WIn the age of social media and hashtags, sometimes it feels like we are all connected, or a part of one big group. We forget the smaller groups that we belong to and the ones we represent in the physical world. We lose the ability to recognize that others' realities are different than our own, just because throughout the day we find ourselves all looking at the same social media feeds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the annual Los Angeles Pride Parade was replaced by the Resist March this past June, a protest meant to bring all demographics of people together to peacefully ensure the future of their basic human rights.
Undoubtedly, inclusivity and intersectionality are vital in fighting for equality, as many minority groups face the same basic issues and are still being denied equal treatment and human rights. In fact, the hundreds of women's marches which took place all over the world the day after Trump's inauguration served as the inspiration to the Resist March, according to an L.A. Times interview with Brian Pendelton, a board member of the nonprofit organization that typically puts the Los Angeles Pride Parade together. ( www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-pride-parade-march-20170313-story.html )
The Resist March sought to bring LGBTQ individuals, individuals of color, individuals of all gender and no gender, people with disabilities, allies and dreamers together in an effort to show their intolerance of inequality of any kind, because it is not just about one group of people, rather it is everyone who is fighting for something.
While this may have been the intention of the protest march, the event also eerily rings in harmony with the movement #AllLivesMatter.
The All Lives Matter Movement, a response to the Black Lives Matter Movement, was one that sought to reinforce the importance of human life as a whole and serve as a reminder that no one group is more important than another. Sure, that is true; however, it is also true that some groups were and still are being treated particularly worse than others, namely the Black community in this example. Not every movement has to include everyone. There are times when I think it is appropriate to allow a certain group of people to have their moment to name their injustice that they unfortunately know so well.
Similarly, with the Resist March replacing the LA Pride Parade, it seemed like another effort to dilute a specific community's cause in an effort to include everyone. Although there were plenty of other pride events that weekend as well as throughout the entire Pride month, the Pride Parade is a time where rainbow flags and vibrant floats fill the streets and light up the community with the intention of celebrating queerness specifically. The Resist March could have taken place at any other time of the year. It did not have to be during Pride month and certainly did not have to replace a decades-old celebration.
Certain months or days of the year remind us to remember to bring awareness to those demographics that we belong to, or do not belong to. We pay honor to those individuals and their stories, sit back and listen.
Emagin Tanaschuk is a senior at Northwestern University, and was an intern at Windy City Times.
