I march because we can no longer keep silent while people all over our beloved country suffer and are persecuted. I march because hate and oppression have gone on too long, and the time has come to stop this cycle of violence. I march because the only way to make America truly great is to lift up ALL Americans, not only the privileged. I march because I believe ALL Americans, regardless of gender, color, orientation, religion, economic means, or country of origin, have “the unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” — and that the government exists to “secure these rights for all citizens,” and we should hold it accountable if it ever “becomes destructive of these ends,” as our Founding Fathers unanimously intended and declared.

“No one is free until we are all free.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

~ Desmond Tutu

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

“Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression…. Our endeavors must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man, and the liberty of the child.”

~ Nelson Mandela

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out —

Because I was not a Socialist….

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me —

and there was no one left to speak for me.”

~ Martin Niemöller

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

~ Margaret Mead