I. WE ARE STILL WAITING
I am in middle age.
I was born in the 60s.
In the 80s I went to school, where they taught life was a multicolored rainbow of diversity.
If you were a minority or woman, you could do anything!
All the doors were open!
We did that. We went through the doors of engineering and medicine.
If you were strong, you could do it.
The hard thing was the disapproval, even hate, of those who resented your presence.
The harassment, telling you, you are not good enough
Really, meaning, what are you doing here?
Some of us endured sexual comments. That is all you are good for.
We didn’t want your mind anyway.
We think we did not work hard enough.
We think it’s our fault because after all, it’s all equal opportunity.
We are told to take pills or a class and then it can change.
But reality is reality.
After 40 years of believing.
We tell our children the same thing, this world is fair,
We hope we are not lying.
But really,
We know we are still waiting.
II. WE ARE NOT WAITING
We say “We are still waiting”
We grumble about 82 cents on the dollar.
Then we are offered a trip
Not on a magic sailing ship, but in this world
We see things:
They are sold into marriage as children.
They are told they have to have sex in order to sell their fish
Then they have AIDS in their community
They are barred from education
They are forced to bear children, only to see them die from hunger, war, or lack of opportunity
So we join them arm in arm
We give to their education in the professions
We buy them a goat to feed their family
We give them money to start a business
We are not waiting.
We are doing.
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