Together We March

by Leah Henderson

  Through marching together, a multitude of South Africans showed their collective power, and the acting president vowed at last to come to the table with all involved. It was one of the largest permitted marches in South African history. With continued pressure, five months later, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after twenty-seven years, and finally, five years later in 1994, apartheid was officially outlawed. Nelson Mandela became the first president elected in an open and democratic election by the people of South Africa, all because individuals came together to march against being kept apart.

  CAPITOL CRAWL

  Washington, DC

  March 12, 1990

  The greatest lesson of the civil rights movement is that the moment you let others speak for you, you lose.

  —Ed Roberts, first student who used a wheelchair at University of California, Berkeley

  TOGETHER WE MARCH TO ELIMINATE BARRIERS BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL

  Many people do not think twice about climbing a step or answering a telephone. For centuries though, disabled Americans have experienced countless daily barriers that limit their independence in small tasks such as these and place legal restrictions upon their freedoms and their ability to act independently.

  Like other marginalized groups, people with physical and mental disabilities wanted fair and equal access to society, including an end to discrimination in education, employment, and government services, and accommodated access to buses, trains, and planes. They did not want to have everything in their lives decided for them. They knew that their disabilities did not mean they were incapable of being an active part of the conversations concerning their own lives.

  While the disability rights movement that formed in the 1960s made significant strides at the federal level by the 1970s, the laws did nothing to improve access to privately owned restaurants, stores, telephone and television services, offices, movie theaters, and more. So disabled citizens made their presence—and the disadvantages they faced daily—known to the public through civil disobedience. They blocked inaccessible buses and buildings with their wheelchairs and bodies, they had wheel-ins and sit-ins, they held public hearings, and they sent letters to congressmen. Leaders pressed for more unity, and people with differing disabilities committed to fighting for one another until laws would be passed to protect them all from discrimination.

  This call for unity led to the proposal of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which would give all disabled people the same civil rights and access afforded to other minority groups.

  By March 1990, though, the passage of the ADA was stalled in the House of Representatives as public transit companies lobbied against the expensive renovations the accessibility requirements dictated. But disability activists were determined not to let the bill be weakened. They knew they needed to go to Washington, DC, to fight. Yet, for many, traveling wasn’t a possibility due to these accessibility limitations. While those who could not attend sent their support through letters and telegrams to Congress, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), a disability rights group, organized events for protesters who could.

  On March 12, 1990, about one thousand disabled people and their families headed to Washington, DC. They marched and rolled down Pennsylvania Avenue to the steps of the US Capitol, waving signs demanding, ACCESS! They rallied at the foot of the Capitol, and then together sixty protesters dropped their crutches, walkers, and canes or left their wheelchairs behind to crawl, roll, or pull themselves up the more than seventy-five steps to the building, in the district’s first crawl-in. They knew other Americans needed to witness the barriers they faced each day. The activists did not want sympathy; they crawled for fairness and action. The youngest crawler, eight-year-old Jennifer Keelan, who has cerebral palsy, refused to stop, declaring “I’ll take all night if I have to!”

  The American public and politicians watched, moved by her efforts and those of the other demonstrators. Their willingness to act helped shift what was once accepted. Combined with similar efforts across the country, this event helped ensure that the ADA passed in the House without becoming weakened. Among other things, the law requires flat or ramped entrances to buildings, accessible parking spaces, and telephone services for the hearing and speech impaired. It also protects disabled people from job discrimination. Although some disagreed with the protesters’ tactics during the crawl-in, no one could disagree that they were noticed and heard. Four months later, when President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law, he said, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.”

  Even though many strides have been made since the passage of the ADA, like other fights for civil rights, all is still not equal. People with disabilities still experience discrimination and strive to be hired as capable workers deserving of equal pay and positions, and there are still companies and services unwilling to make changes to ensure equal access for every American. So people with disabilities and their allies will continue to come together to march, roll, crawl, and demand until full access to society for everyone is a reality.

  GLOBAL MARCH AGAINST CHILD LABOUR

  Manila, Philippines; Geneva, Switzerland; and Worldwide

  January 17 – June 1, 1998

  My whole life has just one single aim, that is to restore childhood. That is to restore freedom.

  —Kailash Satyarthi

  TOGETHER WE MARCH TO END CHILD EXPLOITATION

  We think of child labor as a thing of the past, from the time of the mill children of Pennsylvania. Despite the attention that protest garnered, to this day, all over the world, some children are still forced to work in unsafe conditions when they are very young, resulting in numerous health issues, injuries, stunted physical or mental development, and even death.

  A number of these children have never had the opportunity to get an education, and for many of them, there are no other options. Much like Mother Jones, there are people and organizations still trying to help give them a future. In the early 1990s, after a successful five-month child labor protest march across India, longtime child labor activist and 2014 Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi asked a group of young Indian labor marchers what they wanted to do next. Their response was simple and immediate—children are not only exploited in India, they said, they face exploitation in every corner of the world. The children wanted a global march.

  Only a few years later, with the help of one thousand organizations—including some led by teachers—from more than one hundred countries, they created the Global March against Child Labour. The march would take place over many months and be led by young laborers around the world demanding, “No more tools in tiny hands. We want books. We want toys!”

  On January 17, 1998, hundreds of demonstrators set out from Manila in the Philippines, walking miles for an end to child labor. Then a core group flew to Thailand to continue the fight, marching with locals across Asia. Car caravans and planes bridged the gap between countries for some involved, transporting them between marches so they could keep the message alive across the globe. Along the way, former child laborers and activists held teach-ins, like the ones used on Earth Day, to educate the public about the atrocities of child labor and to explain why it was important for people to care and act. They hoped to bring worldwide awareness to the fact that child labor was happening now, not just in the past, and to emphasize specific problems facing children in different countries.

  In February, another committed group started in Brazil on a route across the Americas that would take them through Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. In March and April other groups marched through countries in Africa including South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. Seventy-one heads of state and dignitaries across the globe joined portions of the march, including kings, queens, presidents, and prime ministers. And finally, in late May, select groups from across the globe flew to Europe for the remaining leg of the march. Coming together, they raised their fists, banners, flags, and voices as they marched to Geneva, Sw
itzerland, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference, where a new global pact against child labor was being considered.

  Marchers wanted governments of the world to establish and enforce laws that would protect vulnerable children and their right to an education everywhere. They especially wanted to put an end to the worst, most harmful, and hidden types of child labor—including prostitution, child soldiers, slavery, and other hazardous work. Marchers collectively trekked almost 50,000 miles, braving the elements and rough areas in 103 countries, aiming for the Geneva committee to see them and draft an international law to protect their childhood. By uniting, these young people began to understand that their numbers would force people to listen to them.

  And they did! At the ILO conference, the organization drafted Convention No. 182, which states that a country is committed to protecting children under eighteen and must immediately end the “worst forms of child labor.” The following year it was unanimously adopted by members of the ILO, and the overall number of child laborers has decreased ever since. The Global March was one of the largest and most successful efforts in history for children’s rights, but until every child has the freedom to play and to go to school, the fight is far from over.

  MILLION PUPPET MARCH

  Washington, DC

  November 3, 2012

  This is all about really deciding who and what we are as a country. If we make a statement that the arts, public television, and public radio are important to us, that says something about us, and if we say that they should be forfeited, that says something about us.

  —Million Puppet Marcher from “Million Puppet March Documentary—2012”

  TOGETHER WE MARCH FOR OUR EDUCATION

  Did Big Bird teach you letters? Or did the Count make numbers fun? Do you know more about your neighborhood because of the neighbors you met on Sesame Street? For more than six million viewers each week, Sesame Street is where kids can learn about our world from trusted characters who feel like friends.

  But not everyone values these lessons. When 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that he liked PBS and loved Big Bird, but that he wasn’t going to keep spending money on them, he assumed federally funding the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that brings us beloved characters like Big Bird was an unnecessary expense for American taxpayers.

  Hundreds of Americans instantly disagreed. In 2012, public broadcasting was part of the lives of 170 million Americans, and PBS was rated the Most Trusted Institution in the United States. In his comments, Romney had also crucially overlooked public broadcasting’s power as “America’s largest classroom.” Shows like Sesame Street were created not only to show the very young an inclusive world where everyone is valued, but to even the playing field for almost half of the nation’s three- to four-year-olds who do not attend preschool or Head Start programs. The money to support public broadcasting basically costs each taxpayer $1.35 per year, less than a cup of coffee, but if this funding was lost, many of the local TV and radio stations that carried this content would be lost too. As a result, many understood Romney’s proposed cut would affect more than just Big Bird. It would directly impact rural areas, the very young, low-income families, the elderly, minority groups, and teachers.

  Within seconds, people across the country expressed their desire to #SaveBigBird on social media. Seventeen thousand tweets per minute referenced Big Bird, ten thousand mentioned PBS, and on Google “Big Bird” was the “fourth-highest-rising” search among users. Mitt Romney had ruffled feathers! For college student Chris Mecham and animation executive Michael Bellavia, this was about more than a hashtag and a bottom line. The two men did not know each other, but they shared a similar goal—to protect Big Bird and public broadcasting. Bellavia quickly bought MillionMuppetMarch.com, only to find someone miles away who’d had a similar idea. A Facebook page Mecham created moments after Romney’s comments quickly gained hundreds of likes, and two concerned citizens suddenly became novice organizers.

  Unlike the way the Women Strike for Peace had to use Christmas card lists, or how the March on Washington organizers wrote thousands of letters, the internet got the message to the world in lightning speed, and people responded. The Million Puppet March organizers encouraged everyone to show up in Washington, DC, three days before the presidential election with their “best fuzzy, feathered, felted friends” to show “support for Big Bird, puppets, PBS and all that is good.” For over forty years, public broadcasting had served the public, now the public was ready to serve it!

  It was time to march. On November 3, starting from Lincoln Park, almost one thousand people, puppets, and Muppets from across America joined together to head for the Capitol reflecting pool, chanting “Know Puppets, Know Peace!” They also sang a classic line from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood show, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Those who couldn’t reach DC participated online as part of the Virtual Million Puppet March. They uploaded videos on a Million Puppets YouTube channel to lend their support to the in-person marchers. After the march, there was a festive atmosphere filled with skits, puppet shows, and music where people celebrated what they had learned from public broadcasting.

  Like many of the marches before it, a group of concerned citizens took the steps to help stop an injustice from happening. Although Sesame Street became part of HBO’s subscription service in 2015, where paying subscribers have a nine-month head start on new episodes, federal funds were not withdrawn from public broadcasting, and there is still much educational programming produced there for children and teachers to enjoy. Because of these marchers, Americans and government leaders were reminded that public broadcasting isn’t a wasted luxury, but is essential at all levels of society as it gives us a well-rounded glimpse into the multitude of American experiences. That day hundreds remembered through marching what being a good neighbor was all about.

  WANYAMA URITHI WETU WALK (“WILDLIFE IS OUR HERITAGE” WALK)

  Nairobi, Kenya

  January 22, 2013

  We don’t want to wait till the day that there is one elephant standing in Kenya. We want to take action now.

  —Nyokabi Gethaiga, founder of the Let Live movement

  TOGETHER WE MARCH TO SAVE OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS

  For millions of years, elephants have roamed the earth, journeying within the forests and savannas of Africa and Asia. They are a majestic species that value friendship and familial bonds. The matriarchs teach the young how to survive, navigate rough terrain, confront danger as a defense, and use their impressive memories to lead the way to the best watering holes. However, they have little chance of defending themselves against certain enemies, including humans.

  In the 1800s, western traders valued elephants’ gleaming tusks of ivory, calling it “white gold.” Soon there was a demand, and people from across the globe came to Africa, because unlike Asian elephants, both male and female African elephants have tusks. Some people came not only to admire the great animals in their natural habitat, but to kill them for these mighty tusks. People wanted ivory for many things, including combs, jewelry, piano keys, and pool balls, but there was little concern for the gentle giants they killed in order to meet this great demand. In the early 1900s there were more than ten million African elephants, but by 1979 there were little more than a million. Between 1979 and 1989 alone, humans wiped out half of all African elephants and only 600,000 elephants remained. Conservationists and governments worried. Action was needed or the majestic creatures would soon be extinct!

  The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) responded by placing African elephants on its most endangered species list in 1976, joining Asian elephants that had been listed since 1975, but they were still hunted. Even with government bans, the penalties and jail times for poaching were far less severe than those for drugs, guns, or human trafficking, so poachers were not deterred by the risks of breaking the law. The ivory trade continued to boom, and elephants continued to suffer.
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br />   This escalated until January 2013, when a family of eleven elephants were gunned down for their tusks. It was the single largest killing of elephants ever to occur in Kenya, and Kenyans were outraged. Wildlife activists demanded urgent action. Kenyan citizens, human rights advocates, celebrities, artists, media personalities, and conservationists joined forces to create Kenyans United Against Poaching (KUAPO). They were ready to march for the elephants and demand that poaching be considered a national disaster. They wanted harsher punishments for poachers, stronger legislation, global awareness, and support.

  On January 13, they marched through the streets of Nairobi, weaving in and out of traffic, with slogans painted on their arms and faces, declaring “Blood Ivory” and “Save the elephants!” It wasn’t simply an animal rights issue anymore, it was an environmental issue and human rights issue as well. Poaching harmed animals, which affected ecosystems, altering daily life and tourism. It affected the world! Protesters’ roughly four-mile walk may have started on the streets of Kenya, but through digital outreach, local action, and a collaborative effort between KUAPO, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and others, that one march grew a year later into the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. It took place on World Animal Day in October 2014 on six continents, in 136 cities, including Nairobi, New York, Soweto, Paris, Vancouver, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Washington, DC. With signs declaring, EXTINCTION IS FOREVER! and hands marked with the words LET LIVE, people came together and marched in even greater numbers.