When I worked for President Obama, leading a nationwide effort to empower entrepreneurs of color and strengthen communities, I was inspired by the corollary he added to Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words: “The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.”

Those words have seemed especially relevant in the months since I became CEO of YWCA USA, and they’re most relevant today as we bring thousands of our community voices to Capitol Hill so the grassroots can have our say.

Why are we pounding the pavement of the House and Senate in the cold of February? Because just two weeks ago, I marched with hundreds of thousands of Americans in support of women, demanding fairness, justice, dignity and equality of opportunity. Many in just the last year have found their political voices for the very first time, and that's inspiring. But I’m reminded, marches may last a day — but it’s the movements that endure which actually make the changes we seek a reality. Just days after we marched in record numbers, President Trump delivered the longest State of the Union Address in history, but didn’t say the word “women” once. He didn’t hear us. That’s why we’re back. Because we will be heard.

YWCA is hard at work in 2018 to match protest with purpose, marry marches with mission and meld our voices with victories on Capitol Hill. We are called to provide an agenda, not just anger, so that together we actually bend that arc toward the justice we seek.

Our agenda on Capitol Hill is loud and clear, and it comes straight from the neighborhoods where we help 2.3 million people each year, the communities where we empower women to have their say. There’s a lot this federal government can do to stand with communities back home. Issues of racial justice, gender-based violence and economic equity have been stubbornly resistant to solutions, but so too must we stubbornly persist in trying to solve them. The solutions are real, if we hold government accountable as a partner. Pressing legislation awaits Congressional action this year on everything from family and medical leave to child care, racial profiling to science and technology education for girls. Health care, immigration, violence against women and even issues as fundamental as maternal health and medical care for vulnerable children have for too long been victims of Washington’s political gridlock, but the best antidote to beltway dysfunction is citizen-powered, grassroots action to unlock action in Congress. Our collective energy is our competitive advantage. Now is the time for us not just to speak out, but also to speak up and have our say.

For YWCA, that’s been our mission not just for the last year, but for 160 years of action and community-based work. Whether it’s supporting women who summon the courage to leave abusive partners, providing resources to immigrant families or battling the all-too-real realities of racism and its gut-punch to economic opportunity — from housing segregation to voter suppression to the criminalization of girls and women of color — we’ve been walking the walk for generations.

We are proud of our history, and we are even more committed to paving the path ahead – determined to amplify women’s voices today for a better tomorrow. We aren’t just talking about our founding values; we are giving them new life. At this very political moment in America, YWCA is building a lasting movement for social justice, because equity should not be a political issue. That’s why we are back on Capitol Hill this week, with YWCA delegations lobbying Congress, representing communities from Michigan to Massachusetts, Snohomish County to Silicon Valley. If Congress didn’t hear us marching, we’re bringing the march into the halls of Congress themselves.

YWCA begins 2018 not just with a march, but with meaning. Neighborhood by neighborhood, people driven by purpose are descending on Capitol Hill to match possibilities with policy and make progress. Together we can make sure this isn’t just a year when women exercise their democratic rights – it must be the year when America’s women leverage our collective power to right wrongs. 2018 will be the year we all have our say and keep bending that arc toward justice, so that in the next State of the Union Address, the President won’t just have to utter the word “women,” he’ll have to offer us some answers.

Alejandra Y. Castillo

Writing since February 2018 · 1 story contributed