Rise up. Make your voice be heard.

And Still I Rise

Protests are not to be confused with riots. Protests have the power to create change. In my lifetime, protests helped make changes in civil rights, voting rights,  and topple the Berlin Wall. Obviously, it is not just protest that generates change, but the increased awareness motivates action.

 "Power concedes nothing without a demand."  -Frederick Douglass 

Without protest, the voices of the oppressed go unheard. The demand for change must be loud and clear.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise. -Maya Angelou