Iron Jawed Angels

Much to our surprise, on Easter weekend, Cablemas blessed us with 3 days of free premium movie channels. For the most part, we'd already seen all of the movies, what with our constant purchases from some dude on the corner. And let's be honest, the soft core porn wasn't much to get worked up over. Luckily though, there were a few diamonds in the rough and one of them was Iron Jawed Angels.

I couldn't believe that my husband had never seen it, but being that it came out in 2004, a year before he even met me, I can see why he wouldn't have thought to run out to the theaters to see it. He's changed a bit over the years. I was brought to tears, over and over, as we watched and he finally asked me, "¡¿Porque lloras guey?!" Yes, that's how we talk to each other. Not only was I crying because the only reason I can vote today is because of the efforts and struggles of those women, but because sometimes I feel like our efforts in immigration reform will never make a difference.

Then I see something like this.

It was a reminder of how people can rise up from the ashes and fight for change and succeed. My husband seemed dumbfounded at the idea of women not being allowed to vote and I'm sure that is a testament to his Mexican education, or lack thereof. He's just not familiar with the history of human rights because he never learned about it in school. He kept asking me, over and over, "How can people be so close-minded?"

I wouldn't even begin to compare my personal struggles to those of Alice Paul or the likes, but for everyone out there who is fighting for CIR and waiver reform, I want you to know how much I believe that in the end, our efforts will be rewarded. One day we will sit, with all of our loved ones, hand in hand, and tell our children the stories of the protest rallies, of American Families United, of visits to DC, of meetings with our Senators and Congressmen and women.

In many parts of the world, women can vote, same sex marriages are recognized, slavery is abolished, people have religious freedom and marijuana is legal. At some point, these were all just wild, liberal ideas, and now they are a right. So when you question your efforts for CIR and waiver reform, remember those that came before us. Remember that one day, they too were laughed at. Their ideals were threatened and their rights were questioned.

Believe in yourself and our cause. Have faith and keep fighting. One day there will be a movie made about our fight and we will all laugh and cry as we watch it during a lazy Sunday movie marathon.