rev. Al Sharpton said in Selma last Sunday, “We are not here for a commemoration. We are here for a continuation.” The fight for justice and civil rights is not a relic of the past, but a struggle that must continue until economic, racial, and social equality are truly reality.

Marching Across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, AL

-Adzi Vokhiwa, WiLL President's Associate