The Speech from the Women's March You Needed to Hear

Editor's Note: The text below is a modified version of a speech that Angela Sutton gave at the Philadelphia Women's March that took place on January 21, 2017.

I am a black woman, a mother of two beautiful black boys, and I live in Northeast Philadelphia.

I have lived in poverty, in Philadelphia, my whole life.

Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate of any large American city. The face of that poverty is most likely a black mother, like me.

For me, being a woman has always meant being strong and never showing weakness.
I have always had to be superwoman, and the women around me have had to be the same.
As a single mother of two boys, I have to play both roles and every day, I do what I have to in order to take care of my boys the best way I know how.

I, too, am a woman.

I am the woman you don't see when you walk down the street sipping your Starbucks coffee.
I am the woman you don't see standing in line at the local food pantry.
I am the woman who remains invisible in spaces and at events like the Women's March.

But I am here.

You must see me.
You must acknowledge me.
You must include me.

Because I am the woman who fights every day.
I am the woman who understands inequality.
I am the woman who advocates for the rights of women and children living in poverty.
I am the woman who wants a better life.

The new administration scares me, but I know I have to continue to fight.
Not just for me, but for the others who come after me.
For our children.
For our future.

We can't accept what we are given.
We must continue the fight--and that means all of us.
Let's hold each other accountable and unite.

Sonia Sanchez said, "in order to be a true revolutionary, you must understand love."
I do what I do out of love.
We will win because of love.

But first you need to see me.