Let's March All Year

Let's March All Year

It’s a Friday night in May and I am dabbing an earthy bronze and gold color onto my eyelids

Erasing the beautiful colors that were painted back in March about the wonders that many women performed

We partied and attended socials of exceptional authors, politicians, artists, and educators

Women who refused to be silent about being a woman

Women who posed the question and the answer before the world!

Now here we are partying again, but in an alternate reality

It is an unstirred and balmy Friday night in May, and we’ve already buried the facts about the sacrifices of our

mothers,

abuelas,

and aunties.

We, two women of mahogany and hazelnut hues, descendants of vast backgrounds of jutting speakers and leaders

Chose to follow a crowd to the city that has reached capacity

The feathers that were lightly floating around the meadow

Are now on fire

Swirling about the scent of my Chanel Coco Mademoiselle fragrance

The aura created by an icon who challenged women to be daring and free of conformity

How dare I wear it?

The peace of those pieces of women that were becoming a whole in solidarity

Are vanishing into yesterday

Yet again.

Thirty-one days of exhilarating and awe-inspiring voices seeming to speak in unison

It gave me goosebumps to hear sultry and high-pitched “Hellos” and “Nice to meet you! How can I support your business?”

These women seemed to appear angelically in the coffee shops, seminars, and mall restrooms of where I dwelled

Those connections in March seem to have faded into the peak midnight skies, hiding from the sun-filled hours of now

The mall displays and grocery store promotions informing the world of women suffrage leaders and inventors had vanished

Oh, no, no, no!

No more time for that!

For Macy’s is promoting a new perfume at 20% off

And Publix has Taco Tuesday ingredients on sale

Instantly gratifying,

That is bliss for most

Because seriously, who doesn’t like tacos?

I am now sitting in the passenger seat of my best friend’s Jeep and the GPS is taking us further into the wilderness of the world

Where our glittery eyeshadow and plum-colored glossy lips will award us free drinks and dinner,

and maybe this time steak or lobster. Maybe steak, not lobster..

We are back to drinking 'tails so that we can forget about the entrepreneur soul of Madame CJ Walker

or that the gorgeous Hedy Lamar helped with creating the technology behind Wi-Fi

Speaking of Wi-Fi and cosmetics , I sift through my Instagram timeline as time flies

There is an endless current of social media pages filled with skin care products and hair pills for salon-quality looks

Whatever hooks

But just six weeks ago the stories were roaring with pictures and historical facts

about Harriet Tubman’s courage and Rosalind Franklin’s remarkable intellect

Yet here I am perpetuating the lost art of embodying appreciation

For what life-changing efforts were given to this world

By those that blossomed into women from tiny little girls

and charged into the universe,

Actions unrehearsed!

Breaking down barriers created by blinded men

or other women who just simply didn’t understand

Tearing down barricades to walk upright

confidently eager with a gleam in their eyes

Standing tall in the meetings that were held in small, cramped spaces or in huge conference rooms

They were the women who knew

What they had to do.

Hopeful for the challenges that will grasp hold of passions

to create big solutions

Someone had to do it!

But tonight, my heels are high and tight on my feet

My skin glowing, my chest perched with a hint of shimmer

A subtle protest that I am sweet and never bitter

While my mind cries out for what is missing again

And yet again,

Why do we bury the truth of who we are and where we've been?

My best friend looks over at me and reaches for my hand

“We don’t have to go out, I don't mind staying in!”

I raise my head up and look into her eyes

to see the spirit of true sisterhood that could change the tides!

Like Ella and Marilyn,

Or Betty and Coretta!

She read my mind and felt my heart

I drew tears and exhaled,

“ Yes! Let’s go watch a good movie instead - The Help!”

She agreed, “And drink wine and recite “Ain’t I A Woman” while we go live?”

“Yes ma’am!” I responded. “Let’s spread THOSE vibes tonight!"