This past Saturday, millions of women across our nation – and beyond – united and made their voices heard. The messages were clear: that women’s rights are human rights. That we will fight for equality in every sense of the word. That we won’t back down from protecting our people and our planet. On Saturday, powerful women (and allies!) truly walked the walk.
We at Seventh Generation take these issues to heart. For over 28 years, we’ve guided our business with the philosophy that in our every deliberation, we consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. It is imperative that we – as a company and as citizens – continue to fight for social justice and environmental protection, and history has shown us that there is power in building a collective voice. As we learned more about the Women’s March and the Unity Principles it was driven by, we quickly noticed parallels with our efforts in civil rights, workers rights and environmental justice and knew we had to get involved. And as we marched this past weekend, we saw first-hand how the march became a moment for people to raise their voices around broader issues that they feel are not being heard. From climate change and indigenous rights, to broader values like love, inclusion and community.
Members of the Seventh Generation team marched in our home state of Vermont and in cities across the nation. A particularly dedicated group made the bus trip from our headquarters in Burlington, Vermont down to our capitol to join the march on Washington. Take a look at a few of their favorite moments:
"I went into this march as a participant, showing up for the past and present generations of women in my family who have fought for women's rights and for the future generations who hopefully will never have to. And I left with a shared sense of humanity - beyond just representing the rights of women I felt connected to all of the causes that are facing injustice in today's world and a greater sense of compassion, connection and passion for creating change to help those around me." - Alison W.
“I marched because I believe strongly in the principle of respect for all beings (including the earth!) and in using my life to work toward the realization of that principle in our world. As a woman, this was about uniting with others who have felt marginalized, disrespected, and fearful as a result of our recent election.” – Rachael G.
"I marched because I truly believe we're only as strong as the most disenfranchised amongst us. As the daughter of immigrants I was so proud to march for environmental justice and equal rights for all. We've made great strides in the last 50 years, but our work isn't done yet." - Suki M.
“For me, showing up for our equal rights and giving power to our dissent feels like the least I could do. Riding a bus overnight to march for all of the women in my life and all of the women who don’t feel like they are able to have a voice was an honor and a privilege I will remember forever.” – Rachel M.
Did you march this weekend? Were you as inspired as we were? The movement doesn’t stop with Saturday’s march. Stay involved and take action by joining the Women’s March in taking 10 actions for the first 100 days.