Dignity by Barry Rosenbaum

I went to Saturday’s International Women’s Day march in downtown Los Angeles. It was a marvelously mixed crowd. People of all ages and backgrounds. There were a multitude of signs expressing a kaleidoscope of demands, aspirations, and challenges — all directed towards the TrumpMusk coup. The creativity was stunning and demonstrated the passion that brought everyone to this event.

Photos by Barry Rosenbaum

What occurred to me most vividly as I was observing and participating in this action is that fundamentally everyone there — no matter their creed, color, religion, age, or ethnicity — wanted basically the same thing. Equal dignity for themselves, their children, their friends, their neighbors, and their community.

We all want an equal opportunity to pursue our dreams and for those that come after us to be able to do that too, with no one being unfairly advantaged or unfairly disadvantaged. These dreams may not be fully realized but the freedom to strive for them is often what gives life its purpose. We also want the freedom to express ourselves, our identity, in a way that reflects the essence of who we are, or who we want to be. Patriarchy, Hierarchy, Oligarchy, Autarchy, or Monarchy — all serve as hindrances to these aspirations.

Any “archy” in whatever form which systemically allows one class of people, however big or small the class, to dominate another class of people or to be accorded privileges that others are not, is the antithesis of democracy. This is true whether that domination or privilege is due to one’s sex, skin color, religious background, heritage, national origin, wealth, or any other false measure of one’s worth.

This is not a new principle. It’s been our guiding vision since we had the yearning for independence as a nation — Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Or simply stated — Dignity.